1. Queen of the Colonies shipwreck Pandanus tree,
Moffat Beach
http://sunshinecoast.spydus.com/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/OPAC/BIBENQ?BRN=350562
Subject: Picture shows a young woman in long dress and hat looking at the pandanus tree. The
wreck of the S.S. Dicky can be seen on the open beach in the distance. Virgin bushland surrounds
the beach areas. It was thought that a survivor of the Queen of the Colonies shipwreck had carved
the ship's name into the trunk of this tree. In the second image, this tree on Queen of the Colonies
Parade, Moffat Head, marks a spot near where a group from the ship Queen of the Colonies came
ashore. However, Mr Ewen Maddock of Mooloolah admitted that he had carved the name on the
tree in the 1880s. The original pandanus tree trunk is in Newstead House, Brisbane.
Queen of the Colonies
The vessel, Queen of the Colonies made five trips from the United Kingdom and Ireland to the colony of
Queensland during the 1860s. Unfortunately no picture of the ship is known to exist.
During the voyage, which ended on 8th April 1863, the ship made good time. She anchored off Moreton
Island on 6th April, and on 7th April at 5 pm, 13 crew and volunteer passengers took the life-boat to the
island to bury one of the passengers, Mrs Barnfield, who had died in childbirth. In the boat were Mr Barnfield,
Captain Hill, and Messrs Durrant, Arundel, Langford, Ford, Eldridge (chief officer), Grant (fourth-mate),
Roach and Murray (quarter-masters), and three able seamen. At 7 pm the boat returned and had reached
the ship but a violent squall erupted and the crew were unable to reach the rope thrown for them. The lifeboat then disappeared. Captain Cairncross decided to continue to Brisbane on the 8th of April, whereafter
search crews were sent to look for the life-boat.
The men attempted to row to Brisbane but the boat overturned on a sandbank, and Mr Barnfield was
drowned. They returned to a beach near where Caloundra is today. Three of the men (Eldridge, Grant &
Durant) then tried to reach settlement overland and were the last to be found - on April 26th. The remainder
had already been found at Caloundra. All were in terrible condition - sunburnt and starving, and nearly
naked, having lost clothing when the boat overturned. A street in Caloundra is named after the ship Queen of the Colonies Parade - and for many years a Pandanus tree stood at Moffatt Head, which bore the
inscription "Queen of the Colonies" and several of the castaways initials engraved on it. (The Queen of the
Colonies Tree). The remains of the tree are now held by the Royal Historical Society of Queensland, in their
Queen of the Colonies display.
2. Burial Tree, Tewantin
This photo was taken in 1885 of the white fig tree (Fiscus virens) at Tewantin, looking across the
Noosa River.
http://sunshinecoast.spydus.com/cgibin/spydus.exe/FULL/OPAC/BIBENQ/36932/3045755,1?FMT=IMG&IMGNUM=1
The old fig tree on the opposite side of the road to the Tewantin Post Office is about 600 years old
and was used by local Aborigines as a burial tree. The body was put into a foetal position, the
wrists and the ankles were then broken and the body wrapped in bark. The bark-wrapped body was
then placed between two protruding roots of the fig tree which then grew over the body and
eventually it became part of the tree. The spirit of the deceased ancestor then went into the tree and
could be invoked by picking several leaves, rubbing and smelling them. Alternatively, the leaves
could be thrown on to a slow burning fire and their sweet smelling smoke inhaled. Around the
1900s an early settler, who lived in a house next to where the Post Office is today, removed all the
noticeable bark-wrapped bodies and sold them to collectors and museums across the world. This
picture was taken in the early 1880s and shows the extraordinary size of the fig tree at that time.
From Wells, R.A. (2003) In the Tracks of a Rainbow: Indigenous Culture and Legends of the
Sunshine Coast Sunshine Beach: Gullirae Books
3. Red Cedar, Mary Cairncross Park, Maleny
The Blackall Ranges were first traversed by European explorers in the 1840s. The 'scrub', as the rainforests were then
known, covered much of this range and its western valleys. Almost 40 years later, the lure of timber brought the first
white pioneers to the Blackall Ranges. Aborigines told them of "big fellow Wootha" (cedar trees) which abounded over
the ranges. Large quantities of red cedar were extracted from this area during the 1880s. Trees were felled by axe-men
using spring boards to reach above the buttressed roots. White beech, hoop and bunya pine were also favoured.
