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Colwyn’s Track – The Grand Opening

‘Colwyn’s Track’ was sign-posted and opened over the Easter long weekend on Sunday 17 April 2022. This upgraded walking track commences at the western end of Paluma Village taking walkers through to the end of Hussey Road and then on to Ethel Creek Falls. Wilfred and his merry band of track volunteers including Colin, Jamie and others have spent many long hours clearing fallen trees and debris from the once disused track, so that it is now safe and accessible for walkers to enjoy.

The Track was named in honour of Colwyn Campbell, one of Paluma’s long-time residents, an avid track walker, nature lover and artist. The story goes that Colwyn walked the track some time ago, before the final upgrading work was completed. She commented to Wilfred that the track was ‘a bit rough’ and needed some further work. That further work took place, much to Colwyn’s satisfaction and final approval.

The installation of the new sign for ‘Colwyn’s Track’ took place on Saturday 16 April. Wilfred and Colin undertook the hard work under the expert supervision and direction of Jill and Michele. The opening of the Track then took place on Sunday afternoon at 4 pm. Despite the incessant rain all day on Sunday, a sizeable crowd gathered with umbrellas and raincoats at the newly erected sign. Colwyn unveiled the very attractive new signage and cut the ribbon (pink surveyors tape) to ‘officially’ open the new track. The Klumpps kindly hosted celebratory drinks and snacks on their veranda (out of the rain) after the track opening.

Colwyn has asked me to pass on the following message to the Paluma Community:-

“I feel overwhelmed by the generosity and support my wonderful Paluma ‘family’ has given me over the years. And now, I feel especially honoured to have a walking track named for me. I admire the work Wilfred and the team have done and are doing, in opening and maintaining the old timber and tin trails; allowing people a glimpse of this fascinating environment and its history and am thrilled to be associated, vicariously with their hard work. THANK YOU EVERYONE“.

Special thanks to Wilfred for this initiative and the naming of ‘Colwyn’s Track’ in acknowledgement of one of Paluma’s most beloved residents and nature lovers.

Below are photographs of the Saturday (16 April) installation of the new track signage by Wilfred and Colin and the Sunday (17 April) opening ceremony with the community. (My apologies for the somewhat blurry images from Sunday, but it is a bit challenging to take good photographs in the pouring rain).

Text & Photos by Michele Bird

ANZAC Day Dawn Service

Residents and visitors of Paluma Village are advised that there will be a short service to acknowledge ANZAC Day on Monday 25th April at 6 AM.

Please congregate at the Flag Pole at the Paluma Community Hall for a short ceremony including raising of the flag and a minute of silence.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

LEST WE FORGET

TMR Range Road Update

ImageNotice to residents and motorists
Mt Spec Road geotechnical investigations

Monday 11 April to Saturday 23 April 2022

Changed traffic conditions, minor delaysThe Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) advises that contractors will be undertaking geotechnical investigation works at multiple sites along Mt Spec Road during April 2022, weather permitting. 

Works hours and activities 7am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday. Works will not take place during the Easter long weekend (15-18 April). Works each day will include site and traffic management setup, unloading and loading of drilling rig, drilling of boreholes to test soil and rock conditions.
What to expect during these works Traffic controllers on site, signage and speed restrictions in place. Stop-Go traffic controllers and traffic signals will be used intermittently. Traffic reduced to single lane (one direction at a time). Minor delays of 5-10 minutes – please plan your journey and allow additional travel time.

Important information for heavy vehicle operators
Access for heavy vehicles (more than 4.5 tonnes) including buses and light trucks may be impacted during these works. Please contact TMR by phone on 1800 625 648 or by email at engagement.northern@tmr.qld.gov.au if you are planning to travel on Mt Spec Road with a heavy vehicle during these works. 

If you require further information about these works, please contact the Northern District Customer and Stakeholder Management team by email at engagement.northern@tmr.qld.gov.au or by phone on 1800 625 648. 

For the latest traffic and travel information, visit www.qldtraffic.qld.gov.au. 

Notice of Annual General Meeting

Members (and prospective members) are advised that the Annual General Meeting of the Paluma & District Community Association Inc. will be held on:

Saturday, April 23, 2022, at 12pm for a BBQ lunch followed by the AGM at 1pm in the Community Hall

Nominations are open for all Executive Committee positions. Nominations should be forwarded to any member of the Executive Committee or by email to PalumaPDCA@gmailcom. Please use the nomination forms, which can be downloaded here.

