This week on the Streets of Your Town podcast, I take you on a walk through the rainforest in the far north Queensland wet tropics, to Mission Beach.
The World Heritage Area is brimming with natural beauty and incredible vistas, nestled in the rainforest that stretches from the mountains to the beach overlooking the Great Barrier Reef.
I stumbled across conservationist Liz Gallie at her stall at the Mission Beach markets, overlooking the azure ocean with Dunk Island twinkling in the distance.
At the market she sells beautiful silver jewellery she has crafted herself in her paradise home, with inspiration from the surrounding rainforest.
She made this town her home decades ago, discovering it while on some heady adventures that took her to this wonderland, that she couldn’t bear to leave.
“I came to Mission Beach in 1974 and lived on the beach for quite a few years. I used to go up to the Gulf of Carpentaria and work on fishing boats in those days. Pretty free life. It was the most magic time that I can ever imagine really.
“From there I bought a little property at Bingil Bay and made jewellery just by experimenting. I’ve always dabbled in one art form or another.”
She says people need to be careful not to destroy what they love by being in places such as Mission Beach.
“The magic of Mission Beach is that you’re actually within it,” Liz says.
“It’s such a high biodiversity area. People don’t realise. It’s beautiful—but why is it beautiful?
“We’ve got all these different ecosystems and different landscape types and that diversity means that everywhere you look around there’s something different and beautiful to look at.
“And then of course you go through the trees out onto that amazing beach and you’re looking at Dunk Island off shore—it’s dreamy! It’s just one of the most dreamy places you can imagine.
“What is it that actually makes Mission Beach magic and people should ask themselves that. Especially if you think about where Mission Beach is going to and what the future of Mission Beach is and what it could be or what it should be.
“It’s that natural environment that makes it magic.”
Liz sees it as part of her responsibility of living here to fight to protect the environment and animals such as the endangered cassowary, from encroaching development.
“Unfortunately people say ‘oh the most dangerous bird in the world’,” she says.
“Cassowaries are only dangerous in a defensive manner and they are actually a naturally shy species.
“Their bright colours disappear in the dappled light of the rainforest, so if you see a cassowary within its natural environment you’re lucky really.
“You’d have to sit there quietly and wait and be where they going to be, because they’ll see you first and you won’t see them. They’ll just stand still.”
She remembers her first encounter with a cassowary, which started her lifelong love of the now-endangered bird.
“I was raking the pathway one day and I saw a movement, I turned around I was looking, looking.
“And then suddenly I was looking straight at a cassowary only a metre and a half away from me. It had blinked or moved just a little bit, but it was standing absolutely still.
“That was the time it started honking and puffed up its feathers.
“They’re an elusive animal to see and that really is part of their magic in a way, they’re not going to come rushing out of anywhere and attack somebody. They don’t deserve this most dangerous bird in the world tag really.”
Behind the Scenes
Thank you to you all my Wandering Journo Streets of Your Town supporters and subscribers for enabling today’s episode to come together with your generous sponsorship! It’s so great to be back on the road in these Covid times—you’re just never sure when your planned trips are actually going to come together. But this quick trip up to wild North Queensland was wonderful.
I hope you enjoy walking through the rainforest with me and Liz. Have a listen by pressing play at the top of this newsletter.
If you want to know more about the incredible region Liz calls home, check out the story of Ninney Rise and look out for Liz’s newsletter.
And if you would like some tips on audio recording in the field, have a listen to the interview I did with the amazing Sally Prosser for her That Voice podcast. We did the interview in the back of Mildred—I had a lot of fun with this! Mildred behaved herself for once which was a relief too.
(You can also find out about extra things I’m up to, like this, if you follow my Facebook page!)
Success for Streets of Your Town
Thanks to all of you for the success of Streets of Your Town—we have now well and truly cracked the 10,000 independent downloads! Not bad for our little indie podcast that could not be without your support and sponsorship that puts petrol in Mildred my cantankerous kombi.
And look at these stats for how Streets of Your Town podcast is charting all over the world! Last week when I checked, we had risen 81 places in the Australian charts up to position 91.
And then just as I was about to press send on this newsletter, I checked again to find we’d risen even higher to #65!
Looking at the top 10 you can see below, it might be a bit of a struggle to crack it, but with all my devoted listeners I’m sure we can get even higher and get these stories of amazing Aussies out to an even wider audience.
Other podcasts I’m producing
It’s been another big month for The Wandering Journo!
Let’s take a moment to pay tribute to Mark Willacy the incredible investigative journo who just this week was awarded the pinnacle of Australian journalism—the Gold Walkley!
It’s a great time to revisit his incredible insights that he so generously shared with us on Streets of Your Town The Journo Project—particularly the constitutional need for a free press and the lengths he goes to to protect his contacts and his stories in his investigative work.
Listen again: Mark Willacy on the constitutional need for a free press
And while we’re congratulating people let’s celebrate Gold Coast University Hospital’s senior resident Dr Dinesh Palipana’s recognition as Queensland’s Australian of the Year! You may remember the interview I did with him only a couple of episodes ago for Streets of Your Town talking about how he found his life’s purpose after becoming a quadriplegic in a car accident…what a worthy recipient of this honour.
Listen again: Dinesh Palipana on finding your life’s purpose
As well as my Disability Royal Commission advocacy work I’ve been continuing to produce podcasts for the amazing Gender Equality Research Network (GERN) at Griffith University. I’ve so enjoyed meeting this incredible range of women and telling their stories.
Here is a link to my latest episode of the GERN podcast - called The Gender Card. This episode features the most incredible group of brave women who are fighting back from some of the toughest curve balls life has thrown at them, by starting their own businesses in The Sisters Support Business Together project.
And this has to be one of the saddest and most harrowing podcasts I’ve ever been involved in, but so, so important to rally for much needed changes to legislation. I was very proud to help Amanda Gearing with field recording of this podcast, which is also making a big impact on Twitter. Let’s hope that transfers to legislative change and recognition of coercive control soon. Amanda Gearing also featured in my Streets of Your Town Journo Project series!
Listen again: Amanda Gearing on following your intuition when reporting
Upcoming
Well as they say the best laid plans of Mice and Men…and that was certainly the case for me with my trip to Adelaide cancelled because of the Covid cluster.
But not to be daunted, I will be doing my interview with Natasha Stott-Despoja on her brilliant appointment to the UN committee on the elimination of discrimination against women from my snazzy home studio on Zoom using my trusty Rodecaster Pro! Keep an eye and ear out for this next episode!
So please keep sharing the love and sending this newsletter and links to my podcast on Apple podcasts and Spotify far and wide to all you think have an interest in my slice of Australian life audio doco's.
And if you’re on instagram tag #streetsofyourtownpodcast and #thewanderingjourno to show me where you’re listening to the podcast!
Thanks for making this all possible!
Talk soon! And stay safe my beautiful Wandering Journo tribe!
Nance
Liz Gallie on the beauty of living in the natural environment