A Town called Murwillumbah

We’re on our way to visit a small country town that lies in the crater of an extinct volcano now called the Tweed Valley. The town we are visiting is called Murwillumbah and is an aboriginal name meaning “place of many possums”.

The mountain range we can see in the distance is all that remains of the volcano’s outer rim, which has slowly eroded away over millions of years. In the valley that surrounds the town of Murwillumbah most of the land is flat and used for agriculture. Good sandy loam soil supports sugar cane, which is a major industry in the area. Here we can see sugar cane growing on the both sides of the road driving into the town.

The large mountain in the foreground partly covered by cloud is called Mount Warning and was the center plug or core of the volcano when it was active. These silver bins are used to put the cut cane into so they can be taken to the local sugar mill where the cut cane is processed into raw sugar. These bins are carried by large trucks. Cane cut from surrounding paddocks is taken and dumped into these bins by tractors, which tow bins behind a cane harvester, which cuts the cane.

As we drive into the town we notice that it is built on a few small hills with enough elevation to keep many important buildings above floods that periodically occur during times of excessively high rainfall. We also pass a traffic sign that tells drivers that the speed limit in built up areas in town is 50 kilometers per hour. Down from 100 kilometers per hour on the open roads.

As we enter the town we notice that the farmland ends and is replaced by urban development. Houses, trees and electricity poles line the road. Resident’s cars are parked on the road in front of their houses.

You’ll notice that cars drive on the left hand side of the road.

The town has a population of around 11,000 people and lays about 15 kilometers from the ocean.  

The area’s average temperature is 25 degrees celsius.

Here’s a quick look at the local council building, which houses the regions public officials.

As we come to the main street there is an increase in the number of parked cars on the side of the road. As we enter the main street the first building we pass is a cream colored bank. Once we enter the main street we see it is typical of small town main streets all over the world and lined both sides by array of different types of buildings and shops. In front of the buildings are car parks and cars using these car parks are facing inward.

This building on the right is the town’s police station.

Throughout Australia it is mandatory to stop at pedestrian crossings, also called zebra crossings in relation to the stripes that identify them on the road. Not only is it considered good manners but failure to stop and let a pedestrian cross the road on a crossing like this will incur a traffic fine and loss of driver’s license points.

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