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Telstra Mobile Tower Launch Celebration

Some of the community arrived a bit late for the 10.30 am start time last Saturday 1st December, but all up there were at least 17 residents in attendance to celebrate the provision of a tower giving Telstra mobile coverage over quite an extensive area in and around Paluma. 

Rachel and Joanne from Telstra came up from Townsville and were welcomed by PDCA President Jamie Oliver who acknowledged  the great benefits from the installation, not only in the township, but  as far as the Dam turnoff and quite a way down the Range Road. There is also reception on some of the walking tracks which has an obvious safety benefit – hopefully rarely needed. Lynn Hyland also spoke of the benefit to the PRFB and the SES who have on occasions found that their technology was useless in Paluma due to lack of mobile connection. Rachel replied mentioning that she had not fully realised the extent to which the tower would benefit the area. Participants were presented with a complimentary gift bag from Telstra containing a power pack – a very useful gift !

A scrumptious morning tea was provided by the Rainforest Inn and it was after 12.00 hrs that the group finally dispersed.

Article by Les Hyland

NOTICE TO PALUMA RESIDENTS: Heavy Vehicles on Range Road

HEAVY VEHICLES ON RANGE ROAD, WEEK OF 26 NOVEMBER

Paluma residents and visitors are advised that there will be heavy vehicles using the Range Road in the week beginning 26 November.

The heavy vehicles will include gravel trucks, concrete trucks and other large transport vehicles. The vehicles will be travelling to Gumburu to carry out work on extending the bus turnaround area.

Heavy vehicles are most likely to be encountered in the early morning.

Please drive carefully and be alert for these large vehicles on the road this week.

Telstra Paluma Mobile Tower Launch Celebration

     Paluma Mobile Tower – Launch Celebration

Telstra (Regional Australia, North Qld) and the Paluma & District Community Association (PDCA) invites all Paluma residents to attend a Morning Tea to celebrate the launch of the new Paluma Mobile Telephone Tower.

When: Saturday 1st December 2018, 10.30 AM

Where: Rainforest Inn, Paluma

Morning Tea will be provided courtesy of Telstra.

The PDCA encourages the attendance of Paluma residents, so please pass the word about this upcoming event!

Courtship in the Canopy Continues………

Update on Riflebird Courtship at Paluma

In a previous post (5 November 2018) I reported on the frenetic courtship activity of the Victoria’s Riflebird at Paluma during the height of the breeding season for these birds. I noted that many of the juvenile male birds were practising their skills at displaying for females.

A juvenile male bird displaying

While the young males continue to compete for the attention of females,  the adult male birds are also displaying with all the finesse that maturity brings. I captured the elaborate courtship display of one adult male bird who managed to win over his female companion. The courtship ritual and display lasted for almost 10 minutes and was a sight to behold.

  1. The adult male arrives and sits on his perch, scanning the forest canopy and calling in a loud raucous voice.

2. A female bird arrives and sits in a nearby tree. He is instantly alert and almost appears to take a bow in her direction.

3. He leaves his perch and flies into the nearby canopy to join her, sitting next to her on a branch. He puffs-up his whole body, raises his wings and the performance begins.

4. He displays frantically over and over with raised flapping wings until he has her full attention. She was looking quite disinterested for a time as the photographs show!.

5. Finally he has her full attention and they copulate. No photographs included here, privacy please!

6. He then flies back to his original perch and turns to display again, raising his wings in the direction of the female who is still sitting in the canopy.

What an amazing and remarkable bird and a truly memorable 10 minutes of my life!   Right place at the right time.  Or, just another day in the paradise called Paluma.

Article & Photographs by Michele Bird (no pun intended). 

Paluma Garden Competition – The Results Are In !!

Paluma Garden Competition 2018

On a sunny Friday 19th October, the judging of the 2018 Bunnings Paluma Garden Competition took place. Lynn Hyland accompanied the judges around the acreage blocks, whilst Jamie Oliver  escorted the judges around the village gardens. Natalie Pace and her mother Denise, both past judges for the Townsville Garden Competition were our 2018 judges. Natalie held an Open Garden in September at her Rollingstone property and attracted 350 visitors. There really are many keen gardeners in Townsville. She is encouraging us to consider having an Open Garden event in Paluma next year.  Well Paluma gardeners what do you think about this?