Positions are:

  • President, 
  • 1 or 2 Vice-Presidents
  • Secretary
  • Treasurer
  • General Committee members (numbers flexible)  

Members are reminded that Annual Subscriptions are now due and should be paid prior to the commencement of the AGM.   Membership is $45.00 Please use the subscription form here to submit your dues. New members are more than welcome and should use the same form.

Please note that you must be a PDCA member to nominate someone to the Committee or vote for any Committee member.

The AGM will be followed immediately by a normal General Meeting with the new Committee.

AGM AGENDA

  1. Opening – circulation of attendance sheet
  2. Apologies
  3. Minutes of previous AGM April 24th, 2021
  4. President’s Report
  5. Treasurer’s report
  6. Election of Officers for 2021-2022
  7. Election of Auditor for 2021-2022
  8. Close of Annual General Meeting

Normal General Meeting Agenda

Normal General Meeting Agenda

  1. Open General Meeting
  2. Proposed Events/Fund-raising for the coming year
  3. Any other business
  4. Close of General Meeting

What’s Blooming in Paluma – Bromeliads

Over the last month or so, one of the consistently flowering plants in my garden, as well as other gardens in the village has been bromeliads.

Broms belong to the family Bromeliacea which includes “air plants” in the genus Tillandsia. They come in an amazing range of colours (on both the flowers and leaves) and flower shapes. They can grow anywhere from full sun to deep shade and in wet and dry habitats.

In Paluma they are great plants for “mature” gardens with a full shady canopy that restricts the number of brightly flowering plants that can grow in the gloom. Currently one of my favourite broms is blooming throughout the village. Bilbergia pyramidalis, like most bromeliads, comes from South America. Its common names (flaming torch and foolproof plant) are certainly apt. It has a stunning large red and purple flower and it tends (at least in my garden to bloom during only a short few days in March when the effect in mass plantings is quite spectacular.

Bilbergia pyramidalis
The beginnings of a mass planting next to Wilfred’s house

This year the blooming period seems to be less synchronous and more prolonged, perhaps due to the lack of a “proper” wet season.

This species grows prolifically in semi-shaded to fully shaded areas and it is dead-easy (fool proof) to grow and propagate. I have created a living boundary “fence” along one side of my garden by heaping up my endless supply of branch timings and then just tossing B. pyramidalis onto the top of the pile. Three to six months later it formed a living cover and a spectacle of colour once a year thereafter.

A living and flowering border fence

Another stunning relative of the bromeliad that has just finished flowering is the Pink quill (Tillandsia cyanea).

Tillandsias are also called air plants since they can grow epiphytically on tree trunks or rocks without any soil. T. cyanea is different in that it prefers to grow in a small pot of well drained soil. It produces 2-4 “pups” each year so it doesn’t take long to get a row of these delightful plants lined up on a ledge in your garden (see the header for this post).

Tillandsia cyanea

Some of the other broms that have been flowering, or showing off their colours are also shown below, together with any names I have been able to attribute to them (this is still a work in progress). If you are interested in long-lived flowers then Guzmania conifer and Achmea fasciata keep their blooms for up to 6 months or more!

Vriesea falco
Achmea?
Guzmania conifer
Neoregelia var
Neoregelia carolinae
Guzmania lingulata
Achmea fascoata

Text and photos by Jamie Oliver

QPWS Burning This Week

Attention: Paluma Residents, Visitors & Users of Mount Spec Road

QPWS are conducting controlled burning on Mt Spec Road this week.


QPWS wish to advise that they will be conducting a prescribed burn on Mt Spec Road on Wednesday March 30, 2022 (weather permitting).  Approximate hours of operation are from 1500 to 1800.  Please be aware that smoke may impact Mt Spec Road. Traffic control will be in place for the duration.

TMR Range Road Works in April

Good Afternoon Mt Spec Stakeholders,

The Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) is planning a program of geotechnical investigation works on Mt Spec Road throughout April 2022.  These investigations will assist TMR to plan and prioritise future works along Mt Spec Road, including high risk slopes and drainage improvements.

We are providing Mt Spec stakeholders with early notification of the proposed works and traffic impacts, and seeking feedback to assist with the planning and scheduling of the works. If you have any questions, concerns or feedback about these upcoming works, please get in touch as soon as possible to enable us to feed this information back to the project team and contractor.

Details of the proposed works are as follows:

  • Expected start date: Week commencing 4 April 2022
  • Expected duration of works: Three weeks, weather permitting
  • Works hours: 6am to 6pm, Monday to Sunday (rotating 10 day roster)
  • Works details: Geotechnical investigations including drilling of boreholes to test soil and rock conditions.  The investigations will be completed at approximately 20 sites along the length of Mt Spec Road.
  • Traffic impacts:

Light vehicles

o   Light vehicles will be permitted to travel on Mt Spec Road at all times during the works.

o   Delays of up to 30 minutes may be experienced at the start and end of the day (around 6.00-6.30am in the morning and from 5.30-6pm in the afternoon) while the drilling rig is unloaded and loaded.

o   Delays of up to 5 minutes may be experienced during the remaining works hours.

