Marvellous Mur'bah

I forgot to mention a couple of things about the Hinterland Hotel in Nerang. It had the dimmest lighting in the room that I have ever seen, and I have seen some dim lighting. As the light faded, it was actually easier to do paperwork outside at the little table on the balcony, than it was inside.  By contrast, the light in the bathroom was so bright, it burned your retinas!  They had kindly given us each a $5 shout voucher, and if you presented your room swipe key, the table received a complementary garlic bread, which was nice.

At Murwillumbah, my mother's birthplace (when the family were living in nearly Uki), we wandered down to the RSL after sunset, where the drinks cost approximately the same as they had with the shout vouchers in Nerang.  It was trivia night, so we sat far enough away not to hear the questions, and be tempted.  Jan couldn't finish her pizza, so was given a doggy bag. Mmmm...lunch tomorrow, we though, and promptly forgot all about it.

Next morning, I had a proper Weetbix breakfast, and set off geocaching, only a short block away, at the original Murwillumbah cemetery.  All of the gravestones have been removed, and a structure erected on the uphill corner, containing plaques listing the names of all who had been buried there.  Mount Warning was clear in the morning light, and clouds were rolling over the caldera rim to the north.  The park was planted with fruit trees, and a sign invited you to help yourself, and bring any excess to a distribution centre in the middle of town.  I had no problem locating the cache, and spent five minutes simply taking on the view.  


Outside our room was the smokers' bench, complete with glass ashtray, which I had managed to knock off and break when startled by some unnamed person the previous evening. Our number one task, therefore, was to replace said ashtray.  We headed for the palliative care oppy, which opened first, found a park on the roof directly opposite, and in we went.  This was the most eccentric shop of the trip; packed to the eyeballs with stuff. Sadly, none of the stuff was priced.  Mind you, if you asked, it was cheap.  I found a glass ashtray there which was advertising some business in Ballina, so that problem was solved.

There were two more shops to explore up the main street, and it was so busy, we decided not to move the car.  The joint was jumping!  I couldn't help but compare it to once-bustling Lismore.  Last time we were there, it was a sad, quiet shadow of its former self. One flood too many, I reckon.  We visited Vinnies and the Salvos, and headed back to the Greek cafe Jo had spotted, for a quick morning tea.  Then it was a quick drop-in at the motel, where the proprietor seemed most amused by our replacement ashtray, and off to the Tweed Regional Gallery.