🟡 Things to do this November
Including: A pie review, why tropical fish are on the move and November events
Ellie Chamberlain
October 31, 2025
⏱️ The 74th edition of our newsletter is a seven-minute read.
🙋♀️ Hi folks, Ellie here – your reporter for the Mid North Coaster.
🍾 We’ve reached 15,500 subscribers!! Welcome to the newcomers and thank you to everyone for following along.
✏️ Remember, if you ever want to get in touch simply reply to this email.
🗣️ Apologies for missing Wednesday’s newsletter this week – I took a couple of days off with friends visiting from Perth. It was lovely taking them on a tour and showing off this beautiful place we get to call home.
I’ll be taking next week off again for a “staycay” – preparing for a house move while hopefully finding time for sleep ins, surfing and seeing friends. Not to worry, I’ve prepared videos and stories to post so you won’t miss out! Expect to see an interview with the owner of Alternatives Bookshop in Bellingen and an inside look at a rare Triumph motorcycle collection here on the MNC.
❓What’s everyone up to this weekend? Going to a Halloween party? I’m doing something perhaps scarier - launching my book!
🚀 I’ve been working on this project for years now, so I am excited for this Sunday and the backyard BBQ vibes of the launch. Wish me luck!
🟡 SOMETHING ELSE HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND
🎤 Buttercats, Jacq Heart and Jacquis performing live, plus other surprises on the night.
🗓️ Saturday 1, from 6.30pm
📍 Bowraville Theatre, Bowraville
ℹ️ Tickets from $15 - $25, purchase here.
🗞️ In today’s newsletter: A new month starts tomorrow, which means new “What’s On” content. Take a scroll below for events happening in November, check out the website for our gig guide, and keep an eye out today for kid-friendly activities.
Today, we’re also looking at why tropical fish are moving south from Queensland waters to the Mid North Coast, and what this means for our kelp forests. I spoke to marine ecologists and other experts on the matter.
Let’s dive in.
🥧 But first, a pie review…
🪸🐠 Why are tropical fish from Queensland moving to the Mid North Coast?
While a rise in sea temperature might make a morning swim easier, it’s not necessarily good news. In fact, experts warn the “tropicalisation” of the ocean is leading to a dramatic shift in the health of our underwater ecosystem.
❓What’s happening: From Woolgoolga to Tea Gardens, kelp forests along areas of the Mid North Coast are being over-grazed by seaweed loving species moving from the tropics.
Global ocean temperatures are rising as climate change, caused by the burning of fossil fuels releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, has an ongoing impact on our environment. Warmer waters, together with the East Australian Current (EAC) getting stronger, has been bringing new species into the region.
The introduced species include herbivorous fish, or vegetarian fish, like rabbitfish, surgeonfish and drummerfish, that like to eat kelp forests – a little too much.
🧠 Tell me more: The Mid North Coast is included in the Great Southern Reef (GSR) – an extensive and interconnected system of temperate reefs predominantly characterised by kelp forests.
Kelp is a type of underwater seaweed that thrives in cold water environments.
The GSR spans 8,000 km of coastline across the entire southern part of Australia and hosts a range of habitats – providing food and shelter.
Image: The Great Southern Reef. Image: The Great Southern Reef Foundation website.
🗣️ Adriana Vergés, Professor in marine ecology at UNSW Sydney and the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (Australia), explained how one impact of climate change has been the “tropicalisation” of ecosystems. In short: It’s bad news for our kelp forests and the species that rely on them.
ℹ️ Quick refresh: Tropical fish species are expanding south because they can. Like humans, marine life has a preferred temperature.
“We're seeing tropical species that belong in places like the Great Barrier Reef, that are starting to expand their distribution southward following the East Australian Current,” Vergés said.
Professor Adriana Vergés. Image: https://greatsouthernreef.com/adriana-verges
The temperature of water that was once only found in the tropics is now being found further south, like on the Mid North Coast, and tropical fish have realised they can survive and thrive along the coastline.
The east Australian current getting stronger means species that wouldn't normally be able to get to a certain location can now travel with ease, introducing them to a new area.
🪸 An imperative underwater feature: Kelp forests cover a quarter of the world’s coastlines. Vergés said these incredibly productive (and beautiful) ecosystems play the same role as trees on land.
