Cloudcatcher's Ginko No.20 had to be planned over a year ahead. A ginko held among the teeming life of a mangroves swamp demands a very low tide at a convenient location, at exactly the right time of day, on the right day of the week, in summer (because we wanted to wade).

There was only one site and one date that fitted these requirements: the mouth of the Brunswick River, on Thursday 27 January 2011. Of course we also hoped it would be fine, but not too hot. The day arrived, and it was PERFECT: a brilliant azure sky and a river that had peeled off its covers to allow us to enter into its fascinations. Poets strolled (bare-footed, mostly), along the mud flats and sandy riverbed, absorbed in a world of sand creatures, aerial mangrove roots, oyster shells, sea snails, and a variety of marine birds.

This paradise is just behind the Scout Hall, and we found, nearby, the cold ashes of a large fire, surrounded by a ring of logs, just perfect for sitting on, and all in the shadow of a cooling gum. Here some of the captured impressions were crafted into haiku, and these were read in turn around the campfire. We lunched at the Brunswick Hotel, looking out across the river, under a canopy of Moreton Bay Figs. A Round Robin is now underway.

The autumn ginko is planned for late April, at Bangalow Weir. Please contact Quendryth Young ([email protected]) nearer the time, for more details.

Quendryth Young