Nimbin, New South Wales

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. (help, get involved!)
Any material not supported by sources may be challenged and removed at any time. This article has been tagged since January 2007.

Nimbin Village 1979

Nimbin is a small village in the Northern Rivers area of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately 30 km north of Lismore, 43 km southeast of Kyogle, and 70km west of Byron Bay. The area is part of what is known as the 'Rainbow Region' and is culturally important to the Bundjalung Aboriginal Australians and has become a haven for Australia's counterculture in recent decades.^[1]

It was a sleepy dairy town until 1973, when the Aquarius Festival, a large gathering of university students, alternative lifestylers, 'hippies' and party people was held in the town.^[2] This event attracted the attention of the authorities and so the Assistant and Chief Constable of the NSW Police attended. It did not take long to realise that a lot of the 'hippies' were using marijuana. Many of the festival goers stayed to form communes and other multiple occupancy properties of various sizes, some based around a particular philosophy, most not. Since then, the area has attracted many writers, artists, musicians, actors, environmentalists, permaculture enthusiasts, small farmers and mainstream society drop outs.

1 Cannabis Culture & MardiGrass
2 Economy of Nimbin
3 Accommodation & Sights
4 Gallery
5 References
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Cannabis Culture & MardiGrass

In NSW, the cultivation, selling and possession of cannabis is illegal. In Nimbin, however, all three activities continue unabated. It has a high tolerance for cannabis plant (marijuana), with the open buying, selling & consumption of locally grown cannabis on the streets and laneways.

Nimbin shop 1979

To rally for an end to the prohibition of cannabis in Australia, Nimbin holds its annual MardiGrass festival. On the first weekend with any part of it in May, thousands descend on Nimbin for cannabis oriented fun and frivolity. Activities include: a Prohibition Protest Rally and Parade with the Ganja Faeries, the Nimbin Cannabis Cup, the Hemp Olympix, which includes the Bong "Throw'n'Yell", Joint Rolling, and the Grower's Iron Person event, where runners must first carry a 20kg sack of fertiliser, then a bucket of water, and finally "the crop", as a tribute to the difficulties faced by growers in the hills, and to show that cannabis users can be fit and healthy. At night, entertainment ranges from the Harvest Ball and Picker's Ball, rave doof parties, to poetry and jazz in local cafes.^[3]

There are a number of shops in Nimbin geared to the cannabis culture.

The Nimbin Hemp Embassy is a "soft entry point for drug information", and a shop selling anything to do with Hemp, except cannabis itself.
Clothing & natural skin products using industrial hemp products.
The Nimbin HEMP Bar allows the patrons to smoke cannabis while enjoying fresh coffee and cake. It also sells potent hash brownies.

[edit] Economy of Nimbin

Tourism: Usually higher during late summer/spring as Nimbin is a main tourist attraction for people visiting nearby.
Property: In 2004 the region was experiencing a property boom, as many left the cities for an alternative lifestyle or tree-change, and large farms were being subdivided into smaller blocks for sale. After a brief property price lull in 2005, pressure is now coming from the Uki side where workers from the Tweed Coast and Gold Coast are forcing up home prices.
Alternative Energy/Culture/Lifestyle: Many green industries operate in Nimbin include the Rainbow Power Company, Djanbung Permaculture Gardens, Nimbin Environment Centre, Ecosilk Bags and the Nimbin Candle Factory.
Health & Lifestyle: New Age healing is available in almost every form, and the local arts are thriving with many galleries and arts events.^[4]

[edit] Accommodation & Sights

Nimbin is serviced by a police station, hospital and medical centre, restaurants, cafes and a pub. All types of accommodation are available for visitors from camping grounds and youth hostels to bush cabins and luxury hotels.

Other nearby attractions:^[1]

Nimbin Rocks, a series of jagged outcroppings, solidified plugs left after the erosion of volcanic dykes and vents & Blue Knob that are both landmarks for the village.
Mt Warning (known as Wollumbin to the Bundjalung people) is close by, the summit of which is the first point of mainland Australia to see the sunrise and can be climbed following an 8km track through forested slopes. Mount Warning is the solid plug at the centre of a caldera containing the Tweed River, where, millions of years ago, a volcano had stood instead. Nimbin is on the outside edge of that ancient volcano.
Nightcap National Park is one of the few remaining places to see the remnants of the Big Scrub rainforest.
There are many local creeks and rivers for swimming

[edit] Gallery

Nimbin NSW Australia	1979 Nimbin art	Nimbin Rocks, near Nimbin NSW Australia	Nimbin 1979
1979 Nimbin street doorway	Welcome sign to the village	Bundjalung language sign