Logs from the plateau of Maleny and the Blackall Range were hauled to the top of the range at nearby McCarthy's Shute
Road, and shot down a log channel to prevent damage. If rolled the logs would have smashed on the rocks below. At the
bottom, they were pit-sawn into flitches (segments) for easy handling. Two men worked the pit-saw, one standing above
the log and the other below in the pit. It was very tiring work and took weeks of preparation. Logs were also transported
by bullock wagon to the Coochin Creek Rafting Grounds. The rafting ground was used by early timber getters as a place
to store timber and logs, which were fastened together to form rafts and floated 13 kilometres down to the mouth of
Coochin Creek, then into Pumicestone Passage, ready to be collected by passing steamers and sailing ships for
transportation to Brisbane.
Around the time the first settlers arrived, the trade in cedar and beech had almost stopped as the supply was all but
exhausted. By the 1890s, the timber getters turned to felling hardwood (mainly Eucalypts), which was in plentiful supply,
and at the time only the best trees were used.
Poor timber prices led to the demise of timber mills. At the turn of the 20th century, land clearing by settlers later made
way for dairy farming, crops and pasture which continue today.
One hundred acres of land was transferred to the community by Misses E. G., M. M. and M. P. Thynne in 1941. This
transfer of land was made to preserve the original nature of the Scrub, in honour of their mother Mary Thynne (nee
Cairncross).
Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve is a last valuable remnant of the magnificent rainforests which once covered these
Ranges.
http://www.mary-cairncross.com.au/european-pioneers-sunshine-coast.php
Red Cedar
Toona ciliata (syn: Toona australis)
Mention red cedar and many people think of the beautiful, durable and very
valuable cabinet timber. Known as Red Gold in the early days of European settlement, red cedar was one of the first of
the forest giants to be felled for the riches its timber could bring. Before farmers settled the Blackall Range, the cedar
getters searched the countryside and felled vast quantities of these trees.
One of the largest red cedars ever recorded - 20 feet, 5 inches (6.14m) in girth - was felled in the1860s less than two
kilometres from the Reserve. Unfortunately the machinery of the day could not handle a tree of this size and most of the
timber was wasted - explosives were used to break it up so it could be handled and sawn.
The red cedar tree is a giant, towering high above the surrounding forest canopy. Like many
emergent rainforest trees its branches play host to numerous orchids, mosses and ferns such as staghorns and
elkhorns. It is one of Australia's few native deciduous trees, shedding its leaves for winter and putting on a spectacular
flush of bright red new growth in spring. The bark is brown to grey, forming characteristic large irregular scales. The base
of the trunk can be buttressed or round.
Red cedar is now treasured as an integral part of our rainforest, and not just for its famous timber. Perhaps in another
200 - 300 years we will again have one of the largest red cedars in the world gracing our hills.
4. Memorial Trees, Eumundi
Extract from “Queensland Heritage Register File No 601122”
Eumundi War Memorial – Avenue of Trees
The Eumundi War Memorial Trees were planted during and after the First World War. Between
1914 and 1918, eighty seven men from Eumundi and the surrounding district served in the First
World War. The trees were planted to honour the twenty men who did not return.
The impetus for the planting of the Memorial Trees was provided by the Eumundi Women’s
Patriotic Committee. Funds were raised by public subscription, the total cost being approximately
100 pounds.
Up until the early twentieth century, there were few statues or monuments in Queensland.
However, as a result of the First World War (1914-1918), memorials were erected in almost every
Queensland town. Such public expression of both grief for the dead and pride in the nation has not
been generated by previous or subsequent wars.
The First World War had an immense impact on the Australian population. Of those who went to
war, almost one in five did not return. It was common for families to lose more than one son and
for small communities to lose a whole generation of men.
In 1916 the British Government prohibited the exhumation and return of bodies. This, coupled with
the impracticality of visiting distant graved ensured war memorials became an expression of public
mourning, revered as cenotaphs (literally meaning ‘empty tomb’) by those who erected them.
Placed at prominent locations, they became symbols of remembrance and were considered to be
as sacred as grave sites. As such, materials, design principles and symbols suggesting
permanence, reverence and commemoration were important elements….
Avenues of trees as memorials, and particularly those where each tree is attributed to a particular
fallen serviceman are uncommon in Queensland. Most memorials erected during or after the First
World War were of the monumental type…
Eumundi is one of the few towns in Queensland which does not display a monumental type
memorial to the First World War. However, the placement of the trees on the main thoroughfare
through town adheres to the formula of placing memorials in dominant and central positions…
The original Eumundi Memorial Tree species were fig trees, of which twenty were planted. Of
these, five are extant and the fifteen which didn’t survive have been replaced with other species…
By the 1970s, many of the trees had been replaced and the plaques had either been lost or had
deteriorated (these were replaced in 1976). …
The trees and plaques are cared for by the Maroochy Council arborist and the Eumundi Historical
Association.
