Our monthly Social Drinks evening is THIS coming Friday, August 2nd at the Community Hall. The bar opens at 6pm. Come and mingle and catch up on the latest. Locals and visitors alike are all welcome. The darts board will be set up so you can hone your darts skills in preparation for our upcoming Games Night. Nibbles to share are always welcome.
… AND there’s visual proof collected from camera traps set up in a range of places in the forests in the Paluma Range area. Please read Wren Mclean’s (project leader and researcher) update on data recently analysed.
A multi-year study of the cassowary across Paluma Range is underway and has returned some exciting early results with images of at least 7 individual birds so far. On the tail end of the Wet Tropics, the Paluma Range holds the most southern population of these iconic, cryptic, assertive and very cool birds. These ancient ratites are the original rainforest gardeners, having evolved to their current form 50 million years ago! They have spent that valuable time in symbiosis with the rainforest, consuming the fruits and dispersing the seeds of rainforest plants. They depend on the rainforest and the rainforest depends on them.
Having lost a majority of their rich fruiting lowland rainforest habitat to human endeavours, sadly, our much-loved Southern Cassowary is an endangered species. Some inhabit poorer fruiting high altitude forests and those that remain on the lowlands are susceptible to road strike, dog attack, pig competition and the challenges of habitat fragmentation.
We can rejoice that cassowaries are breeding in the Paluma Range with a pair of stripy chicks accompanying their Papa in November and two young sub-adults travelling together in December 2023.
We know cassowaries here are in low density but was this always the case? More information will help us put the pieces of the jigsaw together to understand their seasonal habitat use, whether there are threats we don’t understand and actions we can take to secure cassowaries for the long-term.
There’s cassowaries in dem dere hills, but are they using the lowlands and coastal vine thickets? A citizen science program is calling out for any historical or current sightings or signs of cassowaries from on, or below the Paluma Range.
Please record your sightings on this URL https://arcg.is/1vjLaq or by scanning this QR code.
The annual Paluma Push in the bush is over for 2024 and was a really successful event for all involved. Sam and Aline’s crew and the local volunteers ensured as smooth a run as possible for all participants. Members from our community who manned checkpoints along the various routes enjoyed one of Paluma’s perfect blue sky winter days. Some of volunteers saw quite a bit of action whilst others simply pointed the way. All were acknowledged and appreciated by many of the entrants as they passed by.
It seems it was a more health conscious group this year as Wilfred says the PDCA Bar at Hidden Valley didn’t sell as much as usual. Regardless, the approximate profit for the fabulous efforts of the PDCA volunteers was around $2000. The PDCA is VERY grateful to those who made the time to enjoy the atmosphere which is always fantastic down at the finish line and who put time into service through helping out at the bar. The ‘heavy lifters’ involved in the set up and pack up of the bar are especially deserving of our gratitude.
We have some barstock left over for those needing to drown their blues (pardon the pun) after the ‘big game’ between Qld and NSW. We are willing to sell at cost price to our community members. Anyone interested in buying any of these are to contact Wilfred on 0447 822 626. The following sixpacks are available as of the publication of this post:
Text: J. Poletto and W. Karnoll
Images: J Poletto
Our next Paluma working bee 🐝 will be THIS coming Saturday July 6th.
We will meet at the Community Hall at 2pm. Drinks to follow on the hall verandah at 4pm.
See you there!
Our monthly Social Drinks evening is THIS coming Friday, July 5th at the Community Hall. The bar opens at 6pm. Come and mingle and catch up on the latest. Bring along some nibbles to share if you’d like.
The Paluma Community Winter Sunday Market is fast approaching on Sunday June 23rd. This is a call-out for Paluma’s Kitchen Rockstars to make, shake and bake home made goodies to sell for our community’s (PDCA) fund raising.
If you are interested in doing some baking and donating your goods for sale at the Winter Sunday Market then please read on…..
Here’s what to do:-
If you have any questions or need any further information, please contact Wilfred Karnoll by email: Wilfred.suzanne@bigpond.com or phone 0447822626
Previous cake stalls have been a roaring success. All contributions are very much appreciated.
Our next Paluma Working Bee will be THIS coming Saturday June 8th.
We will meet at the Community Hall at 2pm with drinks on the Hall verandah at 4pm.
See you there!
Our monthly Social Drinks evening is THIS coming Friday, June 7th at the Community Hall. The Bar opens at 6pm. If you’re lucky, there may be a demonstration on how to use our latest facility provided by the council. What’s that you ask? Well come along and find out. 😜
Bring some nibbles to share if you’d like.
Outer Limits Adventure is looking for volunteers for this year’s Paluma Push on July 13th. This is one of Paluma’s signature events and each year the RFS and SES receive substantial donations from Outer Limits in recognition of the assistance provided by Pauma residents. If you are interested in manning a checkpoint or helping out at the start (Paluma) or finish (Hidden Valley) points of the race please register on the Paluma Push website. if you have any further questions contact Sam Stedman www.outerlimitsadventure.com.au
The Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) would like to provide an update regarding the Mt Spec slope stabilisation night works.
The contractor’s availability has been delayed due to heavy rainfall in Kuranda.
As a result, night works on Mt Spec Road will now commence on Wednesday, 3 July, and will be extended until Friday, 4 October.
Night works including full temporary road closure will occur from:
Wednesday 3 July to Friday 4 October
With a working roster of 10 days on 4 days off between 6pm – 6am
Friday night road closure will occur 7pm and reopen 6am Saturday.
Please find attached updated Notice of Works including a calendar with scheduled works specific to Mt Spec Road. Please note these may be subject to change due to weather conditions, contractor availability and construction progress.
Mount Spec Road in its entirety will be closed during the night works, with provision for Queensland Emergency Services and parents who will be required to retrieve sick students only.
The night works will take place based on 10 working days and 4 days-off (10:4) roster for the duration of the slope stabilisation project. Each Friday night of the work schedule, the road will be closed at 7pm and reopen 6am Saturday morning.
If you require further information about these works, please contact the Northern District Customer and Stakeholder Management team using the below contact details. We thank you for your understanding.
Kind regards
Sarah Valinoti
Communications Officer
Department of Transport and Main Roads
P: 1800 625 648| M: 0744218996
engagement.northern@tmr.qld.gov.au
