“Please don’t applaud at the end”, we were told about the whirling dervish performance. “This is a religious ceremony. It’s a meditation. So please meditate for a moment. Think deeply. But please don’t applaud”. But after watching the fifteen minute (or so) performance by the Naqshbandiyya Nazimiyya Sufi Order, it was hard not to. “I had to hold my hands together to stop from applauding”, I said to my colleague, with whom I attended the Affinity Iftar Dinner tonight at NSW Parliament House.
Though I didn’t know much about Affinity as an organisation, when I received the invitation a couple of weeks ago, I replied instantly “Yes I would love to attend”. Not only do I love different cultural experiences (food, art, dance etc) and generally learning more about the world, but I also recognise how my job has opened me up to many new experiences. “One of the great things about working in radio, and in journalism, all these years”, I told someone tonight, “…has been that it opens doors. I get to experience things many others don’t”.
As I sat and enjoyed the festivities tonight at Parliament House, I remembered, twenty five years ago, while living and working in Renmark being invited, as a member of the media to a Turkish community celebration. As a reasonably new community group, they wanted the broader community to better understand them. Twenty five years later, that’s probably still the case for many Australians who are Muslim.
Affinity is a group keen on an interfaith and multi-cultural dialogue. They organise a range of events, including dinners where you can go and spend time with a Muslim family. They also organise big events like the one tonight at the NSW Parliament, which I understand is now in its ninth year.
Whirling dervish – Naqshbandiyya Nazimiyya Sufi Order at #affinityiftar NSW Parliament.Nineteen years in the Navy, and reflecting on the changes he’s seen as a Muslim Australian in the forces.
I feel really privileged to have been invited to attend the dinner tonight: to enjoy the food, the conversation, the thoughts and the amazing whirling dervish performance (which was hypnotic). A fantastic evening.
“A lot of people in the homes we’ve visited just stand and stare into space”, one of the volunteers working on the flood recovery in Lismore told me today.
I had just apologised to her for finding it difficult to respond to a very simple request. I can’t remember exactly what it was, but to illustrate, I found it difficult yesterday to put on rubber gloves. I struggled for a couple of minutes to find the thumb hole.
Today, I’ve seen two other family members go through this also. My job today quickly became one of assigning them simple tasks which didn’t require much thought. “I need you to wash these plates”, I said to one family member. “I need you to sweep this floor”, I said to another.
It’s the one part of cleaning up that I didn’t consider. I was expecting tears, as we moved into cleaning our family home, not an inability to think clearly. But that’s what has been happening today.
Today was the first day that Jack, who has lived in the house since 1969 came down to assess the damage. “It’s as bad as I expected, and then 100% worse”, he told me today.
Jack is my brother-in-law, “But really you and Pat (my sister) are like mum dad”, I told them today with a tear. Later this afternoon, we sat around and shared many moments of laughter, as we reminisced about family stories. It was a welcome end to the day.
Today I also visited some near-neighbours, checking in on their welfare. I also visited the former home of Nancy who died last year. “My sister lived here until last June”, I told Cathy who lives there now. She told me she had bought the house after that, and after significant renovation, had only recently moved into the house., “That’s my home on the lawn”, she told me, adding, “I can never go through this again”.
The flood waters reached the gutters of a number of houses on Union Street, South Lismore. All of their household items now sit outside on the street, awaiting assessment about what can be saved, and what will go to the garbage dump.
She welcomed me into her home to see the renovations and introduced me to the builder.
Only minutes after arriving in our house today, there was a group of six volunteer workers from the Gold Coast knocking on the door. There were four women who did an awesome job of cleaning mud-covered household goods and photographs, and there were two huge blokes (a carpenter and a plumber). They achieved all of what we wanted to achieve in the day in just an hour or two.
Later we were joined by a group of Michelle’s colleagues, a bunch of nurses from Lismore Base Hospital. They have been awesome in their hard work and care. One, in particular, has been wonderful recognising the emotional stress we’ve all been under. Another of her colleagues will be delivering dinner. We are so incredibly lucky, and fortunate to have been helped through this. And when Jack scratched himself, there was no shortage of nurses on hand who could treat the wound. But Jack, being Jack, he treated himself!
Colleagues who help
Michelle and I were interviewed for ABC Radio.
Dom: We continue to focus on Lismore here with our colleague James O’Brien, who is Lismore born and raised and coming to terms with what’s happened to his hometown over the past week or two where he still has a whole lot of family. James. Good morning.
