The NRL Grand final with the Brisbane Broncos vs the Penrith Panthers is on next Sunday (Oct 1st). If you will be up in Paluma and want to watch the game live on the big TV in the Paluma Community Hall then come along.
The Bar will be open from 5:30 pm til 8:30 pm. The game starts at 6:30 pm.
The dust ( or rather mud) has well and truly settled for those who recently participated in the Mike Carney Toyota Paluma Push on the weekend of July 15th and 16th. Muscles have recovered and the joy of crossing the finish line is a fond memory along with many formed around the warmth of the bonfire at the Hidden Valley Cricket Oval.
Paluma village was inundated with rubber, spokes and lycra but mostly smiles and laughter as people prepared for the start of their race. The beauty of the rainforest trails and bush land makes for a truly unique cross country mountain bike race which even had some of our local residents registered as participants including Rob, Sandi and Jamie. All of whom finished their designated distances hale and hearty!
The RFS and SES volunteers plus a few ‘local’ volunteers assisted with registration and monitoring various checkpoints along the routes and were able to enjoy viewing and encouraging the participants going hell for leather along the trails.
Seeing the youngsters set on doing their best in their very own race is possibly my fondest memory of Paluma Push 2023.
Paluma Push is such a great event for our village and a credit to Outer Limits Adventure for again bringing life to our sleepy little misty village on the mountain.
Text and photos (except where indicated) by Juanita Poletto
Our Annual Palum Games night, organised by Peter and Dorothy Klump will be held in just a few weeks, on Saturday, August 5th at the Community Hall.
The evening will start with a sausage sizzle dinner ($3.00) at 6:00 pm with the bar also open for the purchase of drinks. By 7:oo pm, the teams of two will have been announced and the various games will commence. These will include darts, indoor bowls, ping pong, and soccer pinball to name a few.
Previous years have proved a great success with lots of friendly participation mixed with bouts of enthusiastic competition. There are probably a few residents looking to topple the previous winners in some categories so the spirits will be high. Hope to see you there!
The Paluma Push is 5 weeks away on the 15th July with preparations in full swing. As you are all aware, the very generous donations that we have received from this event over many years, has greatly supported the expansion of our fire-fighting equipment and capability.
I spoke with Sam Stedman today about manning the race checkpoints which is essential to the safe running of the event. Currently, the following checkpoints require volunteers/more volunteers to fill them.
Checkpoint 2 – 4 people required, site in rainforest on other side of Paluma dam wall.
Checkpoint 4 – another 2 people required, site in drier country, up the hill on Hidden Valley Station. Sonya & Ross at checkpoint currently but are flexible on where stationed.
Checkpoint 4b – 2 people required with quads preferred. Site in drier country, up the hill on Hidden Valley Station.
Checkpoint 4c – 2 people required with quads preferred. Site in drier country, up the hill on Hidden Valley Station.
If you are planning on helping out or have friends who may be interested, please let me know or alternatively contact Sam 0421 484 211 or Aline 0401 572 071 or email: info@outerlimitsadventure.com.au.
It’s a great social day out and in spekky country. A big thank you to those who have all ready volunteered for the event.
If you have any questions at all about the day, checkpoints or what to expect, please don’t hesitate to give me a call. See you around the next couple of weeks.
Kind regards
Sonya Bryce
Secretary / Treasurer, Paluma Rural Fire Brigade, Mobile (0474) 324 153
Sam Stedman from Outer Limits Adventure is calling for community volunteers to lend a hand during this year’s Paluma Push event to be held on Saturday 15 July 2023.
If you can spare a few hours to assist with the various tasks associated with the Paluma Push, please register your interest with Sam or Aline as soon as possible. All volunteers will be fully briefed in the usual way before the event.
Please register your interest to be a community volunteer NOW at the contact details below, or catch Sam when you see him round the village.
Sam Stedman 0421 484 211 Aline Stedman 0401 572 071
Email: info@outerlimitsadventure.com.au
The Outer Limits Paluma Trail Run is fast approaching and will be held on Sunday 30th October. If any residents and members of the Paluma community would like to volunteer to assist in running this event, please let Sam Stedman know as soon as possible.
Sam can often be found out and about in the village, or you can contact him on Mobile: 0421 484 211 or email: info@outerlimitsadventure.com.au
If you would like more information on this event, please check out the Outer Limits website.
