Australia's hippy capital fears freedom at risk

[Oz]

NIMBIN, Australia (Reuters) - The pungent smell of marijuana fills the air outside The Rainbow Cafe in Australia's hippy capital Nimbin as a shopkeeper smokes a joint during a coffee break.

 

Across the road the Hemp Embassy is busy with shoppers inspecting bongs and pipes, as well as hemp T-shirts and hats, while a few enjoy a joint of marijuana in a side room.

 

"Hey mister, want some weed," says a voice in a dark corner of the Nimbin Museum, a cave-like labyrinth which tells of the hippy birth of Nimbin following the Aquarius Festival in 1973.

 

Selling and smoking marijuana may be illegal in Australia, but in Nimbin on Australia's fertile northeast coast authorities unofficially ignore the pot smoking.

 

Nimbin's marijuana smoking reputation is global and busloads of young foreign tourists, too young to ever have encountered a real hippy, arrive each day to get high or just wander through the village's shops which still promote the hippy way of life.

 

"Nimbin is a pot town," says Andrew Kavasilas, president of the Nimbin Chamber of Commerce, as he draws on a reefer of marijuana inside his Nimbin Cafe.

 

Nimbin's hippies are gathering for a wake at his cafe and a couple of grey haired women in kaftan tops and cotton pants chat and smoke marijuana, while two men playing chess roll a joint.

 

"Its a relaxed, alternate town. If you fit in, you fit in," says Kavasilas, who inspects the Reuters business card on the table and declares it would make good filters for his joints.

 

NIMBIN'S BIRTH

 

Nimbin was originally a dairy town, perched on a ridge surrounded by lush valleys. In 1973 the town was on the verge of closing when a group of university students held the Aquarius hippy festival in a nearby paddock.

 

An abundance of cheap land and buildings, and the prospect of growing potent marijuana in fertile cow paddocks, saw many hippies put down roots and build an alternate culture.

 

In its early years Nimbin struggled to survive with hippies constantly clashing with authorities over issues such as drugs, unauthorized communal housing and the environment.

 

Today Nimbin's rainbow-colored shops, such as Bringabong, the Hemp Embassy and the Rainbow Cafe, are heritage listed.

 

Nimbin's communes, one of which is 2,000 acres, now boast state-of-the-art ecological houses. The village's Rainbow Power Company exports alternative energy generating technology.

 

"Nimbin has changed from an isolated alternate culture to this village which is mainly tourism," says Michael Balderstone, a former stockbroker who arrived in Nimbin 20 years ago and now runs the Hemp Embassy and lobbies for marijuana to be legalized.

 

Even ageing hippies like Wavy Gravy, the master of ceremonies at the 1969 U.S. Woodstock festival, pilgrimage to Nimbin. Shuffling down the street with walking stick in hand and wearing a ban the bomb T-shirt, Gravy says he admires the communal vibe.

 

Other visitors just look confused as they gaze through shop windows at books like "Conversations with God," "Anti-Gravity and the Unified Field" and "Extra Dimensional Universe."

 

VULNERABLE

 

But Nimbin's relaxed attitude towards drugs has left it vulnerable. Five years ago hard drugs such as heroin and ICE entered Nimbin, fuelling violence especially among its youth.

 

Nimbin's hippies joined police in cracking down on the hard drugs and backed the installation of CCTV cameras in the main street.

 

"People worked with police to get rid of hard drugs from the town because they saw their sons and daughters going down a road to nowhere," says Peter Robinson at Nimbin Lifestyle Real Estate.

 

Nimbin has won its battle against hard drugs, but its reputation for tolerance continues to attract drug addicts and those with mental health problems.

 

"Its a bit of a refugee camp for people from the war on drugs," says Balderstone. "This is the last bus stop for people with mental health problems. They get accepted here."

 

"Its a bit of a problem for us. We end up with a lot of homeless and mental health people."

 

Nimbin's belief that marijuana should be legalized and regulated is no longer merely a hippy principle. Marijuana is a multi-million dollar business and parents fear their children are mixing with criminals and may be jailed for dealing to tourists.

 

"Lots of good families have left Nimbin because of the street dealing," says Balderstone.

 

But many hippies fear the biggest threat to emerge to Nimbin's lifestyle comes from Australia's rampant coastal development, driven by cashed up retiring baby boomers.

 

Coastal homes at nearby Byron Bay cost over A$1.0 million (US$830,000) and developers are eyeing the picturesque valleys and ridges around Nimbin, a one hour drive from the coast.

 

"To attract development they want to sanitize Nimbin and get us off the street," says hippy Elbereth Evenstal as she sets up her hand-made jewellery stand.

 

Many hope the inevitable development will be small-scale and environmentally sensitive, but they fear for their hippy lifestyle. "We have been free for a long time. It will be a pity if we lose this freedom," says Balderstone.