James: Hey there, Dom Yeah, I’m at my sister’s house at the moment in Elliott Road, South Lismore. And there is a pile of rubbish. We’ve just thrown out the window onto the street. And I can see what’s happening on the rest of the street. The people next door would have similar size actually, these might be bigger, down another house. They’ve got rubbish out the front. And I can’t the reason I can see up the street is that our front windows were broken. So we’ve got lots of air conditioning we’re joking about here this morning.
Dom: Yes, I’m sure I’ve got a photo of where you are now. And really, it’s almost indistinguishable, the scene outside the front of your family home there. From when you gut to the house. It’s basically you haven’t got the house, aren’t you? That’s what’s going on?
James: Yeah, absolutely. So we’re in the front bedroom now. And I spent last year I have the last year living with my sister and brother in law in this house. And so this is my bedroom from last year. My great-nephew, Sam is living has been living in his bedroom over the last few months. And he was amazing in helping his nan and pop, my sister and brother in law survive. We’re in the bed in the front bedroom now of a two-story house. And the water as you can imagine got up to the top of the windows. So that’s about three feet taller than I am. And about four feet taller than my niece is standing here next to me. She grew up in his house. So to mom and dad’s house, and her son was amazing. Can I kind of hand it over to Michelle, we want to Yes. Here you go. Here’s Michelle.
Dom: Michelle, thanks for joining us. Great to have you with us. Talk us through the past couple of days. How on earth have you gotten through this?
Michelle: Oh, I’ve got no idea. I think you just switched into autopilot and you just do what has to be done. I think want to go over the shock of that. You know, like if I didn’t, except if my son wasn’t here with my parents, they would have drowned in their home.
Dom: And sadly, that’s been the case for some in your community. There have been deaths. But it just seems as though no one really anticipated something on this scale. This is an area that knows flood the Northern Rivers, you know that the rivers rise, everyone knows that but not like this not before and your community just got swamped, didn’t it?.
Michelle: That’s right. I mean, I remember the 1974 flood it’s there were a few steps from coming in. And that was a massive one. And then, you know, there’s been ones over the years when I’ve been in high school and then 1988 And you know, you know, it just went underneath the house and we were you know, just trapped in the house. You know, you can still live you still drive. We still got our electricity. But this was just and then 2017 Just just about wiped out loose more. And this mall was barely had barely recovered since 2017, and then this one come along to just about pretty much wiped us out completely. But everyone just thought, Oh, well, you know, we survived 2017. So it’s not going to be as bad as that. So you know, we rebuilt once we’ll rebuild again. But then it was just terrible. When my son rang me early in the morning he said Mum was coming in to nan and pops house. And I was just in shock. I was like, Okay, well, I need I said I need you to be strong. And I needed to look at the look afternoon and I just had the ad caught stay awake and worry. Yeah. And then just kept in constant, you know, half alley phone calls. And as I’m sure that the story for everybody else. And you know, that was quite affected.
Dom: I was talking to my colleague Chris Bath earlier in the show has just come back from spending the weekend in the northern rivers, she said that there were two hardshell flood boats in Lismore at the start of this and it just goes to show that even with the experience that has been had in the planning of this thing, this just went far beyond what anyone expected. How are you feeling about the future and about rebuilding? We’ve I’ve got a photo in front of me of just your house with everything ripped out of it. What are you planning to do from here? Or is it just too early to make plans?
Michelle: It’s far too early to make plans. I’m not even sure if the house is gonna be safe to move back into like the floorboards are bowing and you can see in part so you can see through to underneath the house and you think it moves, you know, you walk through it and it moves and it’s like, Well, shit, I’m not even sure if you know it’s safe for us to be in here ripping up carpet throwing things out, but
Dom: and this is a town of 20,000 people, many of whom would be in the same boat. It’s just the devastation is unimaginable. Our hearts are with you, Michelle.. I really hope you can find a way through this and work out what to do next. Because, yeah, if I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t know.
Michelle: Yeah, can I thank the volunteers. There are so many people that have just come in, even friends of my teenage son have just turned up and just came in and got their hands dirty. But work colleagues that are dropping in for a couple of hours at a time help out. There are random strangers pulling up across the road with washing machines to the service station, there are people pulling up in their cars out the front singing out food and water, food and water and we just run out and get some food, you know, and, and then they drive to the next house and hand out food and water. It’s like, the generosity has been overwhelming. We’re very, very grateful.
