1919 Bribie Island The Rising Resort

1919 Bribie Island ... The Rising Resort

Bribie Island, or Bribie as it is more conveniently called, is reached by continuing the steamer trip in the steamer Koopa past Redcliffe to its furthest limits.  It is some 38 miles from Brisbane, and is reached after a three hours’ run from the city, the steamer berthing at a short, well-constructed jetty.  It and Moreton Island, which lies opposite at a considerable distance, form the most northern outposts of Moreton Bay.  Bribie Island about 20 miles long, from 2 to 3 miles broad, and is well timbered.  ....

The landing place is at Bongaree, on the calm inner beach of the island.  The Brisbane Tug Company have formed a road of about three miles to the main ocean beach, where surf bathing can be enjoyed.  Later on it is intended to construct a tramway thereto.

Near the jetty there is a commodious refreshment-room, where fish and oyster dinners are obtainable, and also two stores at which campers can purchase necessities.  A large pavilion, bathing sheds, and other conveniences for the use of visitors have been erected.  Accommodation is provided for by three boarding-houses, and as a further inducement, the steamship company has erected some twelve or more huts of a standard design and size (about 14 feet by 12 feet) along the inner beach.  On application to the caretaker, Bribie, these may be let at the following rates:- Ordinary weekly tariff, 6s; Christmas, New Year, and Easter, 10s per week; week-ends 3s 5d.  There are also several furnished cottages, which may be rented periodically.  

Campers and picnickers are assured of an ample supply of fresh water, large tanks having been erected by the company for that purpose.  As a proof of the increasing popularity of this resort it may be mentioned that during the recent holidays fully 1000 campers, apart from other visitors, were located here, and had further accommodation been available it goes without saying that this number would nearly have doubled itself.

For the excellence of its fish and oysters, Bribie is known far and wide, and during the summer months it is the intention of the company to run their steamer to Bribie every alternate Saturday at 2 p.m., thus affording city folk and anglers an opportunity of a week-end at this resort.

Advertisement from Telegraph 3 Jan 1919 p.5

Whole day trips are now made to Bribie (calling at Redcliffe both ways) on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, leaving Kennedy Wharf at 9.30 a.m. and returning at 6 p.m.  Passengers are allowed 2 hours ashore on these trips.

Splendid motor boat trips may be taken northward through the picturesque Pumice Stone Channel, on the inner side of the Island, to Caloundra, a distance approximately, of about 28 miles.  Arrangements for this trip can be made by first communication with Mr A. Bestman, of Bribie, who also keeps a motor car for hire.  By this latter means tourists are enabled to enjoy a trip along the hard sand of the outer beach, and, when the ferrying arrangements at the northern end are completed, the journey to Caloundra may be completed almost wholly by motor car.

Visitors at Caloundra can also make arrangements through Mr A. Tripcony for their conveyance by motor boat through the Pumice Stone Channel to Bribie, connecting with the steamship Koopa for Brisbane. ...

REFERENCES   

Bribie Island -- The Rising Resort. 
Daily Standard (Brisbane) Sat 4 Jan 1919, p. 5 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article179818787 

Redcliffe, Bribie and Dunwich Bay Excursions from Kennedy Wharf [advertisement]
Telegraph (Brisbane) Fri 3 Jan 1919 p.5 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article176300901

Q150 2009 First Car

Q150 Heritage Plaque - 13 of 16 - First Car

The Bribie Island Heritage Plaques Waterfront Walk Bongaree consists of 16 bronze plaques located on the "Heritage Walk" along the walking path beside the Bongaree beach from the southern point of South Esplanade and finishes just north of Kangaroo Avenue.

These 16 bronze plaques set on a white concrete square record various aspects of the history of Bribie Island: Record Rainfall, South Esplanade, Campbell's Store, Camping Grounds, Bribie Island heritage quote from A. Meston, Ian Fairweather, First Shop, Bribie Island Heritage quote from Stan Tutt, First Avenue, Fishing Records, Welsby Parade, Bribie Island Wartime, First Car, Shirley Creek, Castaway Convicts and Fish Cannery.

The following excerpt is from the 2009 booklet produced prior to the plaques placement. The Heritage Plaques Waterfront Walk Bongaree project was a Q150 Community Funded Program, initiated by the Rotary Club of Bribie Island and supported by Moreton Bay Regional Council in conjunction with Bribie Island U3A and Bribie Island Historical Society.

A copy of the map for the Bongaree Waterfront Walk can be found at

http://bribieislandhistory.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/bribie-heritage-plaques-walk.html

FIRST CAR    In 1918 A.H. “Artie” Bestmann drove the first car, a 1914 Talbot, to Bongaree.  With a young Ian Hall as his passenger, they did the 2 day drive from Brisbane along beach and bush tracks, and then by barge from Godwin Beach across the Passage.

First Car at Bongaree 

Arthur (Artie) Bestmann driving a 1914 model Talbot.

The first car to come to Bongaree was owned by Arthur Bestmann and Alfred Hall. 

Bringing the First Car to Bongaree

Artie Bestmann's first residence on Bribie

> Did you ever wonder about the first car trip made to Bribie Island? It was, of course, done 45 years before the bridge was built and when there were no roads at all on the Island. 

> In 1918 Artie Bestmann and Ian Hall drove a 1914 Talbot motor car from Brisbane to Bribie Island , the trip taking 2 days. A raft, which was used to bring cattle from Toorbul Point to Bribie Island was used to transport the car across the Passage. 

> It was appropriate that Artie Bestmann was the first to drive across the new bridge when it opened in 1963. 

Artie Bestmann in later years.

The hard working Talbot in 1922.

History of the Sunbeam Talbot Motor Car

> The car has an interesting history since its first trip across Pumicestone Passage.

> After many active years travelling the beach and sand tracks on the Island the car was burnt when the shed in which it was housed caught fire.

> The engine was salvaged and used to power a boat where it served for many more reliable years.

> That particular motor boat was used to carry the soil for the first bowling green at Bribie Island Bowls Club.