Category: Community Noticeboard

Announcing the Paluma & District Photo Exhibition 2026

Got a burning desire to show your mates an amazing photo that you took? Like an excuse to run off and take a bunch more photos? Do you simply enjoy a good social outing sharing a story with others over a photo or two? Then this event is for you!

I’m sure you’ll agree that we regularly travel in and out of our misty mountain climes, tall majestic forests, stunning woodlands and pristine coastal lowlands, not always having or making as much time as we’d like to truly stop and appreciate the amazing diversity, beauty and unique people of the region that we live in.

In the name of celebrating ourselves and where we live…………and to have some fun, a photo exhibition is to be held in September and October of this year with prizes awarded to the most popular photos voted by you, the community!

With no particular photo categories that need to be addressed as part of this exhibition, the subject matter of the photos to be submitted by you is…………completely up to you, but should be of interest to the community.

Whilst we aren’t particularly big on a lot of rules in this part of the world, a few loose ‘boundaries’ regarding entry and participation in the exhibition are as follows.

  • Photos are to be taken in / or be from roughly the area covering Bluewater to Jourama, and Mutarnee to Zig Zag (i.e. Paluma & District)
  • Photos submitted can be of any age.
  • Entry of photos and voting is open to residents and their family and friends, as well as former residents only.
  • The photo entrant must be either the copyright holder or be entering on behalf of the copyright holder whose name is entered for exhibition purposes.
  • No AI-generated images please.
  • All uploaded photos should conform to social norms as they are applied to most social media platforms.  If an image would be banned from Facebook or Instagram it will be removed from the upload site.”

Photos are to be uploaded by you to a specific gallery page on paluma.org where they will be available for viewing, voting on and for making comments. A free scanning service will be available for those who are unable to digitise a hard copy photo for submission.

The most popular voted photos will have their entry printed, framed and hung in the Paluma & District community hall for a 12month period, where the winners will gain the people’s ovation and fame, before the print is given to the owner.

And last but not least, we have a couple of gripping socials lined up to celebrate the skill of our participants and to announce the winners of the exhibition.

Stay tuned for more details about the photo exhibition, which will start on 1st September 2026 and see you all snapping out there…………..

Sonya Brice

Another Successful Paluma Push

Last Saturday saw several hundred people come up to Paluma to join (or support) the 2026 Paluma Push. The event was back in Paluma this year with around 400 competitors participating in all standard event distances. Overall, the Push was a great success. There was strong Community support with about 32 residents from Paluma to Hidden Valley turning up to man the various checkpoints and to help run the Bar at Hidden Valley. The time and effort contributed by these volunteers contributed greatly to the overall success of the event.

The Community also benefited significantly. A total of $3,500 will be donated by Outer Limits jointly to the SES, RFS and PDCA for our support with volunteers and logistic assistance. In addition, the bar, run by Wifred Karnoll and others at the Hidden Valley campground, reported a profit of $2,000 for the PDCA coffers.

Thanks to everyone who turned up, and to Outer Limits and Sam Stedman for his ongoing support for the Community and for helping to promote Paluma as a destination.

The early morning sun on riders crossing the dam wall provided some interesting perspectives from an overhead drone.

Checkpoint 1

The PDCA bar (left) at Hidden Valley was well patronised.

High-Speed Internet and Wifi for the Community Hall

Last year, the Paluma Community Hall was nominated by the City Council’s Disaster Management Group for a federally funded program to install Wi-Fi and internet facilities at the Hall. Our nomination was successful, and last week an NBN technician installed a new community Wi-Fi in the Paluma Community Hall with internet provided via the NBN skymuster satellite.

I have measured a speed of 80Mbps in the building, which is a great improvement on what has been available from either the TCC community Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi derived from local 4G/5G, in the building. Because Skymuster uses geostationary satellites, there is still that slight delay (latency) because of the distance to the satellite.

This service was applied for because of problems experienced in February 2025 caused by the failure of the Telstra facility in Paluma. It should provide a reliable backup following most weather-related problems, provided the satellite dish survives. It also provides faster Wi-Fi around the building for visitors to Paluma who don’t have a Telstra mobile phone.

A sign advertising this new facility will be placed outside the hall.

In approximately two years, the current NBN satellites are due to be replaced with Amazon low-earth-orbit (Leo) satellites that are currently going into orbit. This service should transfer with that transition.

Charlie Allen

Reminder – Social Drinks in the Community Hall this Friday, July 3.


The Community Hall, and the bar will be open from 6pm – ~8pm on Friday, July 3rd. 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.