The Garden Competition winners were announced at our PDCA Social on Saturday 3rd November. They are:-

1. Best Business Garden Winner is Gumburu

    

2. Best Acreage Garden  Winner is Don Battersby

     

3. Best Residential Village Garden Winner is Nick and Glenda Van Rynswoud. The Alison Evans Memorial Trophy was also awarded to Nick and Glenda Van Rynswoud.

    

    

4. Highly Commended Residential Village Garden Winner is Peter and Dorothy Klump

    

5. An Individual Plant, Garden Bed, Herb Garden or Vegetable Patch, Outdoor Space, etc Winner is Michele Bird

Paluma is blessed with a cooler climate than the coast and hence we are able to successfully grow many plants that aren’t seen in Townsville gardens. During the judging, some of the plants that were in full bloom were the spirea, hippeastrums, New Guinea impatiens, daylilies and orchids to name just a few. Do check out ‘What’s Flowering In Paluma’ on the website to keep abreast of the latest showpieces in Paluma gardens.

Article by Lynn Hyland with Photos by Michele Bird & Colwyn Campbell

What’s Flowering In Paluma – Tibouchina ‘Chameleon’

Paluma’s ‘Purple Haze’ – Tibouchina ‘Chameleon’

This website features numerous photographs of the many varieties of flowering Tibouchina’s which thrive in the cool mountain climate at Paluma. Most gardens have at least one of these beautiful plants which burst into bloom a couple of times a year, usually in the warmer months.

The ‘Chameleon’ variety is at its flowering best at present and there is a spectacular specimen catching everyone’s eye at No. 16 Mount Spec Road.  The large shrub is a blaze of colour with hundreds of flowers and many buds still to open, ensuring a long flowering period of  two weeks or more. Many locals and visitors have stopped to admire and photograph this flowering gem over the past week. You just can’t miss it, as it can be seen from a considerable distance along Mount Spec Road.

Tibouchina ‘Chameleon’ is so-named because the flowers change colour as they mature. The flowers open as pure white and then ‘ripen’ to varying shades of purple, mauve and pink. The effect is that the plant will have a mix of flower shades at the one time- an amazing ‘Purple Haze’.

Other flowering Tibouchina’s are located at No. 40 and No. 52 Mount Spec Road. Take a walk through the misty village of Paluma and check out the ‘Purple Haze’. When Jimi Hendrix penned his famous song, he was surely inspired by a Tibouchina Chameleon!

Text & Photos by Michele Bird

Remembrance Day at Paluma

Remembrance Day at Paluma

On Sunday 11 November at 11 am a small group of Paluma residents and visitors congregated at the Community Hall to acknowledge Armistice Day and the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War 1.

The commemoration included an audio rendition of The Last Post and a minute of silence, followed by a short anecdote from Les Hyland.

Many thanks to Len Cook for raising the flag on the day and to Lynda Radbone for her technical assistance. Len also provided the morning tea!

 

 

 

Vale David Georgee

VALE DAVID GEORGEE

It is with sadness that we report the death of David Georgee, who passed away on 8th November 2018.

David’s connection with Paluma spanned more than seven decades. He described some of his fond memories of our little village in the clouds in his book, ‘Townsville As It Was’. As a young boy, he used to come to Paluma with his family for holidays, staying at the Main Roads Tents. These were tents surrounded by stone walls, left over after the Main Roads Commission had completed construction of the Range Road. The tents were then used for holiday accommodation. The rock walls were later used to become the Mist Haven holiday units.

In later years David purchased the property at 16 Smith Crescent. In his book he describes how the waterfall in Benham’s Creek opposite their house, was used as the shower for the children. The girls’ showers were at 4 pm while the boys’ turn was 5 pm. Because the water was warmer earlier in the afternoon, the girls could enjoy their shower.

David’s talent as a piano player had him perform at many weddings, dances and social functions, including our own Paluma Music Festivals. Don Battersby remembers David providing the musical entertainment at one of his birthday parties a few years ago; probably the last time David performed in Paluma.

Our sincere condolences go to David’s family on his passing.

 By Wilfred Karnoll