Ida Daly - humans of 2484

As this new decade begins, Uki elder Ida Daly will celebrate 70 years of living in the caldera.

The eldest of six, Ida was born in Bangalow, then lived in the Atherton Tablelands before the family settled in Bundaberg where her father worked on sugar cane farms. The family split their time between living in town during the slack period and out among the cane fields during the crushing.

Perhaps it was this transitory aspect of her childhood that made Ida so comfortable with travelling. As soon as she was old enough, she left home to travel and “work about”. During WWII, Ida joined the land army, which suited her practical nature and adventurous spirit as she and other young women travelled from job to job by train, “saving the jobs for the boys”.

When the war was over, Ida’s restless spirit took her to Sydney where she worked at the railway, then delivering mail at the Homebush Post Office.

During a visit back to Bundy, her brother brought a friend home, Ida’s future husband Denis Daly. It turns out Denis was also born in Bangalow and his aunt had taught Ida’s aunt music so it was “one of those divine coincidences by the powers that be”.

Ida and Denis married and settled at Doon Doon to work as dairy farmers before moving to “the big town”, Uki. Although Denis died several decades ago, he and Ida’s legacy is strong… eight children, 23 grandchildren, 50 great grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.

It goes without saying, even if you haven’t met Ida, you’ve probably encountered one of her relatives.

Although she has travelled extensively — to India, Korea, Iceland, Thailand, Hawaii and several parts of Europe — Ida has no designs on leaving the 2484 region for more than a few days at a time.

“You come in here and there’s just a feeling. As soon as you see Mt Warning you feel ‘Aaah I’m home’. As much as I enjoyed my travels and the cruises, the best part was coming home,” she said.

Ida’s big passions are dancing and humans. She has been sad to see the decline of the country balls since some of the halls have closed. She’d also like to see more pockets of people acting on being community minded and helping one another, especially folks who are ‘lost’. She also thinks the LETS (bartering) system will make a comeback locally.

In 70 years, Ida’s love of the region has only grown, and she is deeply ensconced in the community and engages regularly to support what’s happening.

“I love the openness of the people and the area itself. It’s just so welcoming and loveable and everyone is so wonderful,” she says.

At 93, she has the energy of a much younger soul. Lovingly known as the “Queen of Uki”, she can be found regularly dancing to live music at the Mount Warning Hotel (pandemic permitting), selling raffle tickets, doing weekly Pilates followed by coffee at the Uki Post Office, visiting the Murwillumbah and Uki Farmers Markets, and hosting a meditation/healing circle at her home.

“There’s a lot of good things happening,” she says.

And anyone who meets her knows that Ida’s presence makes all those good things much, much better.

Interview and story Carmen Myler