The Kurri Kurri Murals

Why travel all the way to the Louvre in Paris, when you can take a tour of the wonderful Murals of Kurri Kurri ?

There's no doubt that Archaeologists will, one day in the distant future, stumble upon these masterpieces and be dumbfounded by their brilliance...in fact, many people today are rendered speechless when they first view these masterworks

Cream of the crop

My personal favourite would have to be a toss up between the miners face and the bar/pub scene

The miners face is about 10 storeys high, leering down at you as you commute up the main road. It looks like an old lady's fanny with a hard hat on.....

The Bar/Pub scene is special in that the artist has no idea of perspective, and so you have big people and little people right next to each other..like some creepy nightmare..and the figures look like thalidomide vitims..(I suspect the same artist has done the one at Abermain and the one on the Church too)

Good on Kurri for giving mentally challenged people the chance to represent their artistic talents!

So what's your favourite Mural?

Fightin' !!

Fancy yourself as a bit of a contender?..like a good stoush now and then?..you'll find plenty of action throughout the Hunter




Newcastle

Newcastle has churned out some top notch "Blue-ers" for over a century. In the pre earthquake period you could count on seeing a nasty street fight, or even be privileged enough to be the recipient of a "King hit".

Newcastle's night of nights had to be, without question the Star Hotel Riots on Sept 19, 1979. The event that gave "Cold Chisel" (The undisputed kings of westies) the inspiration for their famous song

4000 people gathered to celebrate the last night of trading for the infamous hotel, before the Hunter folk decided to do what they do best; Drink heaps and punch people (especially coppers)
Some have argued that this was the Zenith of fighting in Newcastle, and the glory days have departed...some believe that Newcastle's best violence is happening now..

Inner City/Post Earthquake

Lately the violence has reached dizzying heights again to the point where City Council is considering CCTV surveillance. What a wonderful achievement by all the wannabe gangsters!..brave little soldiers bashing people with a ratio of 10:1

Cessnock:

A city full of proud blokes who are handy on the knuckle. Seems to stem from a combination of in-breeding and a tendency to take justice into your own hands, not to mention many are ex-inmates

Kurri-Kurri

Pretty much the same as Cessnock in all things really, except they've got those fucking stupid murals as well

Toronto

Aahh Tronna!!...full of blokes wearing Eminem t-shirts and black trackie-daks...need we say more?

Maitland

Lots of goaties, bushranger beards and flannelet shirts..some of the finest thugs of the Valley

Piggin!

Boredom

Let's face it, there comes a time when shooting animals just doesn't give you that thrill anymore (even if it disturbed you in the beginning)

Many true-blue Hunter folk are introduced to hunting at a young age accruing a huge number of kills by their teens. This is the time for a greater challenge







Piggin!... the solution!

Here's the modus operandi for successful Piggin...which can be summarized as a pack of dogs mauling a pig in a frenzy of ultra-violence, followed by the dogs owner charging in and "Stickin' it!" (more on this later)

M.O.

1. Find a tough old "bitch" (yep Hunter folk will use this noun in it's correct context, but it's still somehow disturbing) and a proven male to breed a super killing machine
2. Raise the pup well ensuring it gets out on a piggin trip as soon as possible, joining the handful of dogs you have already
3. You and a bunch of mates head way out west with plenty of beer and dogs in the cage, to a property that you have permission to roam around a few days.
   
4. Drive around with sharp eyes looking for pigs, or until one of the dogs picks up the scent, or both
5. Release the hounds! you're off and running..although the chase could go on for many hours/kilometres
6. Wait until the dogs have absolutely terrorized the pig in a frenzied attack. Once the pig is pinned, charge in and flip it over, stabbing it with a large knife in just the right spot

This hands on approach to hunting must be a joyous celebration of ultra-violence as it is very popular.
note: Ensure to take your guns too, if there's no pigs around, you can at least revert to shooting anything that moves.

apologies: A vital ingredient to piggin is a ute with dog cages


Meeting Objections:

If any softc$ck, bleeding heart liberal should dare to question this orgy of violence, simply meet their subversive argument by stating that pigs are a pest, thereby making your past-time a great service to society

Mining

The Booming economies of China and India and their demand for our natural resources has re-invigorated the mining industry in the Hunter.

The positive effects are manifold:

Landscape

The landscape is often beautifully transformed from rolling green pastures to moonscapes. The mines do such a wonderful job of restoring the land after they're finished, it can barely be explained. To simulate this remarkable transformation, first dig the biggest hole you can in your backyard, throwing the dirt and clay into one big pile....leave it, then just plant grass on top of it

Employment

Mining creates a wealth of jobs for thousands of men who generally, have balls- for- brains.

Blokes who are ignorant and illiterate can gleefully earn over $100k a year in jobs where they can switch off and drive a great big truck back and forth all day (for instance). This could explain why so many miners are total dead-shits, who also think that the whole of the Hunter is indebted to them

Environment

Rising sea levels, Global warming, melting ice caps and every other effect of too much carbon is a small price to pay for a bunch of meat-heads to earn all that money, own a big house, a couple of investment properties, a 4-wheel drive and a boat.....and a fridge full of beer. It's only the environment

Dialect and Handy Sayings

Hunter pronunciation of You/Two (etc.)

Visitors to the Hunter who are wanting to quickly assimilate should first be aware of a subtle dialect that has been forming in the Hunter region, with traces of it found on the Central Coast to the south.

Hunter folk are almost always inclined to pronounce you as yieuw

For Example:

Visitor: "How are you"

Hunter person: "Fine thank-yieuw, how are yieuw?"

This applies to any word rhyming with you...such as the number 2 (tieuw)

It should also be noted that the more formal the social situation, the more pronounced will be accent.

Or to put it in Hunter language, if you're putting on the dog a bit, the accent is greater

Other Sayings

"Old mate" - can be applied in an affectionate manner to a male, or with a touch of sarcsm

"Queer c%nt"- a favourite of tradespeople throughout the Hunter. Can apply to someone who is "Gay", but mostly to someone considered a bit different

Welcome!

Hi and welcome to a blog dedicated to the Beautiful Hunter Valley, where you'll find tips and insights gained from someone living in this corner of the world

From the magnificent beaches of Newcastle to the Vineyards and coalfields of the west, there's no shortage of wonders awaiting