Roots Festival, Vegan Pho and Jane Goodall at 91

You might have noticed that our newsletters often mention both the Western or European four seasons, as well as the Bundjalung cultural seasons. Learning about the Bundjalung seasons has slowly opened our eyes to the subtle changes around us – instead of just thinking about the colder winter chill in the air, we’ve been noticing other changes in the flora and fauna around us. Right now, we are in the Bundjalung season of Yarrghembu, or windy season, when the echidnas and turtles are more active. We encourage you to look up the Bundjalung Calendar or to see if there is a cultural calendar for the Country you live in.

Here’s what we’re doing this month:

• July is shaping up to be the month of live music in the Northern Rivers. First up, we’ll be heading to Eltham Hotel on Saturday 5 July to catch Baby Cool.

Baby Cool. East Coast Tour with the full band.

• The following week we’ll be heading to the inaugural Mullum Roots Festival on the weekend of 12-13 July. Headline acts, The Waifs and Jeff Lang, are joined by a huge line-up of local and national musicians and bands. We’ll be dancing to The Versace Boys on Saturday night and grooving to Emily Lubitz on Sunday.

Mullum Roots Festival. Catch The Versace Boys on Saturday night, 12 July.

• If you’re visiting the region with kids during the school holidays, we can’t recommend enough taking a trip out to Lismore’s Heritage Park. Train rides on the park’s miniature railway will be happening every day but Mondays. Your little train enthusiasts will love it.

Miniature Railway located in Heritage Park Lismore 

• While you’re in Lismore, the Archibald Prize is on exhibition at Lismore Regional Gallery from 5 July until 31 August. A great opportunity to see 2024 entries in one of our regional galleries.

Archibald Prize 2024 finalist and Packing Room Prize 2024 winner, Matt Adnate, 'Rhythms of heritage' © the artist

• If you’re looking for a new bush walk, Rocky Creek Dam is a great outing with a number of different walking trails depending on your preference. Pack a picnic or a BBQ and spend the whole day. If you’re there early in the morning or later at dusk, you might even spot a platypus from the platypus viewing deck!

Rocky Creek Dam

• And lastly, our winter warmer tip this month is to get a bowl of vegan pho from Pink Lotus in Mullum or Bruns. It’s famous for a reason.

Pink Lotus Restaurant. Photo via Instagram

What we’re reading:

In the season of slowing down, this essay by Jane Howard by The Guardian Australia caught our attention. Jane encourages visiting an art gallery and spending time absorbing a single work of art; “When you stop in front of one piece, you allow everything to slow down. It can feel as though you’re being subsumed, or embraced. Everything else fades away. You can exist fully in the moment: just you and this work of art.” In a world that encourages us to consume words and pictures at a rapid pace, what a gift to consciously take in a single painting, image, poem or sculpture at a time.

Works by the artist Judy Watson on display in the Watermall at Queensland Art Gallery. Photograph: Chloë Callistemon/ QAGOMA

What we’re listening to:

Alex Cooper’s interview with 91 year old conservation icon, Jane Goodall, on the podcast Call Her Daddy. May we all be so inspiring, bold and active in our 90s.

Call Her Daddy: 91 & Thriving with Dr. Jane Goodall

All the best, 

The Sienna team
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