Wednesday, September 23, 2020

TIN CAN BAY....A SLEEPY LITTLE VILLAGE..

 

Tin Can Bay Yacht Club




                           






 

Originally called “Wallu”, in 1937 the small fishing village’s name was changed to "Tin Can Bay". The name are said to be derived from "tinchin" meaning “mangrove, in the Yugarabul dialect of the Yuggera language of the local indigenous people.

Others say that "Tin Can" is a word derived from the word "tinken", a vine with a large ribbed leaf, which grew on the beaches. The area was also known as "Tuncunba" - "ba" meaning "Place of "; "Tuncun" meaning "Dugong" or "Plenty of tucker".   Are you confused, yet?

A white lad, "Zachariah Daniel Sparkes Skyring" was one of the first permanent residents in the area. He later called the town "Tin Can Bay". Zachariah was born on 13th. July, 1861 and died on the 4th.June, 1957.  

27 kilometres south of Gympie is Skyring's Creek.  "Skyring" is a well-known name in the Gympie/Cooloola area.

 In the early Eighties, for a brief period, I worked with a lass who was a member of the Skyring family. (We’re still in contact to this day).  Aged 16 years at the time, it was her first job.  She went on to marry a lad from another well-known local family.  They’ve lived in the Gympie area since marrying.  Their talented daughter, a singer, appeared on “The X-Factor” a few years ago, and is doing well in the world of Australian country music.

Tin Can Bay is about 30-40 minutes drive east from Gympie, depending on how heavy one's foot is on the accelerator! The drive through Goomboorian, a farming area betwixt Gympie and Tin Can Bay is quite stunning, in my opinion.

Quite often, when living back in Gympie during the years 1998 to 2002, and when time allowed, I would drive down to the 'Bay' on a Sunday morning for breakfast at the area’s small yacht club.  

Tin Can Bay’s current population is around 2,500.  Yes...that is correct...2,500, give or take...

The club is built on the water's edge.  Sitting out on the deck, lost in my thoughts as I enjoyed both the view and my breakfast was a very pleasant way to while away a couple of hours on a Sunday morning.

 Equally as nice as breakfasting on the deck of the yacht club...sometimes, instead, I would buy delicious, freshly-cooked fish (in crisp, golden batter, of course!) and chips.  Armed with my hot feast, I’d sit on the foreshore, surrounded by ravenous seagulls.

 I never mind seagulls hovering around me.  They are beautiful creatures, and, when in their presence, or they in mine, I'm always on the look-out for 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull'.  I’ve conversed with Jonathan a few times! He and I are old mates.  We always have much to discuss

 

When my now late ex-husband Randall and I married...in a very relaxed setting and ceremony on a Sunday afternoon at Randall’s parents’ home... conducted by a Marriage Celebrant...Neil Diamond’s soundtrack LP...”Jonathan Livingstone Seagull” played in the background throughout the making of our vows...vows using quotes from Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet".  Randall and I also saw Neil Diamond live in concert at Brisbane’s Festival Hall in 1976...the same year we married.  The "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" album and story are both still inspirational...and both still bring tears to my eyes.

 

Fishing and mud-crabbing were two of our mother’s pet pastimes when my brother and I were kids. Often, Nana, Mum, Graham and I boarded a bus en route to Tin Can Bay.  We never had the luxury of a car.  

In those days of the 1950s Tin Can Bay was a sleepy little fishing village, boasting a population of 240, thereabouts.

The township consisted of corrugated iron, timber, or fibro shacks. Most were without electricity.

At night, hurricane lamps and candles shed light inside the beach shacks in which our small family unit, as well as holidayed.  Most permanent residents lived in similar conditions.

 Late afternoon and evening the air would be dense with a heavy cloak of smoke from the smouldering cow manure packed in forty-four gallon drums in the backyards. The burning of cow manure was an endeavour to keep the mosquitoes and sand-flies at bay at The Bay.

The sand-flies were the bane of my existence. They loved me. They still do, for that matter!   The feeling wasn’t and still isn’t mutual! I hated them then and I still do now!

 However, these days, if I have need to go to areas where sandflies fly, for the couple of weeks leading up to my pending visit I over-dose on Vitamin B supplements to repel the nasty, nipping, little critters.  Even though, some “experts” denounce the practice, it certainly worked for me when Randall and I used to visit Fraser Island, or when sandflies decided, in their hordes, it was time to pay a visit Hastings Street, Noosa Heads...during the time I operated my greengrocery-health food shop in the street.

When we were kids, Tin Can Bay had an open-air picture ‘theatre’...not a drive-in.  There was just a large screen plonked in a wide, open piece of vacant land.

Many a night after dinner, my brother and I sat in the backyard of where we were staying to watch the screen from afar,  We could barely hearing or understanding the dialogue, but that didn’t hinder us. Mostly, we invented our own scripts, much to our delight.

Every day, and most nights during our visits to Tin Can Bay, Mum went fishing and mud-crabbing.  

Meanwhile, in the daylight hours, Nana, Graham and I collected oysters off the rocks to the right of the esplanade.