Dom: Well, I’ll tell you what, but for the tinnies Michelle, what we’ve seen the tinny army going around and helping people and as we heard from some experts before, it’s quite hard to do. Flood rescue is there special training for that, that people do in the evacuation centre that was used for, you know, Olympic kayaking and so on, but people have had to do it for themselves. And that’s what happened in your family. People have had to rescue other family members and the community has pulled together but it’s a pity you had to
Michelle: Yeah, my poor mum, I mean, you know, she’s got a bit of a back end on her and I pushed it through an 18-inch window in the kitchen, you know, into a boat and the dock in under the power lines and you have a look outside how high the power lines are, you know, they were 20 foot off the ground.
Dom: Yeah, I mean, we’ve all seen the phone with the fast-food joint where the waters were as high as that as the sign. You know. I’ve been to Lismore a few times over the years and the notion of the amount of water that was there. The mind absolutely boggles Michelle. Look, really appreciate your time, all the best to your community. And thank you for sharing your story with us. Thank you. Yeah, that’s Michelle there, the nice of our colleague, James O’Brien, who’s on the ground and Lismore trying to make sense of what happens next.
Though initially we had booked in for the ten o’clock show, we were both a little concerned about having done so on a “school night”. When you find yourself in your mid to late 40s, the idea going out so late leads to both excitement (hey, we’re not so old), and yet fear (how will we get out of bed in time for work?). I’d previously warned my close colleagues I mightn’t be able to make it to the office at the usual time of around 8.00am. Thankfully, we were able to get into the eight o’clock show, have a bite to eat afterwards, and still get on with our normal lives.
I’d mentioned to a shop-keeper in Surry Hills earlier in the afternoon I was going to see Paul Capsis that night. “He’s such a lovely guy”, he told me, adding that Paul had often brought in clothing for adjustments, saying “If it’s too hard, don’t worry about it”. I’d also seen Paul around the shopping centre in Surry Hills, and have come to know his manager over the last few years.
He’s a wonderful performer, with an amazing voice and stage presence. The last time I saw him perform was in 2010 at the launch of his CD. As then, he delivered an amazing performance, and well worth seeing, as he performed some great standards that ranged from jazz to rock. These shows are well worth seeing.
Paul Capsis
Afterwards we grabbed a bite to eat at nearby Porteño. Though I remember it fondly as Dimitri’s – the Greek plate breaking restaurant – it’s become one of the hip places of Surry Hills. Oddly enough, I don’t think I’ve ever eaten there before, and what a disappointment it is that I haven’t. Honestly, great food – beef with a beetroot salad – which I’d also recommend.
Dinner at Porteño
Overall – a great night was had, and not too bad for a couple of forty-somethings on a school night :)
Don’t get me wrong, the food was delicious. Excellent, even. But every sentence I began when thinking about the meal ended in a criticism. In essence the problem is that technical excellence is a given at the top level. Creativity, flair and honesty are the hallmarks of the best restaurants, and sadly Marque failed to deliver on these counts.
My entree of Beetroot Tart with Fresh Horseradish Sauce was very tasty, the sweetness of the beetroot nicely complimented by the mouthwatering shortcrust pastry beneath. However it was also a bit one-dimensional, and the horseradish was delivered as a foam which seemed inescapeably pretentious. On the other hand James’ entree of Almond Jelly with Crab, Almond Gazpacho, Prune Oil & Sweet Corn Custard was superb. The crab was delightfully light and was well complemented by the saltiness of the accompanying roe.
The choice of mains was short and definitely not innovative: duck, venison, jewfish, and kangaroo island chicken stick in my mind, and there were one or two other options as well. I chose the Roast Venison with Carrot Confit, sweet and Sour Turnips and Bitter Chocolate. The venison was delivered very rare, with perfectly cooked miniature carrots and turnips and a very sticky jus. Yummy, well presented and faultlessly executed, also totally uninspiring. The best part of the dish was a
shockingly rich dollop of carrot puree.
James had the Roast New England Muscovy Duck with Liquorice, Niçoise Olive Emulsion and Lemon Confit (pictured), which resembled a meat pattie on a stack of vegies. Also delicious, but it didn’t meet the test of “I couldn’t possibly do that at home”. It was quite strange really: like a duck burger without the bread.
