REGULAR FEATURES
A FEW FIRSTS & FACTS Bribie Boats, Birds and Buildings
This article provides a few historical firsts and facts about a range of people, places and things that people ask me about. Some of these things you may know, but others may surprise you and your friends.
considerable erosion of beaches and sand dunes along Rickman Parade, Woorim, and South Esplanade, Bongaree in the 1930s there were three large sand dunes between the Surf Club and high tide. In 1958, a resident of South Esplanade decided to create his own protective groin and purchased the hulk of a large old metal cargo vessel named “Cormorant”. He arranged for it to be towed from Brisbane, and on arrival to be placed on the beach at South Esplanade and a hole to be blown in the hull, to sink it in location. It was actually scuttled in a slightly different location than intended, but it served as effective protection against sand migration for 32 years until it was too rusty and dangerous and was removed by Council in 1990. Over those 32 years many thousands of children, and many readers of this article, will remember playing on it.
BIRDS
There are over 9,000 different species of birds in the world, of which more than 850 can be seen in Australia at various times of the year. About 40% of them are specific to Australia and found nowhere else on earth. Bribie Island and Pumicestone Passage is home to about half of all the bird species in Australia, making it a uniquely important destination and environment. One-third of Australian shorebirds are year-round residents, and the other two-thirds are migratory. Most travel huge distances from their breeding grounds in the northern hemisphere, involving a return journey of a massive 30,000 kilometres. Some birds fly for several days non-stop to land in Pumicestone Passage, making it one of the most important bird and marine habitats on the east coast of Australia. Until a few years ago, I had the pleasure of seeing “Eric” the Emu regularly wander through my front garden at Banksia Beach. I wonder if there are still any Emu on Bribie Island. There is a couple of great location to observe Bribie birds at the Kakadu Bird Hide, Banksia Beach, and Buckley’s Hole bird hide at Bongaree. About 40 years ago, this important site was threatened by a proposal to build a large Boat Marina at Red Beach near Buckley’s Hole. Here is a picture of the Marina proposal, which was fortunately rejected by the Council at the time.
Barry Clark Bribie Island Historical Society
SHIP WRECKS. There have been a few notable shipwrecks and deliberate sinking’s on Bribie Island over the years. The Steamship “Eastern” ran aground 111 years ago on a Reef at the southern end of Bribie Island in 1911. After many unsuccessful attempts to re-float the laden ship, the cargo of rice, canned foods, petrol, shark oil and peanuts, was thrown overboard and washed up on Woorim beach. Custom Officers rode along the beach on bicycles trying to destroy the cargo. Charles 36
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Godwin, after whom Godwin Beach is named, was engaged to collect the salvaged goods and take them to Brisbane on his boat. Returning from the second trip, Charles. Godwin was knocked overboard by a sail and drowned. In 1915, an old paddle wheeler coal hulk “Avon” was deliberately scuttled in Pumicestone Passage, opposite Dux Creek, to protect oyster banks. It has now almost completely rusted away after 107 years but is still visible at low tide, and Avon Avenue at Banksia Beach was named for it. Over the years there has been The Bribie Islander
ORIGINAL RESIDENTS
Early explorers in the 1840s described their first encounter with residents of this island as very fine-looking people, tall, wild, hardy and fierce. By the 1860’s they had a reputation for resistance and hostility to European settlement and the native police were directed to “disperse” them. By the 1870s there were