More than 70 percent of species found in the Great Southern Reef are unique to that area – “certain fish, invertebrates and seaweeds are only found here.”
“When we lose our kelp forests, and for species that are very closely associated with them, we're kind of losing them from planet Earth,” said Vergés.
📉 A disappearing habitat: Some of Verge’s work has focused on the Solitary Islands, off Coffs Harbour. Here, she said the kelp forests were in decline.
“The kelp itself is what's giving the habitat, it's what's creating the habitat. So if it gets eaten, then the entire habitat is gone,” Verges said.
“When these herbivorous fish come in and they consume and over-graze the kelp, they're creating an unvegetated alternative habitat, which then has a consequence for all the species that would normally associate with the kelp forest.”
➡️ Read the rest of the article on our website by clicking here. It includes the bigger picture of the issue, solutions, and how to help.
🟡 What’s happening on the MNC in November?
🗺️ Gathering Roadshow
The Create NSW First Nations team is travelling around NSW to meet with First Nations artistic and cultural communities to discuss Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP).
ICIP includes all aspects of cultural practices and traditional knowledge developed by Indigenous people as part of their identity.
The team is coming to the Mid North Coast in November for two community briefings on what is happening locally and federally, as well as a broad ranging discussion on the ICIP issues that directly affect local communities and cultural practices.
Coffs Harbour stop:
🗓️Tuesday 4
📍Saltwater Freshwater Gallery, Coffs Harbour
⏰ 11am - 2pm
🎟️Free, register here
ℹ️More information here
Port Macquarie session:
🗓️Wednesday 5
📍TAFE, Block C, Restaurant Room, Port Macquarie
⏰ 11am - 2pm
🎟️Free, register here
ℹ️More information here
🎨 Bellingen Shire Arts Trail
This year’s Bellingen Arts Trail Weekend celebrates 80 local artists in 31 open studios, galleries and shared spaces across the Shire including Dorrigo, Bellingen, Raleigh and Urunga.
Along with getting a glimpse into artistic processes, discovering emerging artists and having the opportunity to purchase works, there will be music, dance and artist talks at some of the venues over the weekend.
🗓️Saturday 8 and Sunday 9
⏰10am - 4pm
📍Bellingen Shire
🎟️Free
ℹ️More information including maps here
👗 Garage Sale Trail
Port Macquarie Hastings Council is joining the Australia-wide secondhand garage sale event over two weekends in November, including a car boot sale day on Sunday 16.
Every November, homes, unit blocks, schools, community groups, charities and pubs across the country host garage sales and secondhand markets, all on the same two weekends.
Registrations are open for those who wish to get involved and pass along pre-loved items.
🗓️Saturday 8, Sunday 9, Saturday 15, Sunday 16
⏰7am - 4pm
📍Port Macquarie-Hastings LGA
🎟️Free
ℹ️ More information here including a map and list of participating locations.
🖼️ The Annual Dorrigo Show Fine Arts Exhibition
This year’s Dorrigo Show Fine Arts Exhibition is introducing a new category for 2D works by youth (16 - 21yrs) to the competition lineup, alongside drawing, printmaking, watercolour and painting.
Prizes are awarded for first and second place in each category, as well as People’s Choice and an Overall Winner. Entries close Friday, November 7, at 5pm. Entry forms available online or at the Dorrigo and Bellingen libraries and information centres.
🗓️Awards Night Wednesday 19, 6pm
⏰10am - 4pm
📍Bellingen Shire
🎟️Free
ℹ️More information here or email [email protected].
“Takeaway S.W.Rocks” by Chris Hundt. Picture supplied: Dorrigo Council of the Arts
📍 And the answer is…
This spot was a lot of people’s guesses for my video of Crescent Head’s view from Skyline Crescent looking across Back Beach towards Racecourse.
Thanks to everyone who plays along! Did you guess correctly?
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading. If you don’t already, follow the Mid North Coaster on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, or check the website to keep up to date with local news.
Have a great weekend,
👋 Ellie
P.S. in case you missed it, there’s a new noodle and dumpling bar in Bellingen and it’s worth a visit.