5. Bunya trees significance to the Sunshine Coast
The Bunya Tree has great significance to Indigenous people. An icon of the sunshine coast that is
used by many companies and organisations is the bunya tree. In the early stages of colonisation in
the region, many of the new comers felled many Bunya Trees for the development of the new
colony. When indigenous people saw these huge trees being felled, they began to cry. And not for
a moment in their highly complex lifestyles but for months. Not only did they cry for days and days
but their cries could be heard for miles and miles.
From the month of Dec through to March Indigenous people would come from far afield to gather
at Baroon Pocket. These gatherings were a celebration of their culture with politics, sports, justice,
dissemination of information, marital arrangements and other social activities taken place. This tree
was so special to Indigenous people that there were laws that precluded people harming it in any
way. Its importance to the Aborigines was seen by Governor Gipps who made a declaration that no
timber licenses be given or land taken up in Bunya Country in 1842. He was specifically talking
about the land that is known as the Sunshine Coast today, this was repealed as the first act of Qld
parliament.
The Bunya Tree can provide more for the community than just be used as an icon. There are
environmental, health & social benefits.
Beverly uses the day to generate understanding of Indigenous culture, providing a forum for
networking and information sharing, including the strengthening of community partnerships.
The last recorded 'traditional' Bunya Festival was held at Baroon Pocket in 1887. Then, in 2007
Beverly Hand made a revitalisation of a traditional event into contemporary Australia that we now
call 'Bunya Dreaming''.
http://www.treeline.org.au/program/treeline-bunya-dreaming
Bunya pine trees planted by Bob Breton at the entrance to his property on Bretons Road,
Crohamhurst near Peachester, 1988 [picture]
http://sunshinecoast.spydus.com/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/OPAC/BIBENQ?BRN=349983
Bunya trees regularly grow to a height of 50 metres or more with the trunk often reaching one and
a half metres across in width. The natural range of the Bunya pine is limited to the wet, forested
areas of the Great Dividing Range, north west of Brisbane. Each year Bunya pines grow large cones
almost the size of a football which contains about 50 or so nuts. Rich in oils and carbohydrates, the
nuts were a favourite source of food for the Indigenous peoples of South East Queensland. The nuts
could be eaten fresh or roasted and ground into flour.
http://www.treeline.org.au/program/treeline-bunya-dreaming
6. Mill Point – Timber Mill (1869-1892)
As cities such as Brisbane and Gympie grew, the demand for building materials such as timber also
grew. Timber getters explored different areas looking for valued timber such as cedar, bunya and
kauri pine. These were all to be found in the southern Coolooa area. In the 1860s four member
involved in mining ventures in Gympie formed a partnership and established 'Luya and Co.'. The
company built the Cootharaba sawmill in a swampy area at Elanda Point, on the western edge of
Lake Cootharaba. This timber mill was one of the first and most successful timber mills in the
Coolooa region.
By the early 1870s loads of timber were being sent from the Cootharaba sawmills along
Cootharaba Road to Gympie. However bullocks often were bogged in the wet sandy soil of the
area, and Cootharaba Road included swampy sections, steep sections and miles of scrub.
To make transporting the timber easier the company began to use the waterways. Flat-bottomed
paddle-wheel boats known as 'droghers' towed punts of sawn timber through Lakes Cootharaba
and Cooroibah to Tewantin. From there the timber was loaded onto the firm's steamer, the
Culgoa, and taken to Brisbane. The Culgoa carried passengers, general cargo and sawn timber on
each trip between Tewantin and Brisbane until completion of the Brisbane-Gympie rail link in 1891.
As the sawmill at Mill Point was quite isolated a settlement was created for workers and their
families. This settlements included workers cottages, single men’s quarters, a store, a blacksmith,
hotel, post office and a school. A tramway and jetty were also built to help transport the timber.
A cemetery was established at the Mill Point settlement, and 43 burials were recorded between
1873 and 1891. The first burials appear to have been four of the five men who died as a result of a
boiler explosion at the sawmill on 29 July 1873. Thirty of the burials were those of children who died
of causes such as "lung problems, wasting, thrush, convulsions or drowning."
In 1871 the population of the settlement was recorded as 22, and by the 1880s it was estimated
that there were between 100 and 150 employees at the sawmill. Community life included picnics,
excursions and sports days. New Year's Day in 1877 was celebrated with a cricket match between
the timber-getters and bullock-drivers combined, against the sawmill hands.