And a word about value. At $24-27 for entrees and $39-45 for mains, Marque prices itself at the top of the Sydney food tree. However portions were very small for the money, in my opinion, and I was glad I had eaten a decent home-cooked lunch earlier that day. BYO is a great bonus of this place, but at $10 per bottle it certainly isn’t cheap.
We asked for the dessert menu, but nothing at all on the menu encouraged us to stay. Not even a creme brulee on the list, which would have been lovely. No dessert was definitely a wallet-saver: $18 per dessert, plus drinks starting at $12 a glass. And my armagnac fetish would have brought the cost of that third course to over $40.
In the end we paid $80 a head for two courses, including a modest tip. Not outrageous, but I can think of many other places that offer better value in this town.
If you have seen the iconic Australian film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, you know the moment. Bernadette, played with razor-sharp elegance by Terence Stamp, finally hits her breaking point and famously exclaims, “No more f***ing ABBA!”
It’s a hilarious, quintessential scene—the absurdity of three drag queens lip-syncing to Swedish pop royalty in the middle of the Outback.
But the true significance of that line? It was never about hating the music. It was about the exhaustion of the road, the relentless pursuit of perfection, and the sheer irony of finding yourself performing “Mamma Mia” when you’d rather be doing literally anything else. It is a line delivered with love, even if it’s wrapped in a layer of glittery frustration.
I bring this up because, as many of you know, I have been a committed ABBA fan since long before it was “fashionable”—if it was ever truly fashionable to begin with! That devotion hasn’t waned over the years. https://thelimbshift.com/tag/abba/
However, looking at my current Facebook feed, I think I’m beginning to understand Bernadette’s sentiment. Sydney is currently absolutely buzzing with ABBA-related events, and frankly, there are so many happening over the next few months that I don’t think I can make them all!
To help keep track of everything, I’ve put together a list. Did I miss anything? Let me know!
August 2026
8 Aug: Mamma Mia Bottomless Brunch – Cardea, Barangaroo.
8 Aug: Candlelight: Tribute to ABBA – St Stephen’s Uniting Church.
8 Aug: Abbalanche – Canterbury Leagues Club.
9 Aug: Candlelight: Tribute to ABBA – St Stephen’s Uniting Church.
14 Aug: Club ABBA (50th Anniversary) – Palms on Oxford.
“As I go from Woodburn to Evan’s Head, I go from people living in tents to people who might live in their house every second weekend”, a bloke called Steve said at today’s “Rally For A Just Recovery” held in the middle of town, as Lismore rebuilds after last year’s catastrophic flood.
Today’s rally at the Lismore Transit Centre, featuring speeches and music.
Steve was, of course, referring to the holiday market, and the multi-million dollar homes you find at North Coast locations like Evan’s Head and Byron Bay. In contrast, many people are couch serving, are finding it economically stressful with rent increases, or have simply moved away.
Another speaker, Antoinette described the day to day reality of housing shortages, and rent increases.
“The prospect of another flood that reached our living space is such a low risk, and one that I would take every bloody day of the year over moving to somewhere less appropriate for us.”, said Antoinette.
In our part of South Lismore, there aren’t many occupied homes.
In our part of South Lismore, there aren’t many occupied homes.
The houses in our part of town are built with hundred year old timbers. When the flood came through we had many decades of lino and carpet on the floor. Though we have replaced carpet in the lounge room (a buffer against the winter cold), we’ve mostly resorted to the original teak floodboards.
That’s a big issue for Harper who also spoke today, as well as the strong sense of community.
“They shouldn’t be demolished, they’re a part of our unique community identity, and the most important part is keeping the community together”, said Harper.
A key theme, as I heard people chatting was a desire to keep Lismore “together” in the midst of the housing demolitions that have already occurred, and will happen moreso in the the future as the “buy back” proceeds.
“If you didn’t live here, hadn’t lived through the flood, and didn’t feel so passionately about the community, it makes perfect sense to pick up the town and move it somewhere else. But if you’ve made your life here, it’s not that easy”, someone said today. Maybe not the exact words, but the sentiment is there, which also strongly resonated with me.
There wasn’t a large crowd, but those attending seemed strongly committed to ensuring a “fair” flood recovery, noting the increased rents faced by many in Lismore in particular. Some speeches, some music. An interesting and enjoyable couple of hours.
