Denizens of the Deep
The danger of stingrays was highlighted when Australia's own 'wildlife warrior' Steve Irwin, was killed after he got too close and personal with one in Queensland. The large ray's barb pierced near his heart and he was dead within minutes.
Here in Tilligerry many such creatures glide in over the sand flats and feast on the soldier crabs, leaving their dish shaped holes behind . Be very wary of them particularly when the water is muddy.
Another deadly creature is the blue ringed octopus. Normally they are a brownish colour and can be found in
weed beds and rock pools. When they are threatened, they start to glow. A bite has enough poison in it to kill around 20 people and works by shutting down the respiratory system.
Another shocking fish is the numb ray. If it bites you, your arm goes numb but it's not lethal. They grow to be very large and have been known to stun penguins and eat them.
Ever trodden on a Lego block? The pain is excruciating. Multiply this ten-fold and that's the agony you will endure if a bull rout nails you. These ugly fish are ambush predators and the curse of prawners. Some professionals are so scared of them that the go through their catch with gloves and kitchen tongs to find them.
And then again there are sharks!!!
Still worried by what lurks below the waves? If you are, Tilligerry heated pool might be the place for you....although one patron was attacked by a wood duck which scratched his face with its claws. He needed medical attention.
Photos: A blue ring...a bull rout.....and a numb ray.....It pays to be wary.
Too Many Gum Trees
There was a time many years back when sand miners just turned up, mined their leases and left, leaving a mess behind them. This was the case when Mallabula, Tanilba Bay and Oyster Cove were mined for rutile and zircon in the 1960s -'70s. So much of the rare metals were in the sands that the dredge couldn't cope and it was worthwhile to return and mine it again. By this time they came under strict environmental laws and left the area in a better state than they found it.
Pure white silica sand is hard to come by as the NSW glass industry depends on it. Tanilba Bay and Oyster Cove have heaps of it, but ACI was told to mine behind the golf club first where it is not very deep and large trees had to be bulldozed to get at it.
After this was mined they were granted leases to the deep deposits between Tanilba Bay and Oyster Cove.
The company employed an honours graduate botanist to oversee the rehabilitation and a large cash deposit was lodged to ensure that this happened.
They were supposed to put it back the way it was before mining which included understorey species as well as the big eucalypts. Initially these were grown in the company on-site nursery but a direct seeding technique was found to be more efficient. The large blackboys were removed before clearing by a front end loader which used the bucket like an 'egg slide' to transfer them to the already mined areas. Seed bearing siftings from the plant were trucked back and mixed with the stockpiled topsoil and spread over the strip mined sections. It worked very well, indeed too well to the extent that the large gums dominated the landscape. Subsequent bushfires saw these trees seed even more.
The mine still operartes under new owners but extracts less sand from its northern dune leases as cheaper imports dominate the industry.
Pictures:The direct seeded gum trees at an early stage....the mined area some 40 years later....and the floating rutile dredge at Mallabula.
First Home Buyers Active
First home buyers are active in the real estate market at the moment. This is the message from Portside principal David Keers.
'The government's incentives may have a lot to do with it,” he said. “There is increased inquiry around the $800 000 mark and Tilligerry is also attractive for other reasons, he added. “ A quiet lifestyle, proximity to the water and the large blocks and lots of open public space appeal, compared to other newer areas with tiny blocks of land,” he said.
“The reason why most of Tanilba Bay and parts of Mallabula have wide roads and large blocks is that they were developed in the 1930s. There is also a large number of parks because land was very cheap in those days. Buyers can restore older homes and subdivide or put a rental 'Granny Flat' in the backyard.” he stated.
“There is also a bit of movement in houses with water frontages or water views. Rentals are hard to come by and start at about $400 pw for a small studio apartment,” he suggested.
“When it comes to vacant land, there is very little left and with the prospects of new estates a long way off, prices have soared due to the supply and demand factor driving the market,” he said.
Note: PSSC is looking to liquidate unused roads and public parks which could be subdivided for house blocks. Tanilba Bay would fit the bill as there are a few large parks which are excess to requirements. The money raised would go into road improvements.
Picture: David Keers.....First home buyers active.
Silver Bullets
Precious metal prices lately have been going through the roof. Indeed with gold at over $7000 per ounce, a mini gold rush has sent weekend fossickers west to the old diggings of Hill End and Sofala to try their luck.
The price hike has also been reflected in coin value. An Aussie gold sovereign changes hands at well over $1000 and the humble 1966 silver 50c coin starts at $50.
These silver coins went into circulation in 1966 but quickly disappeared. You see the silver content was worth 70c, so smart operators would buy buckets of them from the banks and cash them in for scrap. That's a 40% profit for an afternoon's work! They were slowly withdrawn because they were confused with the 20c coins as they were both round and replaced by the multi sided ones we have today.
It might pay you to go through your old coins in the bottom drawer and see if you have any.
