Welcome to Country - Serpentine Ridge Country that is !!

A picturesque 27 min drive from Gympie. You will first see Widgee Mountain Range beautifully sprawled accross the vista (formed from serpentine rock).

‘Serpentine Ridge” (50 acres where we call home) on one of the mountains ridges, coming to rest in the valley, helping kangaroos & wallabies to follow their dreaming pathways to higher country & to juicy sweet grasses in wintertime.

Serpentine so called because the pattern of the rock surface resembles patterns on serpent’s skin. The Serpent also connects to Rainbow Serpent Dreaming stories of creation of the land, the waters & the living creatures.

The Serpent is also symbolic of the yogic healing Kundalini energy that flows through the chakras around the human spinal column helping us to grow & heal and to open up to our higher spiritual senses.

Geologically speaking ‘where the earth’s crust collides, Serpentine is born’ was formed from processes that began 440 million years ago deep within the middle of the earth’s mantle, underneath the bottom of the ocean, working it’s way to form mountain ranges, & out crops (very brief description of a very involved process). Puts a huge element of awe in our minds when we look over the land realizing how ancient it is. AWESOME !!…somehow imagining ocean waves rolling in, ancient aboriginal man looking out…thoughts & feelings in the realizing, the earth is alive!! Is still slowly forming, changing & growing gradually over time…… & how deeply the original people understand this, the land…

Anyway, getting back to visiting where we are…

So, after turning into our driveway, passing through forest areas of cabbage tree palms, eucalypts. she oaks, native hops, bunya nut trees, all attracting many species of birds including red & yellow tailed cockatoos, bee-eaters, nectar eaters, insect eaters, drongos, king parrots, lorikeets to name a few, then come the kookaburras, hawks, eagles,……. Kangaroos & wallabies hop past, feeding on the native grasses. Observant, bushwalkers will see Koalas & many more other species….

When you look further to the mountain, beyond our ‘Welcome Center’ the ridges are peppered with ancient grass trees, xanthorea being the botanical name, growing in unique (symboitic like) conditions that suit them so well, because of the serpentine, loving the high mineral content that the rocky formations bring to the area.

You can go for a bushwalk into these spectacular ridges where you will come across more grass trees, cycads, native orchids, along the pathways of the kangaroo trails, you will experience the most stunning views of surrounding deep ridges & valleys, eagles flying high in the sky. These grass trees witness everyday, regular cycles of sunrise, sunsets, stars of the milky way that no city lights outshine their beauty, every month the phases of the moon, every season, the comings and goings of the winter cold and the wet summers, the comings and goings of humans visiting the land, they have been there as witnesses for a very long time….as you arrive even higher in the mountains, overlooking the great expanse of land before you, you will feel proud that your body supported you to reach your destination, your reward, plus more, you will find more plant species that are suited only to that area and altitude that the very rare human gets to see.

Our ‘Welcome Center’ proudly displays this beautiful carving from the picture, researched designed & created proudly by Aboriginal Elder and Artist Uncle Alan Parsons. (Uncle Alan had brittle bone disease as a child and has always said when people talk about dissability, announces proudly people with “different abilitiy” & he is absolutely right!!

In the photo here he has just finished painting traditional Yellow Ochre into the grooves of the carving, creating a very special connection. Coming for a visit next, you will see other colors have been added since.

He was inspired by the many stringy bark tree trunks, holding our building tall & strong, he wanted to honor them being used in the making of our centre, they were milled locally in Widgee. He also wanted to honor the Ancestors who came before us, & their love & deep & connection to the land, their knowing, to honor & connect those present, & a signpost for those of the future. Helping us to awaken, to come together as a unity of rainbow people, to honor the land as a living thing, the plants & animals who inhabit her, to connect with each other, to truly see, to learn & grow & live sustainably for the future of us all.