Bribie Island Heritage site signs
near Bongaree Jetty along the Bongaree foreshore walk
Recently the three "Heritage signs" (on the walking path near the Bongaree Jetty) which had been facing into the weather since 2004, were replaced with new signs.
To view the 2004 signs [Bribie Jetty, Jetty Precinct and Twelve Apostles] go to
1. Bribie Camping Ground and Twelve Apostles
2. Bribie Jetty and Tourism boom
3. Building Business, Having Fun
1. Bribie Camping Ground and Twelve Apostles
Bribie camping ground
Relaxing in a fresh sea breeze, sleeping under the stars, cooking over a fire…camping on Bribie Island has long been popular.
During holiday periods a sea of tents stretched either side of the jetty. Campers carried their kit to a selected site, and hastily erected tents and set up camp all before the sun set.
Enterprising locals would hire out ready-cut tent poles, sell firewood and have water boiling to fill campers’ tea-pots.
1st Caption: Camping on Bribie, ca 1922
2nd Caption: View towards jetty from Bribie Bowling Club Hill, ca 1923-24
3rd Caption: Bribie 1922
Twelve Apostles
Twelve holiday shacks, dubbed the Twelve Apostles, were a distinctive local identity along the Bongaree foreshore.
Built by the Brisbane Tug and Steamship Company in 1916, each hut offered an unfurnished single-room measuring 14x12 feet (4.5x4 metres). Holidaymakers carried in everything including stretchers and bedding, tables, chairs, cooking pots and pans.
In the 1920s hiring an ‘Apostle’ for the week cost 6 shillings (60c). Weekend rates were 3 shillings (30c). But during peak holiday periods the price soared to 10 shillings ($1),
Caption: In front of one of the Twelve Apostles, 1920
Dance, Study, Church
A favourite haunt for holiday makers was the Bribie Island Dance Pavilion. Swim, fish and relax by day – kick up your heels at night! The dance hall also functioned as a community hall, and on Sundays, a church. It accommodated Bribie Island’s first school in 1924. Later, the hall was lowered and relocated to become the first clubhouse for the Bribie Island Bowls Club.
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2. Bribie Jetty and Tourism boom
Bongaree Jetty ; Tugs and steamships ; Flying fish - ss Koopa ; Sister ship - ss Doomba
A new road ; No tolls for us ; Buses and barge ; Bribie Island Bridge
Bribie jetty
At the turn of last century, excursion steamers could be seen plying the waters off Bribie Island.
Passengers soaked up bay views and island vistas while enjoying on-board luxury saloons and music ensembles. As pleasure cruising grew in popularity, the company running the tours, the Brisbane Tub & Steamship Company set their sights on creating a holiday resort on Bribie Island. But first, a jetty was needed.
BONGAREE JETTY
From its inception in 1912, the Bongaree Jetty was designed to cope with large crowds. It spanned 66 metres of solid ironbark with a mahogany T bar at the head. As the Island’s popularity grew, the crowds became larger and more frequent and a visitor’s shelter shed with adjacent vendor’s storage were added.
By the mid 1920s, Bribie Island was a well-established tourist destination. In 1926, two additional walkways were added and the T bar, widened, all of which helped delineate arrivals and departures. A third central walkway was converted to a narrow-gauge tramway for the transport of supplies and luggage.
Caption: ss Koopa berthed at the newly finished Bongaree Jetty 1912
TUGS AND STEAMSHIPS
Bongaree Jetty was built by the Brisbane Tug and Steamship Company. They boasted a large fleet of impressive and popular vessels. They had started their fleet with three tugs, the Boko, Beaver and Greyhound, and later added the Koopa and Doomba – the latter two becoming Bribie Island regulars.
FLYING FISH – SS KOOPA
Luxurious, modern and fast, the 62-metre flat-bottomed steamship, Koopa was aptly named after an Aboriginal word meaning ‘flying fish’. The ship was licenced to carry 1,153 passengers. There was a 100-seat dining saloon famous for delicacies such as oysters with buttered bread. Entertainment was provided by a small orchestra along with passengers singing and dancing. Alcohol was only served once the ship was three nautical miles from home berth.
With the outbreak of WWII, ss Koopa was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy. The ship was returned to the Bribie Island route in 1947. After a total of 40 years of Moreton Bay service, the heyday of steamship pleasure cruises was waning. She was retired in 1960.
Caption: ss Koopa 1923-24
SISTER SHIP – SS DOOMBA
As visits to Bribie Island increased, ss Koopa needed a sister-ship. The Tug company purchased HMS Wexford from the UK and renamed her ss Doomba. She was an odd choice, for she had been built as a mine-sweeper, but after a refit she was licenced to carry 1,547 pleasure cruising passengers. Doomba and Koopa sailed the Bribie Island route together between 1923 and 1928.
ss Doomba served in the Royal Australian Navy during the war, when she finally got to use her mine-sweeping infrastructure. She was deliberately sunk off Long Reef NSW in 1976.