The PDCA will be running the Sausage Sizzle for this event, so if you can provide assistance with this, please contact Les and Lynn Hyland.
Charlie from the SES has advised that we are running short this year for volunteers for the Paluma Push.
Please see the email below from Charlie.
If you can assist as a volunteer for a few hours on Saturday 16 July, please contact Charlie on his email address ASAP. c-t-a@activ8.net.au
Please help out if you can! And please pass on this message to others who may be interested in volunteering!
Email from Charlie:-
We are a bit short this year on volunteers for the Paluma end of the Push. We are therefore asking for a few more volunteers. Details as follows:-
Paluma Push on Saturday 16th of July. Short on volunteers at the Paluma end.
We need:-
1). One extra at CP1 to support Les & Lynn Hyland (Michele B. is tentatively booked to take up this role assuming she can get out of working elsewhere this day).
2). Two more at CP2
3). Two to three more at CP3
Duties are just directing competitors & comms. The days of recording the details of every bike are gone thankfully!.
Outer Limits is now calling for volunteers for the 21st Edition of the Mike Carney Toyota Paluma Push to be held on Saturday 16 July 2022.
If you would like to volunteer for the event, please register at:- http://www.palumapush.com.au/volunteers/
You can also call Sam on 0421 484 211 – or bail him up in the village.
A reminder that everyone in the community is invited to the ‘after party’ on Saturday night at Hidden Valley with a live band and PDCA running the bar.
This coming weekend, 30 and 31 October, Outer Limits will host their annual Dinner Under the Stars on Saturday evening 30 October, to be followed by the Paluma Village Trail Run on Sunday 31 October.
Join us for an end of year celebration, the night before our last trail run for 2021. The Dinner Under the Stars is held on Saturday night, 30th October from 5.30pm onwards. The Feel Good Foodie will be set up at the Outer Limits Adventure Centre for a casual night out under the stars or as it is Paluma, it will most likely be in the clouds.
The final run in the Outer Limits Trail Run Series 2021. The Paluma Village Trail Run is our favourite event in the series, we have kept the best for last. It features amazing trails, taking you through the World Heritage listed rainforest in the most southern part of the Wet Tropics. This time of the year, Paluma Village is a great escape from the heat in Townsville.
For more details on both events and how to register, please go to the Outer Limits website.
The twentieth anniversary of the “Paluma Push” was different for all the right reasons. Sam Stedman and Aline of “Outer Limits” are to be heartily congratulated for masterminding the operation, but one must also say that it would not have been possible but for all the various helpers who were involved both before, on, and after the day of the race.
The principal difference was the holding of the race on a Saturday [July 17th] instead of a Sunday, as in all previous years. This permitted the Saturday evening to host a huge party at Hidden Valley Cricket Oval right at the race finish.
It was also a most beautiful sunny winter day, although there were a lot of water issues, many of them on the Paluma Dam Road which is in a deplorable condition. It was repaired in November but with material that did not stand up to the Paluma wet season and was studded with deep water filled potholes and gullies through a great deal of its length.
In the Community Hall a collection of 15 of the 20 “Paluma Push” tee shirts over the years was mounted and so much admired that it was moved to Hidden Valley for Saturday night.
The race start was on Smith Crescent in Paluma and there were five categories this year. The new one was the 100km “Crazy Course” with an extra 20km “Mt Fox Loop” at the last part of the race. There was the normal 70km and a 53km course divided between e-bikes and mountain bikes. The popular 42km Recreation Course was well supported. There were almost 650 competitors and although there were mechanical problems there were only two injuries one of which was sustained riding back on the road from Hidden Valley to Paluma after the race!
There were three electronic mats in use recording the competitors passage at Checkpoints 1, 4 and 6 reducing the number of volunteer manual number takers and improving accuracy. For the detailed results and times go to the Outer Limits website and look for: palumapushresults.
The Hidden Valley Cricket Oval was in use for camping on Friday night, but on Saturday it was transformed into a party ground with the bar run by the PDCA, three food outlets and the band “Shots Fired” providing music for dancing and created a good ambience for the really huge number of competitors, volunteers and others who seemed to all be having a great time especially those sitting around the very large bonfire that was kept blazing.
This is but a brief overview of this remarkable event but it hopefully conveys what an outstanding event the 20th “Paluma Push” was.
Text & Photos by Les Hyland