REGULAR FEATURES
WALK
where they live, and the buildings and sites they go past every day. You will hear about the first inhabitants and explorers, pioneer settlers and early businesses, as well fascinating stories about some buildings and their owners, and about island life in the early days. The Bongaree Heritage
WITH ME AROUND BONGAREE HISTORY
Barry Clark - Bribie Island Historical Society
BONGAREE Foreshore 1920 Walk starts at the Bongaree Jetty at 9;30am and is a gently stroll for about 90 minutes, finishing at the Seaside Museum for morning tea. The group walking is gentle, with stops for information and questions, and is suitable for all ages. You will be surprised at what you learn.
F
ebruary is often the month of dramatic weather, storms, rain, high tides and beach erosion. This year has been no exception, and we now have a “North” Bribie Island. One hundred and twentynine years ago, Australia’s greatest ever daily rainfall was recorded by Government weather forecaster Inigo Jones, at his family property across the Passage at Peachester. On February 3rd, 1893, and after several days of rain, on that day 907mm fell in 24 hours. That is a lot of rain! Climate certainly does change things. A few thousand years ago the whole of Moreton Bay was dry land, before the sea level started slowly rising, to be higher than it is now about 6000 years ago, and then going down again to where it is today. The Queensland coast has been this way for about 1000 years. Bribie has only been an island for a few hundred years, and early pioneers were oyster farmers, fishermen, cattle grazers, and timber cutters. There were few residents on Bribie before 1912 when the Bongaree Jetty was built.
34
By the 1930s the island had become a popular destination for day-trippers and holidaymakers on steamships from Brisbane. Just a handful of enterprising residents provided services to tens of thousands of visitors over the next 30 years. When the Bribie Bridge was built in 1963 the resident population had grown to 700. Bribie has long been a beautiful and peaceful place, attracting
Brbie Jetty 1924
many interesting residents, and was known as “A Zoo without a Fence” for the variety of natural wildlife found here. We all hope it continues that way, and the remaining aspects of Bribie history and heritage are preserved for future generations to appreciate. I write regular articles about these things, and conduct
www.thebribieislander.com.au
The Bribie Islander
guided heritage walks a few times each year. If you would like to come on a guided walk with me around Bongaree, I will be doing them on Thursday 3rd March and Thursday 5th May. The walks are free, but numbers are limited, bookings are essential. The poster in this article shows the details, and booking must be made online at mbrc.qld.gov.au/healthyactive. There are also other heritage walks to experience “Bribie Island in World War 2” on Thursday 10th of March and Thursday 19th of March. The Historical Society conducts these walks as part of the Healthy & Active Program, and participants are always surprised at the amazing things they learn about
MORE BRIBIE HISTORY The next Historical Society meeting will be Wednesday 9th March at 6;30 pm at the RSL Club. The guest speaker will be Historian and Author PETER LUDLOW, a specialist on the pioneer's people of Moreton Bay. See more on our new Web Site Bribiehistoricalsociety. org.au and our Blog Site http://bribieislandhistory. blogspot.com or contact us on bribiehistoricalsociety@ gmail.com
