i spent 2 months in nimbin last december/january and had the pleasure of spending christmas and new years there. we were only in Oz for 3 months in total ha ha ha
nimbin has the fortune of being set in a wonderfull green valleyed area, about 1 hour inland from byron bay. the countryside is beautfiull and lush, and has a nice combination of original tropical and european introduced trees/plants. very frertile area. there's so much good hilly forest walking around, and of course the coast is an hour away. win win.
the town itself, is small. and the part of the town which visitors are concerend with is even smaller. it is litterally one street, about 200 or 300 meters long. but it is one hell of a street! it has all manner of headshops, organic cafes, an amzing pizza shop, fish and chip shop, a Pub, an off licence (liquor store), more head shops, and two small supermarket/groceryshops.... not foregtting the cannabis musuem, and the cannabis cafe/activists information building thing. the decoration on the shops is wonderfull and the vibe of the town is lovely.
surrounding the road, is a small amount of suburb roads, and a decent outdoor park area and a school and a (very small and very accepting) police station. all the normal trimmings of small town Oz.
hotel wise, there are a couple, but the camp sites are where the real sense of nimbin is to be found. there are a couple in walking distance of the main road... and i stayed for a month at least in 'rainbow retreat' campsite.... i 100% recommend you stay there. (12 ozzy dollars i think a night for a tent)... its totally smoker friendly, beautfull atmosphere, free movies, cheap beer in the fridge, communal cooking areas, and it has own stunning creek at the bottom of the woodland on site. it really attracts good people there. i changed bed sheets for 20 mioutes a day in return for free accomodation. and smoking on the job was smiled upon.
the way in which the weed system works out there is through two very different channels.... and its important to rememebr that both are illegal (you really forget its illegal because of how open the culutre is), and maybe once a year or more, the police have a day fo arresting people who are being obvious on the high street... so
route number 1): on the high street every day, you will be offered weed, browies, and mushrooms near the museum maybe 4 or 5 times guarenteed. if you want brownies/mushies you can buy them in broad daylight from the (sometimes very strange) people offering it. if you want weed, these people will take you round the back of the museum, where there will be between 2 and 5 dealers. the dealers tend not to want to sell less than 70 dollars worth, so if need be, partner up with a mate and buy in bulk. these dealers are not hippys. they bring a dodgy gangster vibe to nimbin unfortunatly. they seem on edge a lot. but they do the job and do it efficiently. its very surreal how open this whole transaction is, and sometimes you catch a glimpse of how much they have sitting back there.. alot!. you will not get a good deal particularly (oozies pay way to much for all drugs as it is), but it is what it is. tourist prices for tourists.
route number 2): there is a huge, hippy weed culture in nimbin. and although you will see the decorations and imagery of it everywhere, you will not be offered 'cold selling' style by any hippys or genuine locals. these people, realsise that tourism is positive in many ways but rampant non hippy tourism is why the dodgy chav dealers are there, and why you will see occasionally people properly fucked up on acid or worse in the middle of the afternoon, giving nimbin a bad name. however, if you are a nice person, and you have a cup of tea in the cannabis cafe or in other cafes etc. and make friends with people (not the cafe directly by the way), you will make contacts very easily... these contacts will be better, less dodgy, and cheaper. of course, you need to be around for more than the afternoon to get these contacts.
.................
i really really recommend that if you go, you stay for at least a week, really make it longer. there is a huge amount of recent history to found out, and to get involved in. as nimbin as we know it, only came about in the 60's or 70's and some of the original hippies still have a council, to try and keep the vibe of the place as they originally wanted. you can volunteer there if you want aswell. for such a small place, there is so much good feeling. theres water holes to jump into, and there are manogos to pick and eat.
you will notice that every day a couple of bus tours arrive from byron bay, full of typical backpackers, who have 3 or 4 hours to walk the high street and buy cookies/browies off the dealers, then get back on the bus high as hell and tell all their mates they 'did nimbin'. please dont do those tours. they are fun, they do what they say they will do, but you are missing so much. stay a for a week. wake and bake, watch the wildlife for a few hours, swim in the creek, chat to a local about life for a while, have another joint, get some chips,. go to the pub.... fall asleep, wake up happy, do it all again..... best 2 months of my life!
rant over
heres some photos of my time in nimbin too
Nimbin high street
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2 ... 1252580889
xmas at rainbow retreat campsite
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2 ... 1252580889
santa smoking a tulip in nimbin
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2 ... 1252580889
drumming circle, in channon near nimbin
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2 ... 1252580889
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