small town blues...

Sometimes living in a small town makes me frustrated. I grew up in Sydney and really had absolutely no concept of the country- and I mean none- until a year before I moved here. So its no surprise that sometimes I find the smallness - well... small.

this is Bellingen from the air pretty huh?

I look at things that are happening in the city- movies I want to see, plays, Cirque de Soleil (which I swear the universe is conspiring against me to ensure I never get to see) even Brown Owls!!! ( I know - I have just sent an email out to friends to gauge interest), Ikea for all that cheap yet stylish storage stuff, restaurants that we read about in Good Living - salivating ... I could go on...

.....but then I remember why I live in a town that people visit and never leave. A town so pretty that when we are in Sydney and we tell people where we live they swoon... "I want to move there"... "its so beautiful"... it totally is... Sooooooooooo rather than complain about it I am going to show you how gorgeous it is and in doing so remind myself how much I love it...

When you feel like a swim in Summer or our very mild Winter we have the most breathtaking waterfalls and rivers and creeks and streams- the road into our town is called Waterfall Way and its beautiful... we have an area outside the main part of town called The Promised Land which the Never Never river runs through....( above left) , where there are waterholes that are so beautiful they take your breath away...

Because you can eat here and leave with a full belly having a had a great night with the gorgeous owners-there was that one time, many years ago, when I drank to much Kingfisher beer on my birthday and our friends from Sydney were up and we sang show tunes with the owners until 3am...

Because every year several thousand people come to this and it just the most amazing festival ... and everyone gets so excited and so many people come home for it... and I see these young people who were children when I arrived and they are now coming back with their partners and mates to take them to Global.... its so great I can't wait!

and this festival and this creativity in January!!

And once a month we have huge markets full of crafty goodness and organic food and everything you could possibly want or need...

Because of this amazing sight in Summer when one of the largest flying fox colonies in the world fly along the river and out across the valley and it is one of the most amazing things you will ever see!

And because in February 2003 during the Anti war demonstrations across the world I marched with my dog Zac - dressed in his no war cape- with 3000 others through the streets of Bellingen ( population 2700) and it was the most amazingly uplifting day... and we got world wide media coverage because it was the biggest demonstration anywhere in the world in comparison to population size...

Because when someone in our community dies the whole community gets together and raises money for the family... because when the most beautiful little 2 year old boy was diagnosed with leukemia and the family had to move to Sydney the community paid their rent for 6 months and held a fund raising concert and raised $20 000! ( David Helfgott lives here - he played at the concert which raised $10 000 and it was matched by an anonymous donor)

Because when we had Busy people we hardly knew left beautiful messages and gifts at Chefs work and were so excited and happy for us that it just overwhelmed me...

But mostly because I will never feel lonely - I can walk down the street on any given day and stop and chat to as many people as I like...I am part of a vibrant artistic creative community and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else in the world.

So when are you moving?