A journalist's account of a visit in May 1873 notes: "Leaving the works and passing to the rear we
found a regular little township of workmen's houses and others directly connected with the
establishment, a good store, well-equipped, conducted by the owners, a butcher's shop, and there
seemed nothing wanting to complete the comfort of all connected with the establishment". The
school was established around 1874, and was the first opened in the district. The school building,
which included a library and reading room, and grounds were provided by the sawmill proprietors,
and also served as a community hall. A hotel appears to have operated from 1876 until 1878 when
the building burnt down.
From the mid-1880s, a series of events occurred that would influence the decline and closure of the
sawmill complex in the early 1890s. By the early 1890s most of the suitable timber in the areas had
been cut down, having been exploited for nearly 20 years. The sawmill finally closed in 1892 after
serious floods and other changes in the area (trainline from Brisbane to Gympie and sinking of the
Culgoa).
Panoramic photograph of Mill Point (Royal Women’s Historical Society)
There were approximately sixty families living at Mill Point until its closure in 1892.
When the mill closed down the Provisional School which was owned by the milling company also
closed.
Large kauri logs outside the Cootharaba Timber Mill, Queensland 187076
Mill Point today
7. Caloundra Wishing Tree
The sign states that the Caloundra Wishing Tree was planted by Lady Wilson, wife of
Governor Sir Leslie Wilson on January 18, 1936 then says 'After circling tree thrice in
silence, concentrate and your good wish will be fulfilled.' The Norfolk Island pine was
surrounded by a picket fence on Victoria Terrace at the end of King Street.
Unfortunately neither the sign nor the tree have survived.
Information on Sir Leslie & Lady Wilson
On 13 June 1932 Wilson was sworn in as governor of Queensland. Although he had
accepted a less exacting and responsible charge than Bombay, he carried out his
constitutional, social and philanthropic duties with zest. A regular traveller to remote
areas of the State, he was particularly interested in the welfare and progress of North
Queensland. Closely associated with organizations as diverse as the Australian
Institute of International Affairs and the Kennel Association of Queensland, he was
the driving force behind the Bush Children's Health Scheme. Sir Leslie & Lady
Wilson had a house on the Sunshine Coast – Currimundi House. (Currimundi House was built
in 1936 and was the seaside residence for Sir Leslie Orme Wilson. The name Currimundi was probably derived from the
Aboriginal name for the area, pronounced Garamandah or Girramundi, meaning place of Flying Foxes. Sir Leslie and Lady
Wilson gave great support to organisations and service functions including the surf life saving movement. They were highly
regarded by Caloundra residents and indeed all Queenslanders.)
The Queensland government obtained a second quinquennial appointment for Wilson,
followed by three annual extensions necessitated by the war: in all, he served fourteen
years as governor. Handsome and courteous, Wilson had natural presence. His affable
nature, keen interest in sport and the unflagging support he and Lady Wilson gave to
organizations and service functions during the war years were warmly regarded by
Queenslanders.
Wilson left office on 11 April 1946 and retired to England, but revisited Australia
several times to see his son who had a property in Queensland. Survived by his wife,
son and daughter, Sir Leslie died in hospital at Chertsey, Surrey, England, on 29
September 1955 after a road accident.
Norfolk Pines
The trees grow to a height of 50-65 m, with straight vertical trunks and symmetrical
branches, even in the face of incessant onshore winds that can contort most other
species. The leaves are awl-shaped, 1-1.5 cm long, about 1 mm thick at the base on
young trees, and incurved, 5-10 mm long and variably 2-4 mm broad on older trees.
The thickest, scale-like leaves on coning branches are in the upper crown. The cones
are squat globose, 10-12 cm long and 12-14 cm diameter, and take about 18 months to
mature. They disintegrate at maturity to release the nut-like edible seeds.
As its vernacular name Norfolk Island Pine implies, the tree is endemic to Norfolk
Island, a small island in the Pacific Ocean between Australia, New Zealand and New
Caledonia. The distinctive appearance of this tree, with its widely spaced branches
and symmetrical, triangular outline, has made it a popular cultivated species, either as
a single tree or in avenues. When the tree reaches maturity, the shape may become
less symmetrical. As well as in its native Norfolk Island, it is widely planted in
Australia, New Zealand, southern Florida, coastal California, south Texas, Hawaii,
coastal Chile, South Africa and some cities of Brazil. It grows well in deep sand, as
long as it receives reliable water when young. This, and its tolerance of salt and wind,
makes it ideal for coastal situations.