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Changing face of Gympie By Erle Levey The smell of freshly toasted coffee mixes with the sounds of the historic steam train pulling into the railway station. The whimsy of antique and secondhand shops are side-by-side with those selling street wear for skateboard or bmx bike riders. There’s the charm of stopping and catching up with long-time friends or chatting with new acquaintances. I’m at the top of Caledonian Hill after walking up Mary St and taking a look at Gympie as it unfolds around me. We are almost 18 months into the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet it has been a time when Gympie’s values have shone through. The Covid-19 pandemic has turned the world on its head. Then again, it has also reminded us of the benefits in learning from the past. There is a country town feel to Gympie of helping each other in tough times. It seems to shine through in mining towns, when they had to rely on each other. Even today, cars will slow to let you cross the street. People come first. The climate, as well as the quality of the soil in the Gympie region, enables a huge range of fruits and vegetables and produce to be grown. When people say that you can grow most things around Gympie they are not kidding.
SoMa SoMa Espresso in Mellor St, Gympie. 240721 Although having grown up in a farming community there are fruit and vegetable types I never knew existed. My father used to tell me that while growing up in the shadow of Mt Tamborine he loved to eat persimmons straight off the tree. Now we have seen the fruit make a comeback and ideally suited to the Gympie region, along with cape gooseberries which was another of his favourites. It’s a similar story with the more exotic varieties such as dragonfruit, sapota or sapodilla. The Mary Valley as well as the Cooloola region have really stood up in
recent times with the way produce is grown. There is a cleaner, greener image being created following much more use is being made of biodynamic farming practices. In many cases the produce is being packaged and marketed locally. Always pick a town with a river to live in, I have been told. A town with a river has a life … flowing water has life. The Mary River is a vital artery for the Gympie region. Known as Mooraboocoola, Moocooboola and Monoboola by the indigenous people of the region, the river was named Wide Bay River by early European explorers
Andrew Petrie and Henry Stuart Russell in 1842. It was officially renamed in 1847 after Lady Mary Lennox Fitzroy, months before she was tragically killed in a carriage accident. Lady Mary Lennox was married to Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy who became Governor of New South Wales. The largest flood on record for Gympie was in February 1893, which peaked at 25.45 metres and covered most of Mary Street with the waterline reaching the vicinity of where the Lady Mary Statue stands today. It’s an old town, with some deeply rooted connections. If you are in street people will say hello. There is a courtesy, no matter who you or where you are from. A joy of living here. People have become aware of the importance of locally grown produce and it is leading to a better lifestyle. There’s a collective energy - a whole lot of people and businesses are doing bits and pieces. So what is it in this community that makes it so resilient? I’m told that when the pioneers came here it was a microcosm of the world. People came from all over in search of gold but they then learnt about the great soil … Britains, Irish, Germans, Italians, Chinese.
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32 SENIORS TODAY SPRING: SEPTEMBER 2021
