Cuppa's (& MrsTea's) new blog.

[supersparky]

Thanks for another great update Cuppa. Looking forward to the next one.

[Shirley]

Wow, Cuppa so interesting to read & great photographs, thanks for sharing your Nomadic lifestyle with us.

We first visited Cape Tribulation in 1969, the Rykas family had two dwellings built & where living in the rain forest, they grew everything even tea & coffee, the water was supplied by bamboo pipes down from the forest, remember thinking back then what an idyllic lifestyle. The family consisted of the elderly g'parents, a son & his two young children who the g'mother was educating, she would walk along the beach with them book in hand. We spent many a weekend sleeping in our two man tent on the beach.

[Shirley]

Wow, Cuppa so interesting to read & great photographs, thanks for sharing your Nomadic lifestyle with us.

We first visited Cape Tribulation in 1969, the Rykas family had two dwellings built & where living in the rain forest, they grew everything even tea & coffee, the water was supplied by bamboo pipes down from the forest, remember thinking back then what an idyllic lifestyle. The family consisted of the elderly g'parents, a son & his two young children who the g'mother was educating, she would walk along the beach with them book in hand. We spent many a weekend sleeping in our two man tent on the beach.

[Shirley]

I was trying to post a couple of photos from 1969.

[Shirley]

Photos.taken enroute to Tribulation.G'parents & g'son.

IMG_0669.JPG

IMG_0665.JPG

[Cuppa]

So pleased our blog stirred a few good memories for you Shirley. If truth be told I am more than a little envious of the opportunity you had (& took) to see the country before it became more developed.

Tell me (if you know) how are water pipes made from bamboo. Were long drills required to drill lengths of bamboo out before joining multiple lengths together? Anyone else here know?

[Shirley]

IMG_0670.JPG

IMG_0670.JPG

Cuppa our first trip to FNQ was in 1966, we drove our Fiat 1500 all the way to Cooktown, gravel,dirt, bull dust, no bridges road back in those days, we often talk about how good it was that we travelled when we were young. We moved to Cairns to live in 1969, our eldest son is a north Queenslander.
Bruce tells me, the bamboo was cut down the centre, knots removed & then joined back together, some of the bamboo pipe was 4-5 " in diameter, the Rykas had their own timber mill, the g'parents house was small but really lovely, all built furniture included on site, the g'father was a French polisher by trade we were told, the son's house was more a huge open air arrangement with a sleeping loft. Back then there was an American guy living onboard a yacht that had been pulled up into the trees just off the beach too.

[Shirley]

IMG_0664.JPG

Sure did bring back very Happy memories Cuppa, the first picture was the American & son launching the boat, don't know why it posted twice, the second one is a young Shirley on the kids swing. We had a SWB soft top x army Landrover, we went everywhere up there in it.
Bruce is the young guy standing holding the water bottle in the first picture that I posted.

[Dot]

We used the big bamboo as out riggers when fishing 40miles off shore,

[Shirley]

Yes Dot, I have seen bamboo outriggers too.
The Rykas had sawn coconut trees into 4x2s, their set up just off the beach backing into the rain forest was amazing, they had every type of fruit growing, it was a real paradise existence & very few people ventured there back in the sixties.