Shining

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Shining
Nation: Errinundera
Province: Plateau
Location: Northern and central areas of the Great Plateau forest
Major towns: Goonmirk Rocks, Rooty Break, Sassafras Basin
Ecosystem type: Cool temperate rainforest and montane eucalypt
Av. annual rainfall: 2400 mm

Shining is a district in the northern part of the Great Central Plateau of Errinundera and is named after its dominant tree, the Shining Gum. The tree is often found in association with brown barell on the ridges and gently sloping plateaux. Southern sassafras rainforest dominates along the streams and gullies. Rooty Break is the only large town, however there are many smaller towns and tree villages such as Goonmirk Rocks and Sassafras Basin.

The northwards flowing Bendoc and Queensborough Rivers have their headwaters in the region. Like the rest of the Plateau it is home to some of the densest forest in Errinundera.

There is no Shining governing authority as such. Government business is conducted almost entirely at the local level, ie the tree villages and tree towns. The district is the home of Errinundera's own version of Communitarianism, a political system where craft and community unions control economic and political activity. This is well-suited to the Errinundrian penchant for decentalisation and is steadily being adopted in other parts of Errinundera. Shining is part of the province of Plateau with First Creek Falls as its administrative centre, however there is little interference from that city. Mayors and Magistrates of two or more locations meet from time to time to decide upon larger issues that need addressing.

The inhabitants of the region depend on cottage industries for their livelihood. It is a leading centre for the nation’s major industry, book publishing.

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Shining Gum on the ridge above Frosty Hollow
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Shining has maintained its distinctive Oo culture, where the forest is revered as the origin of all living things. Legend has it that the dreamtime tree, Errinu, lived somewhere between Goonmirk Rocks and Rooty Break.

From the very beginning of the Errinundera Football Association the locals developed a keen interest in football with several teams becoming inaugural members. In recent times, recongising that small parochial teams had no future, they amalgamated to form Forest Shining. To accommodate the extra patronage, the infamous Frosty Hollow ground, just outside Rooty Break, has been upgraded to a capacity of 61,000. Sunk into the earth and surrounded by the forest, the stadium is notorious for its fickle weather.

As the stadium’s name suggests, Shining is one of the colder areas of the nation with upwards of 100 frosts per year. It snows from time to time, however there isn’t permanent snow cover during the winter months. Temperatures in summer are much more pleasant, however the annual rainfall is evenly distributed throughout the year, so the summer months are still damp.