On a recent trip to Tin Can Bay and Rainbow Beach I found a forest of Hakea actites and a story to tell. On one side of the road, vegetation was struggling along with old dry woody seedpods and fine needly sheoak type leaves. They'd been heroically carrying the heavy lumpish pods at least a year. The other side of the road was all but wiped out by a scorching fire. In this monotonal landscape of burned sticks, the Hakea pods had opened up to reveal a surprisingly rich interior. The seeds were well protected in these tough old pods just waiting for a fire hot enough to open and release them onto a scorched earth. There they will have little competition and can proliferate in the fertile remains of their ancestors. Sex and death in a nutshell.
Shannon Garson and I have just been awarded an Arts Queensland to explore the Wallum and create new jewellery, porcelain and glass work in response. See our new blog.
