Fairies are the stuff of my daughter’s dreams.
When her last milk tooth fell, she cried, because, in her fanciful mind, it meant that the tooth fairy will, most likely, never come again. So when my husband and I heard about the Brunswick Heads Fairy Trail, we just had to take her.
Brunswick Heads is an idyllic seaside town on the north coast of New South Wales, Australia in Byron Shire.
“Shire? Isn’t that where the hobbits live?” says our daughter, recalling the story we told her about Tolkien’s The Hobbit. There won’t be any hobbit holes today, but there will be evidence of fairies.
We started our adventure at the Visitors Centre in Parkes Street where we collected, ‘The Clues to Find the Brunswick Heads Fairy Trail‘ which turned out to be a rather lovely poem that transformed Brunswick Heads into Fairyland.
As we followed the clues, we began to discover that the fairies had truly made Brunswick Heads their home. Some were living hidden in plain view in the town centre while others dwelled off the beaten path. There were some at the local library too! We didn’t find all the fairy homes but the ones we did find were all very beautiful. Needless to say, I took lots of photographs. After all, it’s not every day my daughter gets to knock on the door of a fairy house.
Was there a tooth fairy? We didn’t think so, but there was a fairy glade where visitors were encouraged to build their own fairy homes.
My daughter was admiring the creations left behind by other children when a girl and a boy arrived with their parents. The girl carefully carried a painted glass jar, placing it next to a big rock under one of the trees. I wondered if she made it herself and thought she must have been here before. It was a very peaceful scene with the gleeful chatter of the three children filling up the glade.
Shire? Isn’t that where the hobbits live?
My daughter had found two bean pods and was carefully balancing them on a stick. A simple house but somehow it looked natural resting in the glade among the other fairy homes. She said she made it for the tooth fairy. Then in a moment of inspiration, she picked up a few stones lying on the ground and made a little fairy circle. I imagined she thought the fairies were having afternoon tea.
There was a sudden squeal of excitement further up the river – children were jumping in for a swim – I made a mental note to pack swimmers for next time. She could only look on enviously for now as the other children splashed about with the local birds.
There was yet another surprise waiting for us as we returned to our car. By the road was a local plant with blossoms that looked like the hibiscus flower. Hidden under the leaves of the plant was another treasure – entire colonies of jewel bugs sparkling under the light of the setting sun.
The Brunswick Heads Fairy Trail is a great way to explore the town while indulging a childhood fantasy. We heard that new fairies are moving in all the time. Perhaps the tooth fairy will stop by one day and see the fairy home my daughter built.
Until then, she can’t wait to go on her next adventure on the Fairy Trail!
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Images courtesy of Kelly Yeo.
Kelly Yeo, is mum to two children whom she thinks are fairy changelings sent to make her life a magical journey. She enjoys the great outdoors, sketching and long, tall coffee breaks.
