Bunya nuts and campfires, fireworks and Passenger

From a number of people in Woodford I had heard the most enthusiastic stories about a magical place called Mimburi, where late in the last year a Rainbow Gathering took place. Apparently a beautiful remote place in the bush, next to a big river...
Doing some facebook research I soon found out that at this place, there was going to happen a Bunya Dreaming very soon - a traditional aboriginal festival to celebrate the harvest of the delicious and nutritious Bunya nuts - and they were still looking for some extra hands to help with the setup.

No question I went out there... found it to be a huge bush property on the Mary River, with hills covered in long, lush grass and little billabongs in between, little woods and hidden spots everywhere. Some cattle a cruising the paddocks, some ponies next to the main house on the hill, and, according to the people there, the place is also a habitat for wallabies, possums and even taipans...
Utter bush beauty!

I was happy to meet some familiar faces from Woodford - Ketsev, Ameli, Ruby, Jewel, later on Esteve and Maddie - and also a bunch of new people - Anna, Darren, John, Jean (if it's spelled like that?!) Bryan, Niki, Jessie,...
also the people who brought this ancient aboriginal pieve of culture back to life after more than 100 years - Beverley, her kids Bianca and Tim and everyone else of the family - by leasing the land where the Bunya Fest had been held in the past by their ancestors and reviving the tradition.
In case any of you are reading this, thank you so much for letting me be a part of it! So good to get in touch with the original culture of this country, learn about it and even have heaps of fun.

I want to share an article posted in the Bunya Dreaming facebook group that was written by another fellow that was apparently there, but I can't remember meeting him...
However his blog is pretty darn awesome and so is the article he wrote about Mimburi.
He was so friendly to let me share it with you.

http://rawsafari.com/blog/227-years-later-maleny-australia/

And after you read this, you will hopefully want to help stopping the Queensland government from selling the Mimburi land - taking it away from Bev and her family so all their work will be for nothing and the Bunya nut festival will stop taking place once again!
Once again land, a aboriginal cultural site, is going to be taken away from its traditional owners.
Please, help!

https://www.communityrun.org/petitions/save-mimburi-from-being-sold-by-the-queensland-government?bucket&source=facebook-share-button&time=1417481780

volunteers and kids having equally huge amounts of fun

This guy! Is the best chef ever!!

Bunya nuts... and more bunya nuts!!

Looking at my finances, it probably wasn't the most decent decision to indulge myself into another sweet first-class musical candy that was waiting for me on 25th January...
Especially when I could still make out the aftertaste of the big badass Woodford musical multiple layer CAKE in the corners of my mind...
So even though or just because I had seen him twice already, we went to see Mike Rosenberg aka. Passenger at the Riverstage in Brisbane.

The Once - his friends and support band who are denfinitely worth mentioning!

In my eyes he is a lyrical genius of our time. There is not one of his songs of which I do not like the lyrics, his voice is husky but soft, his guitar playing reaches from fine fingerpicking to shredding-strumming, he is so humble and funny. And he's got a good beard.
Each time I saw him I had huge expectations, yet he never disappointed, never ceased to blow my mind... his passion for what he is doing and his happiness about sharing it are genuine and contagious so me and the rest of the crowd is captured and just so so happy.

What a day. Go to hell, money, it was worth every dollar.

We'll roll down dirty old windows
and sing with our eyes closed
and we'll belt out the high notes

And we'll go down to the beach where the wind blows
and we'll throw off our old clothes
and we'll dance with our eyes closed

'cause I see love when I close my eyes.

We'll watch the stars glow
and the flames burn the wood slow
playing games with our shadows
till all four of our eyes close

And Darling, we'll sleep close
with no blankets or pillows
like the wind in the willows
and we'll dream with our eyes closed

'cause I see love when I close my eyes.

I feel love in spite of myself
I feel love to frighten myself
I feel love
and I feel nothing else

Vultures and black crows
perching on sign posts
circling like ghosts
so we just keep our eyes closed...