Alternative reality: two kambo deaths spark soul-searching in Australia’s counter-culture capital

A fortnight of harrowing testimony at consecutive inquests shines a light on the northern rivers' alternative therapy scene

• Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast

The road into Mullumbimby beckons like a promise.

With its palm trees and buskers and its slightly raffish air, Mullum", as it is known, has long drawn dreamers and idealists looking for alternative ways of being. People come here to escape, to reinvent themselves, to cast away the past, to be healed.