Sunday, May 27, 2012

Almost Home


                                                                                                                                Available for purchase here

There's no place like home, but sometimes defining "home" is not easy. Saturday I travelled quite some distance for our second family reunion. Actually it was a reunion for three extended families who mostly grew up in the same area, with marriages inevitably forging life long links.


The village of Nimbin was the location of the reunion as it was the closest settlement for these farming families who grew and flourished north east of Nimbin in the glorious foothills of what is now the Border Ranges National Park. The picturesque little village of Nimbin was the site of the 1973 Aquarius Festival which has brought dramatic and lasting attention and changes to this quiet rural area.


A few minutes from Nimbin I stopped to take photos of the familiar Nimbin Rocks which are rhyolite extrusions left from the ancient Mt Warning Tweed Volcano. Early settlers named the three most prominent rocks as Thimble, Needle and Cathedral.




This one is the Cathedral, it reminds me of a huge pipe organ.




More impressive the closer you come/zoom. These rocks are very significant to the local indigenous people, Bunjalung Aborigines, although as far as I know there have been no locally living Aborigines in living history - I have never met or heard of one.


                                                                                                                    Available for purchase here




Heading back to the car this breezy autumn day I spotted a strange structure on the hill across the road....




The camera helps reveal an unusual tipi construction, its function I can only guess at.




Before the arrival of white settlers 130 years ago, most of this area was covered with thick rainforest.




The family reunion was wonderful, providing a chance to catch up with many known relatives as well as others who were maybe distantly related, having some ancestors and geography in common. Some I see regularly, others I hadn't seen for decades while many I had only heard of.




A cake was cut by the eldest, youngest (watched carefully by her grandmother) and the one who had travelled furtherest (over 1600km/1000miles) to attend. 


To be continued.......


Sharing at Your Sunday Best.

33 comments:

geanina said...

the cake looks delicious ...:)
beautiful shots...

Jenni C's said...

Lovely to see some of your country, those structures are amazing. The photo of a few generations cutting the cake is amazing, family is so important, i can imagine that it must have been a special time.

Marty said...

you live in a wonderful country !
what a fantastic day with all your
family ! great reportage !

chica said...

Lindas fotos e esses encontros de família fazem bem!! beijos,linda semana!chica

Ruth Hiebert said...

Beautiful scenery. Reuniting with family is a special time.

FilipBlog said...

It looks a very big cake and must be good.

Greetings,
Filip

tiarastantrums said...

looks like a gorgeous setting for the family reunion!

Sylvia K said...

You do indeed live in a beautiful country! I wish I had been able to travel there during my traveling days! Looks like a great reunion of old friends -- not to mention a delicious looking cake! Lovely post as always!

Sylvia

Mina fotostunder said...

So beautiful!

Roan said...

Family reunions are really important. Wish more family members understood. Loved seeing the countryside.

hawknitr13 said...

great post celebrating family close to our annual Memorial Day weekend!!

Giga said...

Ciekawie wyglądają skały wyłaniające się z lasu.Takie zjazdy rodzinne są bardzo miłe i jest wiele do opowiadania sobie. Pozdrawiam.
Looks interesting rocks emerging from the forest. These family reunions are very nice and there is much to tell you. Yours.

Barb said...

Going back to your roots makes an interesting post. I thought at first you'd come upon a UFO!

Gail Dixon said...

Love that cathedral rock! Wow. The last photo is so touching. It's always a great photo when there are 3 or 4 generations in it. Marvelous!

Unknown said...

Great shots, I had no idea about those rocks!

Cary said...

Very interesting! It looks like you had a lovely time.

Spare Parts and Pics said...

Wow, that's beautiful country. Parts of it remind me of California.

Rick said...

Spectacular scenery, well captured and composed. And family ties, no matter how distant, produce great joy in life.

Enjoyed catching up on a number of your recent posts and photos.

Angie said...

So beautiful and reminds me a lot of Arizona and California, believe it or not. I love a rocky landscape - its my favorite of the all. Lovely captures and that cake?! YUM!

Nancy said...

Lovely area -- the teepee was quite the unusual find!

Thank you for sharing at Your Sunday Best this week. xoxo

Betty Manousos said...

yes, home sweet home!

what a beautiful scenery, i do love your country.

big hugs!

shirley said...

Looks like a great time! Family reunions are so worth the time. Love your photos.

gina said...

Such dramatic landscapes on your way to the reunion. Very sweet captures of the family. I love that last one!

Dorie said...

What a lovely drive! Sounds like a fun family reunion. It is always a special time for family to come together. Amazing to think of those who came before us, our heritage.

mariondejong said...

Beautiful landscapes, lovely!
Seems to be a good party, great cake!
Best regards, Marion

papillon said...

Very nice pictures and very touching words. Have a nice week.
Greetings
J+C

Unknown said...

So many wonderful shots.. It sounds like a wonderful time with your family.. And that cake looks so yummy!

Hugs~

Seeing Each Day said...

Really lovely to see images of that familiar countryside. Now I've got a big announcement to make.... There's so many favourites from all your shots, however I have just seen my absolute favourite above all my favourites and that is the one of yours featured in shoot edit submit. Absolutely positively spectacular.

Lisa Gordon said...

Oh what fun!!
Thank you for taking us along with you.

Ocean Soul said...

Wishing you a most wonderful time with your family!!!

A Colorful World said...

This and the next post are so wonderful. Though because of my computer problems I couldn't see every single photo, I saw most and it just touched my heart. I LOVE where you are from! It is so beautiful there, and makes me want to visit Australia! The rock formations are so interesting! The countryside is so lush and green. A lovely place to call home.

Liz said...

Beautiful. I'd love the opportunity to have a family reunion. I'm not sure how that would work in our family as some members are as far away as the UK (one of my cousins who Michael & I visited in 2010) and a few others are quite estranged (including my oldest son)

Zena said...

The photo of a the various generations cutting the cake is wonderful, thanks for sharing, I would love to see something like this in my family, but I am not sure if this will be possible at this moment... and not because we are far away

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