The name "Nimbin" comes from the story of Nymbngee, a wise bearded man who lived in the mountains. One day, two giants, jealous of Nymbngee's wisedom, encased him within a mountain. Nimbin, in his wrath, burst forth from the mountain, and the giants were so awed by his power that they turned to stone. Rumour has it that he still lives in the mountain to this day, and the two giant rocks and pile of rubble remain on the mountain overlooking Nimbin to this day.

At first, I thought this might have something to do with the wide-eyed, white bearded dude I'd seen on various promotional material throughout the town. Nope, turns out this bearded guy was abducted by aliens for a spell, and when he returned to Earth, he had the power of divine knowledge that he reveals through meditation and crystals....

By the time I arrived back in Nimbin, it was after dark, and it was pretty quiet. Without the carnivalesque atmosphere of the roaming "bewildered" tourists, shops and music, the town was actually a little creepy. The only people around were a few burnt-out long-haired dudes, a greasy looking dope dealer, and a family of tourists passing around a huge reefer. I got a bite to eat, then headed out of town into the hills to find a place to stick the car and camp. After a bit of driving through the senseless sideroads, I found a little driveway leading to a pasture, and soon fell asleep to the lowing of cattle and occasional dog.

The next morning I headed back into town to start fresh. As the museum wasn't open yet, I wandered down to Rainbow Power Co., an alternative energy facility which contributes most of the power to the town. People are allowed to stop in and ask questions about solar and wind resources, get a tour, or get comprehensive information about how to install solar panels and connect them to the energy grid. I didn't take a tour, but took some reading material. By then, shops and the Nimbin Museum were open, so I did a bit of window shopping, then went to get edjumicated.

Now that I had more time to explore, I realized that the tangential frenzy of the Museum was laid out in a roughly chronological order, exploring (1) the Aboriginal society in the area, (2) European colonization and industrialization, including the local rise and fall of dairy farming, (3) the arrival of hippies in this almost abandoned dairy town in 1973 for the Aquarius music festival, deciding to stay, and the philosophy of dropping out and starting a new society, (4) the battle for freedom from unjust governance, most with respect to drugs, but a good deal to do with the issue of terra nullis (even though there is evidence Aborigines have been in Oz for 100,000 years, the English government declared upon their arrival that it was vacant and they were entitled) and the 1988(-ish) Mabo decision in which the High Court conceded that in fact the Aborigines had the land first, and (5) the positive uses for hemp. It was a good read, and I'm glad I got a chance to come back to this crazy place for a better look.

However, it's not a big village, so I was done by about noon. Feeling a bit more positive about things, I headed back for another crack at Byron Bay.