The Early Years

So just after I was born, we moved back to the North Coast, and in early 1971 my parents were married in a little Catholic Church in Lismore. They were both 19 years old. My dad continued to play music in local bands, and Mum made a living by tie-dying surfboard covers and selling them in the local surf shops. My claim to fame is a tour Dad did with the Easybeats - bummer I was too little to remember. He played in Byron pubs, including the Top Pub and Railway Pub (not sure what they are called these days). My memories are not solid, so a lot of my recall is from stories I've been told growing up. but the memories I do have were of a happy-go-lucky childhood filled with beach days, people, and parties. Probably not the kind of parties you'd take little ones to now, but hey, it was the '70s! We moved around a lot, from rental to rental. I remember a farm we lived on out in the Channon, those were wild days. Dad had many muso friends so there was always live music. Mum was the mother to all, even as a young woman. She nursed another woman's baby while this lady ventured out on a 3-day magic mushroom trip, she looked after the local kids, she cooked, knitted, spun wool, and sewed our clothes on an old Singer machine. In 1974 my baby bro was born in Byron Bay Hospital, after a horrific 72 hour labour. He was the quintessential Byron babe, unkept blonde hair with big blue eyes, never wore shoes, face always dirty and was the sweetest kid.