They were on a cruise and walk holiday around the world, with a focus on the natural environment and culture of the places they visited.

After a morning of beautiful walks in our national parks, I arranged for them to visit Jigamy Farm.

They all thoroughly enjoyed the experience, learning about aboriginal culture and history, admiring artwork, throwing spears and boomerangs, and tasting freshly caught seafood on an open fire.

I would like to thank Les and Richie for their efforts and encourage the Aboriginal Land Council to develop and promote the Jigamy Farm experience.

They have a wonderful opportunity to educate and entertain children, locals and tourists and I hope they embrace it fully.

Adam Spitzer, South East Tours and Transfers

While researching a bit of family history at Maitland in the mid 19th century I came across the following piece in the Maitland Daily Mercury dated Thursday, September 19, 1895.

“Three rheumatic patients have been stuck up to their necks in a whale which was caught down Eden way last week.

There is, it seems, a belief among the marines that if you cut a hole in the blubber of a whale, and stick a man therein, the poultice thus formed will have considerable effect on the complaint with which he is afflicted.

Possibly there is some vestige of reason behind the idea, but we cannot well understand how a rheumatic resident of the Never Never country or some other waterlogged waste out back would have kept his whale during the recent drought.”

Richard Stanton, Bermagui

Sylvester Stallone would be very proud of the image Dr Phoon portrays standing in front of the SERH swinging a set of bolt cutters! Hardly the image to inspire confidence in his interpretation of 'the bolt cutter affair'!  

Better he show a mature and considered approach to his important role in this community and enter into productive discussions with hard working hospital management in good faith and with his main weapon – his obvious skill set! Our community deserves better than this Chris.

Colin Dunn, Pambula Beach

Council’s ill-considered decision to give $150,000 of ratepayers’ money to Pambula Merimbula Golf Club is already generating a conga line of the many shire golf clubs pleading: “please, council, pay for our irrigation systems, too!”

What a foolish and fiscally dangerous precedent.

The club has substantial assets on its balance sheet and dozens of valuable poker machine licences.

The golf club justifies its handout because its irrigation system takes grey water effluent from council’s sewage plant that would otherwise discharge into the bay. But the club’s system takes only 20 per cent of the effluent – much less when heavy rain multiplies volumes with stormwater runoff. 

The club gets this water free, whereas a normal irrigation water supply would cost them around $400,000 a year. Council would have been better to direct that $150,000 towards the $400,000 budget to direct effluent grey water to the publicly-owned council asset, the Pambula Sports Ground, for the benefit of a wider range of sports.

Hats off to the minority who opposed this decision – councillors Nadin, Bain, Fitzpatrick and Allen.  They showed responsible understanding of the need for financial prudence at council. 

Brickbats on this occasion for councillors who gave this middle class welfare the tick – McBain, Dodds, Seckold, Tapscott and Griff.

Jon Gaul, Tura Beach