 

Author: Michael Perry

Date: 19/04/007

Source: Reuters

Copyright: © Reuters 2007

[Uncle Arthur]

Well I hate to say it but even that is going to come to pass.

 

There is only one thing guaranty in this life and that is Change.

 

What is good and what is bad? Who can tell?

 

Only History!!

[Dal]

Well said Uncle Arthur. You covered every angle.

 

There is a property on the road in at Murwillumbah, about 15 or so minutes past KFC. It's perched up on a hill on the left hand side of the road. Healthy bougainvilleas form part of the landscape along with the yellow allamanda vines that lay across the front fence.

 

I love the place and would love nothing more than to sit on a mower all day mowing it. I’m sure it’s worth a handy little sum. That and the one with the par 3 on the right hand side further down the road, as well as the cow paddocks on the way in. Those paddocks are horse heaven. Some post and rail fencing, an arena and a round yard on that property would be out of this world.

 

Storms would be mad. Water water everywhere, dive in and get cleansed.

 

I can only dream of being a local, someday maybe, or someplace somewhere else.

 

Anyhow maybe a fresh injection of funds into Nimbin would inspire a desire to improve on the current situation. Development would foster competition in business and only the strong survive. Life is long though and people get back up on their feet. Lets face it, the place could use a clean. There is a shit load of potential there though and maybe in the end it will inevitably be the locals who choose their own fate.

[everest]

i know the spot dal

 

fukin dream country if you ask me and yea to live there would be awesome ..

 

unfortunatly all those rich bastards are gonna beat me to it

 

ev

[Dal]

The bastards are gonna get there before me in the meantime to ev. It sure would be nice to have something like that on the horizon though one day.

[mull]

Sounds nice Dal.

 

I agree Uncle

 

To alter the old saying - gradual changes are permanent changes..

 

To a more realistic - everything is gradually changing, permanently.

[sunnycoaststoner]

i know the spot too guys, its nice hey. however property values down there arnt to bad really, i mean you can still find a bargain if you look around. i agree that the street dealing should be pulled up and kept to the back rooms of the shops wasnt a nice feeling the first time i went there and i kid you not 7 times in 20 steps past the pub i was asked, and then across the street another 3 times. it was a bit overwhelming coming from a real tight closed circle to full on retail walk down the street and in your face. i'm not saying its all bad, but still needs to be cleaned up a bit. nimbin does have its place and would be a shame to loose it. LEGALIZE IT...MJ FOR THE PEOPLE.......

[WantDaChronic]

i dont think nimbin really stands a chance of ridding itself of the street dealers they would need a constant police presence on the streets for starters which would piss the locals off something aweful and when word gets out that you cant score in nimbin without running the risk of being busted like everywhere else, the tourism industry will virtually cease to exist

 

imo the only way nimbin could get rid of the street dealers while retaining the tourism industry would be to move the dealers off the streets and keep them indoors. its a shame about the mj laws in this country really all someone in nimbin would have to do is open up a large amsterdam style coffee shop, but instead of selling their own buds, they get all the street dealers to sell their pot in the shop and then give the owner 5-10% or what ever the going rate is from the sale.

 

come to think of it, if the police were smart and truely wanted to free the area of the harder drugs they would allow a shop like that to open. spose they cant seem to support drug dealing infront of their eyes, but in allowing a shop like that to open it would free up vast amounts of police resources for the real criminals when you think about it, the locals wouldnt want herion, meth, etc. sold at their new shop and would allow the police to search the dealers for those drugs which would require 1 officer to conduct the search and 1 more to keep an eye out and search anyone trying to sneak past. what dealers remain in the streets would be fair game to the police, especially since any sane pot dealer in the area would be selling at the new coffee shop leaving only the harder drug dealers out in the open. would only need 2 officers for a town the size of nimbin to keep the streets free of dealers and the remaining police officers would finally be freed from ripping crops and be able to fight real crime

[nimbin1997]

I love Nimbin from the first time I step off my car into that town in 93.

And have been back there 6-7 times, staying a few nights over each time

other than the last time when I was there.

 

After the daytrippers go off on their buses, that cool town became even more cool

 

It will be a real pity if Nimbin stop being the Nimbin that I have got to know.

 

NB

[Dal]

I have never had any problems with the street dealers before except for one who I had a run in with. I just think it's a shame that the town is so bloody feral. The town folk should go and buy a high pressure cleaner and some paint and get in and have a working bee. I've seen photos of Nimbin back in the day when the paint was still wet and it looked like heaven on earth. It’s a shame it has deteriorated so much.

 

There are some great things about Nimbin. There is the bakery that makes wicked salad rolls and next door overlooking the carpark is a little treasure shop. The treasure shop is always clean and it always has a pleasant vibe, maybe it's the view? The woman who runs that place should be proud of her business.

 

It's obvious that cleaning the place up would add so much weight to the decriminalisation/legalisation debate.