Premium Content
Subscriber only If you ve ever stood next to an emu, you d know the deep and intimidating guttural sounds they produce in their throats. But at a wildlife park an hour s drive from Mackay, the emus politely eat food out of your hands while eastern grey kangaroos gently nudge you for a second helping. An emu at Bredl s Wild Farm. Picture: Contributed Bredls Wild Farm is also home to five cassowaries, Stella the southern-nosed wombat, Mimi and Bubbles the deer, talking birds, goats, koalas, possums, a sugar glider, a spencer s goanna, alligators and saltwater crocodiles. The Spencer s monitor, or goanna, at Bredl s Wild Farm, Bloomsbury. Picture: Contributed, Sticky Designz
Premium Content
Subscriber only Nestled among the quiet streets of a rural town about an hour s drive north of Mackay is a pilot s playground with a 1.1km bitumen airstrip. At the end next to the helicopter pad is the home belonging to Garry Poole, the passionate local behind the Bloomsbury Whitsunday Park Estate. The helipad at the Whitsunday Park Estate. Mr Poole also keeps his own fire engine on standby should emergency services wish to use it. Picture: Heidi Petith The development consists of two lots of 35 two-hectare blocks each sold with access to the estate s Lakeside Airfield. Approved plans for the Whitsunday Park Estate at 61 Whitsunday Drive, Bloomsbury. Picture: Cardno Limited.
So i m headed back to arkansas. the town of harrison has a population that is 96% white. and it s known for still having an active ku klux klan presence. what kind of vibe will i get here? will i see some kind of sign of modern-day racism? ta-da. the controversial billboard up in harrison in northern arkansas sparking nationwide controversy. it s sparked local outrage, some calling it racist. people say this billboard reminds them of a very unpleasant time in their town s history. i need to talk to somebody about the billboard, and this lady will do. she s patty methvin, president of the harrison chamber of commerce. it broke my heart first. after i cried for a little while and kind of had a little hissy fit, then we started working on what do we do? how do you counter a billboard that doesn t have an author?
Mayberry as you can get. modern mayberry. would you recommend a black guy like myself buy a house around here? sure. sure. you d fit right in, i m sure. right in? yeah. we have heard there s still like a klan presence, like a kkk presence. has that happened here? years ago dawson did have kind of a bad reputation. small town. it s just totally just disappeared. okay. now it s been over for years. do you see black people around here ever? whenever i was growing up there wasn t really a lot because the kkk s like headquarters are just right down the road. i see them around town when i work at dairy queen down there. it s funny because you re the youngest person we ve talked to and we talked to some older people in town and they said like somebody said the klan hasn t been here for 50 years. no, they re they were trying to put a good face on it. they just wasn t open about it like they were in the past. what if i was to go down that road today? would
Dancing his ass off. [ laughter ] ain t too proud to beg. so i think i can t just judge the klan by this one dude. i ve got to go talk to more klan members. which is the first time a black guy s ever said that sentence in life. [ laughter ] my next stop on the where are they now klan edition is dawson springs, kentucky. walking the streets, it feels like any quaint southern working-class town. but for decades the kkk and their neo-nazi buddies have used a property just outside of town for their rallies. and tonight the klan has invited me to witness an actual cross burning. yep. i m a kkk vip. but first, let me talk to the locals. and see if they know that the ku klux klan is still in the hood. it s a good place to live, good place to raise kids. it s about as close to modern