According to the Northern Star, Pope Benedict XVI "will take a three-day holiday in Ballina during his Australian tour next month."
Ballina. Where His Holiness heads when he wants to kick back.
The local buzz amongst Northern Rivers Catholics is that the Pope is visiting Ballina to meet with his friend (and popular pick for future Pope), Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna, Christopher Schönborn, who will be staying in the town for reasons unknown.
The visit to the CAoV is a cover story, of course. The Pope is heading to Ballina to see for himself the mythical king of Australia's world famous Big Things, The Big Prawn :
But there's more to Ballina than just the Big Prawn, as powerful a draw as it obviously is for pilgrims and Popes alike.
The locals have plenty of ideas :
Ballina Chamber of Commerce spokesman Brian Marriott said if the Pope was to visit, he could do a spot of fishing off the wharf at Lance Ferris Park.
Now that would be awesome to see.
"He could stay at the Ramada Hotel and Suites and we could give him a special area there in the penthouse - I'm sure management could arrange that," Mr Marriott said.
Imagine if they couldn't? The Pope's in Ballina and the Ramada is overbooked. These people used to hold inquisitions.
