The new sign, crafted by local sign-maker Glen Henry, bears the locally eponymous images of a black possum and a kangaroo.

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These are the local fauna from which were derived the modern names for Pindimar (‘Black Possum’) and Bundabah (‘Place of Kangaroos’), from the region’s Aboriginal Gathang language.

It has been a long time coming, as the sign’s commission and ultimate creation was funded by ‘Tidy Town’ prize money, won by Bundabah several years ago.

The new sign proudly announces that same ‘Tidy Towns’ win, as well as the official date of the town’s establishment, way back in 1826, when the original Australian Agricultural Company was attempting to prove the land along the north of Port Stephens.

“The original sign dated back to the 1990s, was shabby and faded, and Bundabah’s resident members of the Pindimar Bundabah Community Association (PBCA) were quite keen to make it smarter,” Andrew Jeffries, Treasurer of PBCA, told NOTA.

“We’ve got plants to put a garden around the new sign, too,” PBCA President Vivien Panhuber added.

“The original surrounding garden will be renewed by some native plants that the Council has kindly given us,” Andrew said.

Andrew and Carolyn Jeffries have been waiting for the recent fluctuations in the weather, including high-30s heatwaves, to cool down a bit, before actually committing the new plants to the ground.

“Ideally, at the next regular PBCA meeting be held in Bundabah, our mission among a couple of volunteers is to get it ready and planted by 17 March.”

Other improvements around Bundabah include the relocation of reclaimed outdoor chairs and tables to Bundabah Reserve, perhaps one of the few spots a local can get a mobile signal, too.

By Thomas O’KEEFE