Nambucca Heads' new pictorial highway signs have sprung up this week, adding a little colour to the highway landscape.
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Have you seen them yet? And what do you reckon? We'll have a more comprehensive story on the new signs coming very shortly.
But as we were driving to have a sticky beak, we couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the sea of wattle lining the road.
It was all yellow ... ahem, thanks Coldplay.
Yes, yes, the wattle's there every year. But there's something about the intensity of the blooms this year that struck us.
The trees along the banks of the new stretch of M1 from Warrell Creek to Nambucca have now had two years of growth since that section's opening.
And it's fairly difficult not to be impressed as you run the gauntlet of teeming yellow fluff.
So as much as we thank the State Government for our new picture signs which advertise the natural beauty of Nambucca, it's heartening to see that our beautiful native flora is doing a darn fine job of advertising itself.
We hope you enjoy our photo tribute to the wattle of the Nambucca Valley. And if you have any snaps of your own, please share them with us. We'd love to see them.
Some fun wattle facts
- The golden wattle has thrived on the Australian continent for 35 million years, resilient to drought, wind and bushfire - the perfect symbol of the knockabout Aussie spirit.
- The wood, pollen and sap from acacias was transformed by Indigenous people into food, medicine, weapons, tools, musical instruments, glues, dyes, perfumes and ceremonial decoration. Blooming in spring, the golden flowers also signified seasonal events such as whales arriving on the coast or eels appearing in rivers.
- Wattle flowers were sold to raise money during the World War 1. It became tradition to send pressed wattles in letters to wounded soldiers, and fallen diggers were often buried with a sprig.
- The golden wattle only became the official floral emblem of Australia in 1988, but Wattle Day has been observed since way back in 1899, before the nation was even federated.
- Queen Elizabeth II wore golden wattle on her official coronation gown when she took the throne on June 2, 1953.
- Australians might hold their national flower with great affection, but that sentiment isn't necessarily shared all over the planet. The acacia pycnantha is considered a weed in South Africa, Tanzania, Italy, Portugal, Sardinia, India, Indonesia and New Zealand, where the wattle competes with native vegetation.
With thanks to theculturetrip.com
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Mel Leigh Dee
Mel is a journalist at the Guardian News and is based in Macksville.
Mel is a journalist at the Guardian News and is based in Macksville.
