Recently I had reason to travel north ( to deliver a piece of art to
Gladstone Regional Gallery – and no, I didn’t win the prize … ) and I broke
my journey with a couple of nights at Bundaberg.
Bundaberg is an historical city
in south-east Queensland, Australia, about 385 kilometres north of the
state capital, Brisbane. It is 15 kilometres inland from the Coral Sea
coast and situated on the Burnett River. It is a major centre within the
broader Wide Bay–Burnett geographical region.
The School of Arts - 1888
another view ...
Saint Andrew's Church -1940
The name was coined by
surveyor John Charlton Thompson and his assistant Alfred Dale Edwards. Bundaberg is
derived from the name of one of the kinship groups of the local Taribelang
people, to which was added the Saxon suffix berg, meaning "town". Colloquially
the city is known as "Bundy".
Old Bundy Tavern - 1892
British occupation of the land
in the region began in 1848 when pastoral squatters Gregory Blaxland Jnr and
William Forster established a sheep station. Blaxland was a son of the Blue
Mountains explorer, Gregory Blaxland, and Forster was later to become a Premier
of New South Wales.
They selected a very large area of land which encompassed
most of the western part of the modern-day Bundaberg Region along the Burnett
River. They named this pastoral lease Tirroan. Blaxland and Forster had
previously set up sheep stations near the Clarence River in northern NSW and had a notable
history of conflict with Aboriginal people.
This continued at Tirroan when two
of their shepherds were killed by Aboriginal people in 1849. Forster and
Blaxland led a punitive expedition causing multiple Aboriginal deaths. Further
conflict occurred the following year when Blaxland was clubbed to death.
Forster and a number of other squatters conducted another reprisal, resulting
in a large massacre of Aboriginal people in scrubland toward the coastal part
of Tirroan.
Centre of the City - Post Office ( 1885 ) and War Memorial ( 1920 )
In 1867, timber-getters and
farmers established the Woondooma property which consisted of a few houses and
a wharf on the northern banks of the Burnett River where Bundaberg North now
stands.
An official survey of the area
was undertaken in 1869 and the town of Bundaberg was gazetted across the river
on the higher, southern banks. The first Bundaberg land sale was held in
Maryborough on 11 May 1870 where hotelier John Foley bought the original lots.
Most of the early settlers exploited the timber and grew maize on their
selections but as a result of the incentives of the Sugar and Coffee
Regulations of 1864, sugar became a major component in Bundaberg's development
from the 1870s. Experimental sugar cane cultivation in the district was first grown
1870 and the first sugar mill was built in 1872 and by 1882, Bundaberg had
become an important sugar production region.
Bourbong Street - 1892
Christ Church Anglican church - 1926
Burnett River scenes ...
Two typical "Old Queenslander " houses - beautifully restored
On the outskirts of the city lies Baldwin Swamp Environmental Park
This is a huge wetlands area home to migratory birds on their winter flights from cold climes down south to the warmer tropics ...unfortunately I am here in summer - so not a lot of feathered friends to keep me company - but nevertheless a lovely early morning walk of about 4 kms along paths set amidst the several lakes ...
... only wild life on display is this enormous bat colony on one of the many islands dotted throughout the swamp ... very noisy and very scary as the bats settled in for the daylight hours ...
Another famous son of Bundaberg is Bert Hinkler - world-renown long distance aviator. And his house "Mon Repos" - originally built in Southhampton UK in 1925 - was disassembled brick by brick and in 1982 was shipped 16,000kms to Bundy where it has been lovingly restored and set in the beautiful sub-tropical botanic gardens.
In 1912 Bundaberg pioneering
aviator Bert Hinkler built and successfully flew his own glider on Mon Repos
beach ( on the coast east of the city ). He also completed a noteworthy
non-stop flight from London to Turin in 1920. The following year in 1921
Hinkler flew from Sydney to Bundaberg, non-stop, in a record-breaking flight of
8 and a half hours, in the process beating a telegram he had sent to his
mother, to warn her of his arrival.
After a long day driving to and from Gladstone 200kms away, it was a joy to unwind after being on the highway for a long five hours and to wander the Gardens in the late afternoon cooling breeze.
Notable Australians who have
called Bundaberg home include Bert Hinkler ( 1892 – 1933 ), pioneer aviator, Mal Meninga ( b 1960 ) legendary rugby league footballer, Gladys Moncrieff ( 1892 -1976 ) opera singer and Donald Smith ( 1920 -1998 ) operatic tenor. And
of course the very famous Bundaberg Dark Rum, made from the sugar cane by-product
molasses ( who hasn’t ordered a “ Bundy Coke” at their favourite bar … !!! )
So that was a brief glimpse of Bundaberg - then the following day it was a short drive of just 100kms south to another river port city - Maryborough - where my exhibition opened at the Gatakers Art Space ( see my previous blog post ) - and I'll show you a bit of historical Maryborough in my next post.