Armed with an oyster knife each, we opened the shells bearing the delectable delicacies, eating many as we went along the oyster-bearing rocks. We each had a large glass jar to fill with oysters to take back to the shack. At the threat of death, we guarded those oyster knives as if they were made of gold. The prized oyster knives had belonged to our late grandfather, who passed away quite a few years before I entered the world.

Once back at the beach shack, we feasted on the fish and crabs Mum caught, and our bounty of fresh oysters.

Our fresh seafood was always served simply with fresh bread, butter, vinegar, salt and pepper. No further trimmings or additions were necessary.  Perfection cannot be perfected!

As a small child, I gave no thought to the health benefits but now, of course, I know how nutritional fresh seafood is. Rarely were we sick as children, so I guess all those sand fly-ridden days and nights eating fresh seafood accounted for our good health. Other than the normal childhood maladies such as the mumps, measles, chicken pox, the only other times I got sick was from motion sickness. To this day, I get car sick if relegated to the back seat or if in a boat, if I’m not the skipper. Yes, I do have a boat license but that, also, is another story for another day.

As this tale has grown longer than I initially thought it was going to be at the outset...

To be continued...is the only way to go.....

 


 


19 comments:

  1. I love the sound of Tin Can Bay, but you lost me at sandflies. Nasty little buggers. There aren't any here in Adelaide, but there are plenty of ants that just love to bit me. I swear, when they smell me coming, they send out lunch invitations!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, River. I hate sandlfies, too...they are nasty little buggers. I had long hair, in plaits, when I was a kid a they used go love biting my scalp...and elsewhere. I'd be scratching for days after a visit to Tin Can Bay.

      The B vitamins taken for a couple of weeks prior to areas where the little pests love to hang around certainly worked for me. They stayed well away from me.

      Some may say ingesting the B vitamins doesn't work...but it did work for me, and that is what mattered, as far as I was concerned. (It worked for Randall, too, for the times we visited Fraser Island...)

      Thanks for coming by. :)

      Delete
  2. Have seen the sign to Tin Can Bay several times but can you believe it! Never been there. Heard about the sandflies from other travellers.
    Rather partial to Neil Diamond myself, he certainly has an amazing voice.
    Take care..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello, Margaret. Well, my dear, you are just going to have to do a detour off the highway and head off to Tin Can Bay during one of your visits. I'd love to see the photos you take of the area.

      Yes...I've always been a fan of Neil Diamond...a huge fan. He was great to see. I'm glad I had the chance. Sadly, he is now suffering Parkinson's Disease.

      You, too, take care...thanks for coming by. :)

      Delete
  3. I like fishing villages, but without... the smell of fish.
    I'm used to say about bees what you say about sandflies - that they love me. I got stung quite a few times by them.
    I love your phrase: "perfection cannot be perfected". Sounds..perfect.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. G'day, DUTA. Bee stings never bother me. I have little or no reaction. However, being stung by a wasp does. I hate wasps.

      Take good care..thanks for coming by. :)

      Delete
  4. Sure looks beautiful there - the seagulls - and were those porpoises?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Sandie...They're dolphins...very friendly dolphins. They're quite an attraction...visitors to the area love them and, by behaviour of the dolphins, they love the visitors in return. :)

      Thanks for coming by. :)

      Delete
  5. I haven't listened to any Neil Diamond tracks for a while, I need to rectify that :)

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, Jan...I think it is time to rectify that...bring on Neil! His music is great. I intend playing more of it today. "Hot August Night"...what an album!! :)

      Thanks for coming by...take care. :)

      Delete
  6. What fun! That is a holiday for the adventurous.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi messymimi...It was all very simple, humble....not flash at all when we were little kids...but we loved the fresh seafood, if not the sandflies. :)

      Thanks for coming by. :)

      Delete
  7. What a beautiful place. I love dolphins.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. G'day, Sandra...it is a fisherman's paradise, that's for sure. The dolphins are beautiful creatures :)

      Thanks for coming by. :)

      Delete
  8. How grateful you must be to have such lovely memories! And you also make me want me to have fresh seafood!! Besides making me want to go to see Australia!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. G'day, Kay...nice to see you, as it always is! :)

      I do my utmost to dwell on the good memories...the fun, happy memories. Through my years on this planet I've had my share of both good and bad...I prefer to dwell on the good. :)

      Thanks for coming by, Kay. You never know...you and Richard might get down this way, one day! Hey! It rhymes...is that a precursor to good times? :)

      Delete
  9. I've had to give it some thought but I'm pretty sure it was 1973 when I visited Tin Can Bay and fed the sandflies. They love me, too. I only went there because I'd never been and the sandflies would deter me from going again. Mind you, the crabs make it sound rather appealing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. G'day, Pauline. We had fun there when we were kids, and so did the sandflies. They were the bane of my existence. I reacted to them...red lumps and I scratched for days. I loved the fresh seafood, but the nasty little pests were relentless.

      I love mud crabs. They are so, so delicious!!!

      Thanks for coming by :)

      Delete
  10. Simplesmente maravilhoso. Sonho com um lugar assim, para passar férias.

    Bjs
    Coisas de Feltro

    ReplyDelete