Caption: ss Doomba, on the Bribie Island run, 1924.
Tourism boom
The second decade of the 1900s was an exciting time of development at Bongaree. Despite the harsh realities of WW1, tourism here continued to build. (sub-heading)
After completing the jetty, Brisbane Tug & Steamship Company added bathing sheds, toilets and water tanks to the foreshore. They erected a caretaker’s residence near to the end of the jetty from which refreshments were offered. Soon after, a general store and dining room were built serving fresh fish and shucked oyster dinners.
Caption: Bribie Jetty 1923
A NEW ROAD
Soon after the jetty was built, the Brisbane Tug & Steamship Company obtained a lease to build a tramway to transport people from Bongaree to Woorim – the ocean side of Bribie Island. The idea remained just that for a decade, after which the tramway idea was replaced with a regular road.
In 1923 construction began on, what eventually became First Avenue. Local gravel was unavailable – Bribie is a sand island – so rock was shipped in and moved from ship to shore via a temporary jetty, built alongside the passenger terminal.
Caption: Tramway at Bribie Jetty, ca. 1920. State Library of Queensland.
NO TOLLS FOR US! (heading)
The newly completed road transported visitors in four model T-Ford buses to guest accommodation at Woorim, all courtesy of the Brisbane Tug & Steamship Company. The Company also erected a toll gate, charging any vehicle other than their own. Residents were outraged. Several protested by cutting their own bush tracks to Woorim.
Caption: All terrain vehicle on Bribie Island, ca. 1930. State Library of Queensland.
BUSES AND BARGE
During WWII, when the army was stationed at Toorbul Point, the military built a road connecting Bribie to Caboolture via a barge service between Sylvan Beach and the mainland’s Toorbul Point. There was also a military jetty at Bongaree.
After the war, a barge service to transport cars became the popular way to travel to the Island until the opening of the Bribie Island Bridge.
Caption: Buses meeting passengers from the SS Koopa, 1945 & Barge 1950.
BRIBIE ISLAND BRIDGE
The Bribie Island bridge was an impressive undertaking. It opened in 1963 with a span of 831 metres making it the longest precast pre-stressed concrete bridge in Australia. To recoup the construction cost a toll gate was erected on the bridge. It remained until 1975.
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3. Building Business, Having Fun
Hmmm... fish & chips ; fresh oysters ;
First Post Office ; Fun days ; Best store in town
First Post Office ; Fun days ; Best store in town
Building business, having fun
The 1920s were golden years for Bribie Island tourism. With the number of holidaymakers ever increasing, residents grabbed opportunities to service the multitudes. (sub-heading)
MMM….FISH & CHIPS
As the ships neared shore, a tantalising aroma of fish and chips greeted passengers, enticing them to rush to one of the dining rooms. The closest was next to the Caretaker’s Cottage – which later, in 1929 became Moyle’s Guest House and continued in business until the early 1950s.
Campers could buy fresh fish, seafood and groceries at the adjacent kiosk and cook up their own meals.
Caption: Refreshment rooms at Bribie, 1929
FRESH OYSTERS
Campbell’s Oyster Kiosk was located at the entrance to the jetty and sold fresh and bottled oysters. The family was well experienced in oyster farming, with Joe Campbell having arrived in the area in 1905 to supervise an oyster farming venture located in the Pumicestone Passage.
The Campbell family also hired out boats for fishing and recreation for as little as 5 shillings (50c) a week.
Caption: Campbell’s Oyster Kiosk, ca. 1926
FIRST POST OFFICE
The Brisbane Tug and Steamship Company built a second caretaker’s cottage to the south side of the jetty – towards Brennan Park. This would later become the island’s first post office.
FUN DAYS
Peak periods, like Christmas and Easter holidays, could see as many as five ships berthing at the jetty. Companies and clubs held end of year picnics on the foreshore and schools ran annual sports days. Visitors frolicked in the waters, played beach games, fished, went bushwalking and picked wildflowers.
Captions: Christmas Sports Day, ca 1922
Captions: Passengers waiting to embark on the SS Doomba for Bribie Island, ca. 1924 State Library of Queensland
BEST STORE IN TOWN
With the jetty completed in 1912 and more ships arriving, Alfred Hall and Artie Bestmann seized the opportunity to run a store in Bongaree. Alfred had access to supplies – he owned a grocery store in Brisbane.
Artie was running the Island’s first dairy. In 1918, they began selling supplies through the bedroom window of Hall’s Bribie Island holiday cottage. In 1923, the men built Bongaree’s first general store, which they called, Hall & Bestmann Bribie Store.
To view the 2004 signs [Bribie Jetty, Jetty Precinct and Twelve Apostles] go to
http://bribieislandhistory.blogspot.com/2017/08/bongaree-jetty-heritage.html
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Thank you to Lynne Hooper for the above photos and text details.