Heavy vehicles including buses and trucks

o   Due to the size of the drilling rig and width of the road, access will be restricted for heavy vehicles, including buses and trucks, during the Geotech works.

o   Buses and trucks will only be permitted to travel on Mt Spec Road when prior arrangements have been made with TMR. (We have already been in contact with some stakeholders in regards to bus movements)

o   Prior arrangements will ensure that crews can schedule works and move equipment to accommodate buses and trucks.

o   Delays of several hours may be experienced if buses and trucks travel on the range without prior arrangement as the drilling rig will need to be moved off the range before vehicles can pass.

  • Changed traffic conditions: Single lane closures, speed restrictions and traffic controllers will be in place during the works.
  • Emergency services access will be maintained.
  • Communications: TMR will issue Notices to Residents and Motorists prior to works commencing. The QLDTraffic website will include details of the works and changed traffic conditions.

We welcome feedback from all Mt Spec stakeholders about these planned works. If you believe you will be impacted by these works, please get in touch so we can discuss further and provide feedback to the project team to assist with planning of the works. If possible, it would be appreciated if you could make minor changes to your travel on Mt Spec Road to factor in the planned works.

Contact details:

Email – engagement.northern@tmr.qld.gov.au Phone – 1800 625 648

Thank you for continued patience and understanding during works on Mt Spec Road.

Kind regards

Kelly Stolz

Customer and Stakeholder Management 
Northern District | Department of Transport and Main Roads

Floor 6 | Townsville Government Office Building | 445 Flinders Street | Townsville Qld 4810
PO Box 1089 | Townsville Qld 4810
P: 1800 625 648 | F: (07) 4421 8711
engagement.northern@tmr.qld.gov.au
www.tmr.qld.gov.au

OMG its an OVG…!

Whilst gardening at her Smith Crescent property last weekend, Jodie came across this beautiful Ocellated Velvet Gecko (or OVG for short!). Scientific name Oedura monilis. 

These relatively large geckos are found in north eastern Australia from near Townsville, south to the New South Wales border. They are common in forested areas, sheltering by day in crevices of rock outcrops, in tree hollows or beneath loose bark. 

My research suggests that Jodie’s specimen is a sub-adult due to the bright yellow dorsal markings. In adult geckoes these markings are said to be variable, but they tend to be darker brown to grey in colour. Individuals usually dwell on a home tree from which they forage widely in search of food. References indicate that these geckoes prefer dry woodland and dry sclerophyll forests rather than high altitude rainforest.

Has anyone else spotted these stunning geckoes in and around the Paluma village?

References: Stephen Swanson – Field Guide to Australian Reptiles and Stephen Wilson & David Knowles – Australia’s Reptiles: A Photographic Reference to the Terrestrial Reptiles of Australia.

Photos by Jodie Pace & Text by Michele Bird

St. Patrick’s Night Social

The Paluma community came together last Saturday evening (20 March 2022) to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. An enthusiastic crowd of about 30 people joined in the celebrations at the Community Hall, many adorned in shades of green.

As usual, there was a feast on offer with many Irish inspired dishes including colcannon, Irish stew, corned beef, Guinness pies and an array of other gourmet dishes. Just when you thought you could not possibly eat anymore, Tony arrived with BBQ chicken and the best roast potatoes I’ve eaten for a long time. What good Celt can resist a spud, so I found room for two more! Dessert then followed with apple crumble, lime cheesecake and Jennie’s Guinness chocolate cake. It was melt in the mouth.

Leprechaun Leslie entertained the crowd with some (clean) Irish jokes. Peter Cooke impressed with his vast knowledge of Irish history and culture taking out the St. Paddy’s night quiz. Jack was banned from using Google this year, so for once he didn’t win the competition. Even with some rampant cheating, Michele could not beat Peter to take out the prize of a free drink at the bar. Several patrons were lucky enough to find a ‘Shamrock Scratchy’ under their seat, but no one will be giving up their day job any time soon as there were no big winners on the night. The luck of the Irish…..?

It was great to see so many attendees at this Social and a very good time was had by all. Several of our newest residents to Paluma attended and we had the opportunity to welcome them to the village and introduce them to new friends and neighbours. It’s all about community!

Here’s some photos of the happy (green) crowd.

Text & Photos by Michele Bird