Bumbunga.

Prince Andrew in Bumbunga.

Is that a province of South Africa? That would be a cinderella then, yes?

Bumbunga is in Australia, outside of Adelaide, South Australia. A Micro-Nation.

Warrehouse, what's a Micro-Nation? In fact, what exactly is Bumbunga?

-Allen (eager to learn something new today)

Province of Bumbunga
The Province of Bumbunga comprises a three hectare strawberry farm located at
Bumbunga, some eight kilometres from Lochiel and 137 kilometres north east of
Adelaide in South Australia.
The Province was proclaimed on January 1, 1979 by the owner of the property Mr.
Alex Brackstone, a former circus monkey trainer who migrated from England after
World War II and who settled at Bumbunga after unsuccessfully mineral prospecting
in Queensland and the Northern Territory.
Mr. Brackstone's motives for taking this step were quite unlike those of Mr. Leonard
Casley and Mr. Thomas Barnes who proclaimed their states (of Hutt River Province
and the Independent State of Rainbow Creek) as a result of fierce disputes with their
respective governments.
The Bumbunga Province came into being for purely patriotic reasons as Mr.
Brackstone was alarmed at the erosion of Royalist sentiment in Australia and what he
detected as the drift to Republicanism — particularly after the then Governor General
Sir John Kerr dismissed the Whitlam Labour Government in 1975. In setting up the
Province of Bumbunga and proclaiming himself the Governor, Mr. Brackstone hoped
to reverse this trend.
One of his chief weapons in this campaign against creeping Republicanism is his pride
and joy, a 92,000 square foot strawberry patch which is shaped as a map of the United
Kingdom. It stretches 600 feet from the Isle of Wight to John O'Groats in Scotland
and 350 feet from Land's End to Kent.
Governor Brackstone offered to perform marriage ceremonies in the Province for
brides of noble British birth and he planned to import earth from the place of the
lady's birth in England and sprinkle it on the appropriate place amongst the 50,000
strawberry plants in his map. However, he encountered certain problems with this
plan as quarantine authorities confiscated Shipments of earth from the U.K. ;

Rod,
Now that is an interesting story! The things we learn from stamp collecting are just incredible. So, how did the Australian government feel about Mr. Brackstone's endeavors? Also, how did the aforementioned Cinderella's come into being? Are there any others associated with this "political" entity?

-Allen

A Mirco-Nation is an individual or group whom has declared themselves independent of the country they live in. They state that their property is free and clear of the local national government, that they are a government onto themselves. This can be a farm, house, ranch, even an apartment/condo. They establish their own constitution & laws, some print their own stamps & money including coins.

More later!

Sounds like an episode of Family Guy or The Simpsons from a couple of years ago.

That's what I really like about that story: It's real, and it's more entertaining than an episode of the Simpsons!

-Allen

Abohart,
There are other Cinderellas from Bumbunga
but not in my collection.
The full set is on the Wiki link


See a map of England in his strawberry patch here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_of_Bumbunga

Warrehouse and Rod,
I have to admit, you really got me going on this... I've spent significant time on Wikipedia today researching micro-nations and their philatelic contrivances. Very entertaining! I have to say I can almost feel the pain of those guys in Rainbow Creek, and can't blame them a bit for seceding.

-Allen

Allen-

Have you found Seborga yet?

Interesting read.

Collin

Is this legal? I can't imagine the reaction here in the US if this were tried. You might get away with the fiction as long as you did nothing that infringed on the powers of the various governments(local, state, federal) But stamps and coins----

Rohumpy,
It has been done here in the United States, several times. The Republic of Molossia is a good example of one that has issued stamps: http://www.molossia.org/postal2.html

-Allen

Cjd,
I hadn't run across that one yet, but now I've got a project for the day!

-Allen

Guys, I have a neat one from right here in the good 'ol U.S.of A.
I have a sheet of the stamps issued in McDonald Co. Mo. when the whole county tried to secede from the state of Mo. I also have one of the passports they issued. Another stamp collector friend of mine even has one of the stamps used on cover! I will try to post pictures as soon as I get back to the shop, but tomorrow I have to take my mother to see her Doctor.Interesting stuff! Dean P.S. I was living close to there at the time and still do. There was an article in Linn's a long time ago but they didn't get the whole story. I'll see if I can find that too.