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by Mandy Nolan
Byron Bay, where people have names like downupandunda and
the rocks are called Julian!
Personally, I've always thought the words "dolphin"
and "doleform" are way too similar for the cosmic capital.
It leads to mass confusion. Every two weeks I get my dolphin
stamped and I've had some amazing nude swims with doleforms.
A local international celeb even made a film about it, titled,
"My Friend Flopper."
Authoress Mandy Nolan at the
"Nude Ain't Rude Rally"
Seriously though, this is a unique and wonderful part of
the universe, its colourful people, its pristine coastal location,
basically, its a great place to drink coffee. That's what
most of us have been doing for the past 10 years - sitting
in coffee shops gossiping over cappuccinos.
The coffee shop is a Byron institution. This is the place
where you can spot the famous north coast cuddle. This is
an embrace which can last up to 20 minutes between 2 people
who only met an hour ago. The hug also serves as an informal
casting for the up and coming tantric sex videos.
The coffee shop is the place where we talk about all the
exciting people we were in past lives to make up for how dull
we are now. This is where we read the tarot to discover the
exciting people we are about to become. The coffee shop is
where we talk about the terrible scarring after the pelvic
fire workshop, which bit of flesh we are going to pierce next,
if goddesses really wear cheesecloth, is it ideologically
sound to tie dye your underwear and if burying yourself up
to your neck in the earth after eating a bucket of goldtops
is spiritually awakening or just plain crazy! The coffee shop
is where we network, and plan revolution (as long as the moon
is in Scorpio).
We are a political people here on the north coast. We are
the poor living in Paradise. If you are going to be poor,
then why not live somewhere pleasant? Down and out in Byron
is a lot more glamorous than destitute and desperate in Dubbo.
We're poor, but we're not stupid.
As a small, funky community we are an ageless anomoly left
over from the peace love and brown rice of the Aquarius Festival
some 20 years ago. In the past 8 years of my residence here
(still not local status, although I did give birth looking
out over Mt. Chincogan) I have been witness and party to grassroots
political action to protect and conserve the integrity of
our seaside village and surrounds from the greedy hands of
the everpresent bogeyman - the developer. We took the lighthouse
hostage in a mock auction to highlight the dangers of imminent
sale for government revenue raising, we pushed the goats off
the cliff, in an effort to protect fragile fauna (I'm a Capricorn,
this was beyond the call of duty!), we told the French to
F*** off and clubbed med on the head, we marched to save the
whales (I hope they were watching), we saved the Paterson
Street hilltop from a nasty townhouse rash, we got naked and
cartwheeled up Belongil Beach to prove that nude ain't rude,
it's just damn funny! It was a good excuse to show the world
our beautiful Byron yoga bodies, and illustrated that down
face dog can be down right confronting.
We are a small community, the last bastion of true believers
waiting for that spaceship to take us to that big hippy commune
in the sky!
The truth is out there, and so are we!
Author Mandy Nolan is a 6ft blonde, multi-faceted artist
who combines visual arts with stand-up comedy and has a penchant
for baring body and soul.
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