lock the gate>open the gate

Two very different outings on the weekend.  A friend and I packed up our placards and headed off to the local park for the rally against coal seam gas mining, organised by the Lock the Gate Alliance and Northern Rivers Guardians.  The mining companies use a process known as 'fracking' to release the gas from the coal seam, pumping toxic chemicals into the ground with water, causing the  rock to crack open.  Once the mining companies set foot on your land, they can start digging wells without your permission.....hence "Lock the Gate". 

Many of the unwanted hydrocarbons brought to the surface are carcinogenic, and the excess saline water taken from the coal seam poses serious threat to fresh water aquifers and there seems to be no safe or practical way to dispose of this waste water.  Clearing the land to set up the infrastructure and dig the wells destroys native habitats, and the dissolved salts ruin good farmland.  If you'd like to know more go here  

We don't want the mining companies in our back yards!

After listening to interesting and informative guest speakers, signing petitions and eating some seriously delicious food provided by the local Hare Krishna community, we headed 20 minutes up the road to Nunderi, where the gate to an open garden was wide open. 

It took us about an hour to wander through this colourful sub tropical rainforest, along paths that opened out unexpectedly onto views of the dam, secluded seating, and quirky garden decorations made from all sorts of recycled "rubbish".  The owners obviously have good imaginations. 

wide lawns to stroll across

a jazz band to enjoy

interesting patterns in the peeling bark of the paperbark tree



roots of an old Moreton Bay Fig tree

......and of course, at the end of all that exertion, a good pot of tea and cake in the shade.