A Magical Part of Oz - Fingal

What a great place to enjoy a cool drink late in the afternoon of a hot day.

This little watering hole is on the bank of the Tweed River at Fingal, one of my favourite little villages on our North Coast.

Fingal is on a peninsular between the river and the sea and is named after the famous Fingal of Scotland and its ancient rocks. Next time I visit I'll get a picture of the rocks at the Australian Fingal, which are said to be extremely old.



The little cafe has also sorts of crumptious but simple and healthy food, and there is a little gallery of original art works next door.



It's fun to have a little bit of something to eat and walk it off on the bush track nearby - leading to a really lovely beach.



The tracks are being cared for by LandCare volunteers who established a nursery of native plants to replace nasty introduced vines and other species.



One native I love is a Banksia with its weird seed pods and shiny crisp leaves and nobbly branches.

As children many Australians know the pods as Big Bad Banksia Men from the Snugglepot and Cuddlepie books of May Gibbs, a brilliant Australian writer and illustrator.

This one's on its side. But place him upright and you'll see dozens of squinty little eyes looking at you - enough to turn the tummy of any imaginative little kid.



The pandanus, which we've met before, also has a character of its own.



At the end of the track - the beach and the headland with its lighthouse.



I'll take close up shots of the lighthouse and the sea from the headland, when I visit again.



This part of the beach, called 'Dreamtime', is a strip of cream sand running in either direction from where I am standing for this shot. It's probably 9km long. There are kilometres of beach on the other side of the headland, and down to the peninsular tip, as well.

I don't hold with people driving there though!




The inhabitants are friendly.






It's a favourite with the board riding community of course.



The town in the distance is Kingscliff - another interesting little place, known among foodies for its string of restaurants.



As you can see, dogs and horses are allowed on the beach.



There are many fascinating shapes and places to clamber and climb.

Fingal is the subject of a land claim by Australian Aborigines. The Minjungal people have been living in the area for probably thousands of years, and descendants are still there.



No wonder!


Do you know if there are any descendants of original indigenous inhabitants still in the area where you live?