Tumbulgum

Place names are not always said the way you might expect.  Just up the road from here is Uki.  The name stems from the days when the Number One grade cedar logged there was destined for the United Kingdom- “U.K.1.”  It is pronounced You-kye. 
On Saturday we spent the day at Tumbulgum.  I was inclined to pronounce it as “Tumble Gum”, but it is actually said “T’mBULg’m”.  Which I think is a pity, really.  Somehow my version had a ring to it that I rather liked!
What a delightful little place it is!  The nicely maintained Victorian homes, a General Store, a few art galleries and cafes and a historic tavern line one side of the gravel road and overlook the verdant banks of the Tweed River with views of the hills and mountains beyond.   

When we arrived the children were very excited.  Philip had bought a fishing rod for each of them before we left Melbourne but today was the first time on our trip that he had taken them out!  Michaela had been fishing with her Dad once before and was eager to try again, too.  It was nice to see the Dads helping the children bait their hooks and cast out the lines hopefully.   Arthur caught one tiny fish to everyone’s excitement, and they watched it swimming around in a bucket for a while before letting it go back into the river. 

As we were eating our lunch a really nice man came and asked whether we were locals of just visiting.  He lived across the road  and must have observed our lack of success because he’d brought out a herring jig for us to borrow, explaining that if we fished off a nearby jetty with it we might catch a lot of river bait (small fish like the one we’d thrown back) which we could then use to catch bigger fish with.

Leaving the children and their Dads to try their luck, the Mums went off to look at one of the galleries.  There we met another very friendly local man, who chatted to us about all sorts of things.  He was a wealth of information about the geology of the Mt Warning Caldera- apparently the largest volcanic plate of its kind in the world.  It has been used as a set for films about Hawaii due to the striking similarity in land formation.  When I mentioned being “stranded” for another fortnight he gave me some good tips for things to do and see within driving distance.  He also recommended that we visit the Tumbulgum Tavern which has a playground in the back garden which would give us an opportunity to enjoy a quiet coffee while they played.

Back at the riverside we found that the others had managed to catch some bait and had thrown the lines in again to try for a bigger catch.  Just as we arrived they got a nibble, but some unobservant tourists in a hired houseboat chose that moment to steer straight across the lines and anchor just off shore.  We all agreed to call it a day and try out the Tavern.

We finished the day around the campfire again.  Camping in a caravan on a powered site definitely has its advantages: we par-boiled some potatoes and yams in the microwave and then wrapped them in foil before throwing them on the fire to cook through.  Yummy!  They had the distinctive smoky campfire flavour, but were cooked to perfection without being charred on the outside.

Today (Sunday) we have spent a lot of time chatting over coffee (the espresso machine being another little luxury in the caravan!) and lounging by the pool while the children splash about.  Our plan had been to be home within the next few days, but as we have to be stranded I am very glad it is here!

We had a visitor near the caravan this afternoon- this goanna!