There's one western legend who could no longer afford to be in business today. He was the Lone Ranger . With his trusty Indian side kick Tonto and his white horse Silver he ranged the west, righting wrongs, rescuing damsels in distress and shooting up the bad guys. The problem is that he used silver bullets. Today he couldn't afford them!
Photos: The 50c silver coins....and the Lone Ranger and Tonto.
New
Owners New Ideas
The servo in President Wilson Walk has changed hands with new owners, new management and employing local staff....and with a new coat of paint.
It's early days at the moment but we have been assured that the business will be open seven days per week from 6 am. 'till 8pm.
A mechanic will be on hand for repairs.
A spokesperson said that food and drinks will be available and a coffee van is proposed for the carpark.
Manager Jack said that pricing is very competitive and already he has had positive feedback.
“Why not try us out? he said, “You'll be pleasantly surprised.”
Photo: Up and running in President Wilson Walk.
Koala Tales
Koalas are hard to find these days as bushfires, road kill and dogs have decimated their numbers . It wasn't always like this as old timers could always track them dow
n. A release of around 50 in Lemon Tree
Passage in the '70s made them quite common. Some of the best stories about these little furry fellas are still told to wide eyed visitors.
At night training, the floodlights were turned on for the Mallabula Panthers .A koala was caught in the lights in the middle of the oval. His natural instinct was to find something vertical to climb. In this case it was the solid steel goalpost. He finally shimmied down and disappeared into the scrub.
A bushfire saw the firies put in a backburn. A koala crossed the main road and headed for the scrub between the backburn and the blaze. To save it, the firies stopped a car whose owner had a bag in the boot. This they threw over the koala, dumped it in the boot and told the driver to release it at the waterfront.
One entered the old LTP paper shop and climbed the corner greeting card display with double mirrored backing. Here he paused, bewildered by his reflections until the owner ushered him outside with a broom.
One climbed a post at the boat ramp to be marooned by the rising tide and a fishing inspector reported one atop a channel marker.
Perhaps the most interesting story was of a koala found in a kitchen in Caswell Cresent, Tanilba Bay. The owners were woken by noises and wondered how he got in. Apparently, the lady of the house had bought a bottle of eucalyptus disinfectant. She accidentally spilled it. Rather than waste the concentrate, she mopped the floor with it as well as all the surfaces in the kitchen. There was a Nor'Easter blowing and the koala which was a resident of the area got a whiff of it. He crossed the road, went down the side passage and climbed the double stairway at the back. He then pushed his way through the fly strips in search of some tasty leaves!
One Mallabula family with a tin roof could always tell if a koala was in an overhanging tree as its droppings made a different sound to that of the possums that used the tree as well.
On a national scale, koalas are not endangered. They were very rare in colonial times. Indeed after settlement it was ten years before one was sighted. They bred up to plague proportions and their skins were exported in the 1920s.
Even today, the abundance of food from plantation blue gums on Kangaroo Island saw them multiply to over 50 000. A big bushfire incinerated some 40 000 which now gives the eucalypts some chance of recovery.
Photos: The koala up the goalpost.....'Heather' now deceased poses with tourists.....The house with the koala in the kitchen....and a resident Mallabula koala named 'Smoky.
Gone Cuckoo
Forget about seeing koalas, they are almost gone out our way and anyhow, they are nothing to look at – just a furry ball asleep in the fork of a tree. If you bash the tree with a sledge hammer they wake up and look around but they are more active after dark. What's more they are nocturnal!
Nature lovers flock to Tilligerry to look for other native species – particularly birds. The sandflats host migratory birds that use our summer to bulk up and return to Asia to breed.
PSSC has erected signs along Peace Pde near the new amenities block for easy identification. Sadly their numbers have declined over the years as many of their stop - off feeding grounds in Asia have been built over with tourist complexes and they have starved.
Avian enthusiasts (twitchers) regulary turn up in Tilligerry to find many of the species that are rare and interesting. In
deed behind Mc Cann Park in LTP a chain wire fence was erected to preserve the breeding site of a pair of 'thick knees' (stone curlews). It has since been removed. Google them for ID).
Another interesting but ugly parasite is the channel billed cuckoo. This migrant from New Guinea, lays its oversized egg (some times two) in the nests of currawongs and magpies. The 'surrogate' parents rear them as their own despite no resemblance to the parent and being two or three times the size.
So there you have it. Get your field glasses and cameras. Forget the koalas and get up close and friendly with our Avian migrants.
Photos: The ID signs at Tanilba waterfront...and a channel billed cuckoo waiting for its currawong 'mother' to feed it at Mallabula.
Toxic Logs and Bushfires
Treated pine logs were once used for children's playgrounds and decking. This was banned some 20 years ago as they were impregnated with copper chrome arsenate. This protected them from rot and insects. The arsenic co
uld be transferred to humans from contact or by breathing in the smoke.
You can get all the info from the EPA site on AI or on google.
That brings us to the pine boardwalks between Mallabula and Tanilba Bay.
