The Paluma Push is on again this year on the 18th of July. It will be back to the full course, commencing in Paluma & finishing at Hidden Valley.
The event provides one of the main sources of revenue for the Paluma/Hidden Valley district SES & Fire Brigades with substantial donations to each determined by the number of competitors. It also allows the Paluma District Community Association to raise funds through sales at the Hidden Valley end event.
In return we need community volunteers to staff the numerous check points around the course, providing directions to competitors and feed back to race managers.
At this time we are still short on a few volunteers. If you are interested in helping please ring or text Charlie Allen
Our first market since 2024. Let’s show visitors what they have missed!
The PDCA is calling for Bakers to don their aprons and load the Community table with goodies to sell at the markets on Sunday June 28th.
Sweet or savoury – to eat on the day or to take home – all produce welcome.
Please ensure all your goods are cut, plated and covered. The number of pieces per plate and price is your decision. Please label with product name and all ingredients as well as the price. Then deliver your amazing creations to the community hall between 7 and 8.30 on Sunday 28th June.
Spare sticky labels will be available Sunday at the hall.
In order to ensure adequate facilities/space at the markets on June 28th could any Paluma & District people who intend to provide baked goods, preserves or other edible items at the Markets let Wilfred Karnoll know as soon as possible by email on Wilfred.Suzanne@bigpond.com.
Come to the hall, this Saturday June 6th, to help out with various community jobs. Wheelbarrows and shovels will be needed if the Council delivers a load of mulch for the gardens around the hall and under the trees of memory at the village green. We will also give the hall a much-needed clean, inside and out, to get it ready for the bush dance and markets later this month.
The Community Hall, and the bar will be open from 6pm – ~8pm on Friday, June 5th. Come along for a drink and a catch-up with other residents. Table Tennis, Darts, Music and other activities are available for anyone willing to set up the equipment. Bring along some nibbles/finger food.
To those newer to our community, Viv lived at 19 Mt Spec Road from the mid-1980s until around 2010.
During her years in Paluma, Viv gave generously to the community, serving for many years as Treasurer of the then Paluma Progress Association, helping secure funding for important local projects.
Alongside Mick, Viv later built and operated the Rainforest Inn, welcoming many visitors to our beautiful village.
Viv truly loved Paluma and its people. She especially cherished the opportunity to create a cool-climate garden filled with many beautiful flowering plants, which brought her great joy and was admired by many.
She will be warmly remembered as a valued member of the Paluma community to all those who knew her.🌷
During the last two weeks, I have been hearing the faint, high-pitched, wispy warble of the Scarlet Honeyeater (Myzomela sanguinolenta), a consistent but relatively rare visitor that feeds on flowering trees, often high up in the canopy. Houses that offer a view of tree canopies in flower may provide a glimpse of this strikingly coloured little bird. Len Cook’s front verandah is one of the few places I have been able to get a good view in the past, but so far this year it has been heard but not seen. It is the male that catches the attention of birdwatchers, with it brilliant red head and neck, set off by black back and whitish underparts.
The female is rather drab and brown with a cream belly and sometimes a reddish flush around the face.
Female Scarlet Honeyeater photo by Chris Wiley eBird
The Scarlet Honeyeater is the smallest Australian honeyeater (Family Meliphagidae) and can be found in open eucalypt woodlands, wet sclerophyl forests and riverine Melaleuca habitats. It feeds predominantly on nectar from flowering trees, with insects and fruit only occasionally eaten. Most feeding occurs above 10m in the canopy. It occurs along eastern Australia from Cooktown to northeastern Victoria. In the far north, its range overlaps with the quite similarly coloured Red-headed Myzomela, which is mainly found across northern Australia.
The brilliant plumage of the Scarlet Honeyeater has made it a well-recognised bird to many Australians. Early colonists gave it various names, including Bloodbird and Little Soldier (in reference to its similarity to English redcoat soldiers). The officially recognised common name, used predominantly outside Australia, is Scarlet Myzomela.
The genus Myzomela is the largest in the honeyeater Family, containing 41 species distributed from Indonesia to Australia and the Pacific Islands. Australia has only 3 species, and two occur in Paluma: the Dusky Honeyeater and Scarlet Honeyeater. The name refers to this group’s feeding method of sipping or “sucking” honey-rich nectar from flowers. It is derived from two old Greek words: “myzo”, meaning to suck or suckle; and “meli”, meaning honey.
Text by Jamie Oliver; Photos and recording as indicated in the text