This scrub is the most burnt out bushland in Tilligerry as schoolkids fire it up in the holidays. Indeed they forced the evacuation of our school one presentation night due to the smoke. The fires also destroyed the hardwood decking in the 'Habitat.”
PSSC owns the foreshore strip along the rim of the bay and its insurers foot the bill for replacement. The Habitat is responsible for the land from there up to the bike track near the School.
Former Councillor Steve Tucker is a burnoff advocate but the Council refuses to cool burn or slash near the bay. They cite a rare frog (which nobody has ever found there) as a burnoff could threaten its habitat.The wallum froglet i
s thought to live in the swamp and if it does it could be at risk.
The 'Habitat' volunteers are currently rebuilding some boardwalk but this begs the question: 'Will it all go up in smoke?' The answer is 'Yes', and there is a reason for this. You see PSSC and the RFS point blank refuse to burn it off on environmental grounds so the next fire will gobble it up.
Our local firies see it from a different angle as Life Member Richard Osborne OAM explains:
“There are no fire trails in this scrub and it's very hard to get trucks in there. Also there are no water mains for high pressure hoses to tap into.”
“We were lucky last time as it was high tide and our fire boat and a mobile pump could fight the fire from the water.”
So dear reader there you have it: Our little frog would stand a greater chance of survival if the area was cool burned in winter when his swamp was full of water. In summer he would be fried as the the wetland is bone dry. Our firies would be much more able to fight the fires if a fire trail broke the scrub into sections and if activists campaigned for cool burning the RFS and PSSC might just change their minds.
Photos: The wallum froglet....Dave Knight at a deliberatele lit fire....and Richard receiving his Life membership award.
Vaccinate Your Rabbits
Owners are being advised to vaccinate their pet rabbits as a new strain of the calicivirus is to be released in early March 2026.
Currently there is a plague of rabbits in Tilligerry and PSC has an ongoing control program for parks and reserves under its control.
They employ professional shooters and poison areas after identifying 'hot spots'. This process is repeated if the rabbits come back. Pindone is the preferred poison but 1080 (ten eighty) was used for many years.
Landowners are responsible for the management of rabbits on their own properties.
Rabbit populations were out of control until myxomatosis was introduced in the 1950s. Indeed a rabbit proof fence of over 3350 km was erected in WA to stop their march into Western Australia in between 1901 and 1907. On our own Broughton Island trials were stopped after residents got sick after eating them. Later it was found that this was not the case. The poisoning came from wild mushrooms!!! 'Myxo' reduced the population of 600 000 000 to 100 000 000 in the 1950s.
Today the calicivirus is more effective after bunnies became increasingly immune to 'myxo'.
And some good news! We can assure girls and boys that the Easter Bunny has been vaccinated and will be bringing you the Easter eggs as he has always done!
File photo: A warning sign near the sports oval at Mallabula.
Lift for Library
But where is it? This is most asked question by those wanting to borrow books in Tilligerry.
The town public library is situated on the main road opposite the Lemon Tree Passage Motel and when open, has a 'library' flag fluttering from a pole in front of it.
It's been there for decades and is staffed by volunteers and operates from 10am until noon six days per week. (Monday to Saturday).
A big makeover a couple of years back saw new carpet, reader friendly furniture and a slick paint job spruce it up.
What's more, a heavy cull of the least read books and an injection of new stock has something for everyone, including children.
Tilligerry Men's Shed workers have just removed the old overgrown sign and have carved a new one which is much more visible.
Business is more or less back to normal after a year or so of roadwork disruptions and the construction of a new police station two doors away. Council have taken over the computer access and has 2 brand new computers. A new scanner is on order and you will now be able to print A4 colour pages.
The library augments the mobile service which visits the villages of Tanilba Bay, Mallabula and Lemon Tree Passage on a rotational basis.
Both services have now recovered from the Covid lockdown restrictions and are back up to pace.
Photos: The LTP Library after the makeover......and the new sign giving it better visibility.
Book Donations
Tilligerry Community Library has always enjoyed the support of the community donating their books. Whilst we do appreciate them, we can only accept them with prior consultation. Our hours are 10-12 noon Monday to Saturday and our phone number is 4982 3477 if you wanted to call up or pop in and check with us before bringing them in. Please don’t leave them at the door.
More than Just a News Service
You've seen our illuminated sign 'tilligerry.com' beside the main road near the golf club as you drive into town at night.
With news services moving away from the print media, tilligerry.com for over 10 years now has moved with the times and gives local residents the news that they can't get anywhere else. Indeed, those travelling around Australia or internationally can keep up to date with a click on a mouse or a mobile phone.
Before our 'hit meter' broke down we were averaging around 2000 views each month. We have a few businesses supporting us but we really don't want advertisers as we are a not for profit community service.
It gets even better. There are constant requests, usually from residents new to the area, for general information about available services and organizations out this way.
We now have an extensive community directory listing some 80 of these which includes: churches, clubs, social groups, cultural events, schools, tourist information, community support, JPs, medical services, play groups and pre schools.
Photo: tilligerry.com more than just news.
elebrating the re-opening.
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