Cyclone Annie 1963 New Year's Day

In the early hours of 1st January 1963, Cyclone Annie crossed the coast near Noosa and left a trail of damage as it moved south. As noted in the article below, on the half-completed Bribie Island Bridge, one of the temporary huts was blown over into the water.

Campers spent a “terror” night

Hundreds of campers from Woody Point to Bribie Island packed in confusion and fled homeward at first light yesterday after a night of terror.

SHADED AREA on map shows the area in which Cyclone Annie was felt. Lines show how the cyclone's centre – located by the Weather Bureau radar at 3 a.m. yesterday 60 miles east-north-east of Tewantin – split in two. Late last night the bureau said one cyclone centre was still in the Gayndah area, but was filling in. The other prong  swept over Brisbane early yesterday bringing winds of up 53 miles an hours. A total of 34 points of rain fell at the Weather Bureau yesterday.
Courier Mail Wed 2.1.1963 p.1

Scores spent Monday night crouched in rain-sodden tents, holding them down against wind gusts which ripped many to pieces. Crashing trees in some camp areas were an added hazard.

At Beachmere, on the northern shore of Deception Bay, a 3 ft.-thick tree crashed near two tents crowded with men, women and children.

By 10 a.m. yesterday all camping reserves were half deserted. Exhausted people were lying in a watery sunshine, snatching a few minutes rest after a sleepless night, before packing up and travelling home. Redcliffe City Council supplied two trucks with drivers to help campers who were without transport.

The cyclone battered the half-completed £236,000 Bribie Island Bridge, but no structural damage was done. The winds caused a pile-driver to drag its many anchors, and a floating crane was swept 20 yards from its moored position.

Workmen’s huts and buildings housing equipment were blown over and smashed. Part of one hut, erected on the bridge, was blown over into 30ft. of water.

ROADBLOCK caused by one of several big trees uprooted by yesterday's cyclone.
 It was thrown across the Bruce Highway north of Caboolture. The road, which is skirted by timber
from Caboolture on, was yesterday covered with branches and debris. Courier Mail Wed 2.1.1963 p.5

REFERENCES:
Two die when cyclone rips into coast. Courier Mail Wed 2.1.1963 p.1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 11.
article and photos

Campers spent a "terror" night. Courier Mail Wed 2.1.1963 p.3.

 Cyclone fury rips Caloundra tents as campers flee winds. Courier Mail Wed 2.1.1963 p.5.

Ted Clayton remembers

The Bribie Bridge will have its 60th anniversary on 19 October 2023. The following article contains a personal account by Ted Clayton, written for the 20th anniversary in 1983.
 

Building toward the future of a resort

Near North Coast News, 19 Oct 1983, page 20.

20th Bribie Bridge Anniversary
Near North Coast News, 19 Oct 1983, page 17

A local resident who can give a first-hand account of Bribie Island at the time of the construction of the bridge is long-time Shire resident Ted Clayton.

Mr Clayton worked on the bridge construction and here gives a personal account of how the work proceeded:

"The construction of the Bribie Bridge coincided with the big credit squeeze of 1963. The population of permanent residents on the Island at that time was quite small, and most of the cash inflow came from visitors and people building holiday homes.

"I was contract building at the time, and was also stuck with a 'spec' house that wouldn't sell. The engineer in charge of the bridge job (Mr Noel Tedman) was living in flats at the end of South Esplanade. I approached him about a job and started work at Toorbul Point as a carpenter shortly thereafter.

"The site of operations at Toorbul Point had been a major army installation during the war years, and the country between Clark's jetty and the old barge landing site was strewn with the remains of jettys and facilities.

"A lot of this heavy timber went into the construction of the overhead gantry and the slipway that was used for the launching of pontoons carrying prestressed concrete piles and bridge beams. The timber piles for this slipway were cut locally and the fact that unskilled labourers were put to work sharpening these with blunt adzes meant that a lot of them were also cut locally - mainly around the shins.

Caption: The Bribie Bridge comes close to the Island - and completion.
Picture: R. Loseby
Near North Coast News, 19 October 1983, p. 20

"The slip as such was a conventional one with rail lines extending from below the low water mark up onto the foreshore, where they ran down the centre of the overhead gantry. The gantry was equipped with heavy manually operated chain blocks. The concrete beams and piles were stored alongside the track and lifted into the launching pontoons as required. The initial plan was for these pontoons to be hauled out to the site of operations by a wire rope which ran from a winch on the pile frame.

"This plan was never totally successful, and as the bridge extended it became less so. The wire cut grooves into outcrops of rock projecting from the bottom of the channel and was forever jamming.

"By this time I had progressed to 'general' foreman and as such I inherited the problem and shared it with the engineer. We decided that the job of towing could best be done by some form of tug boat.

"My friend Phil Dinte had a boat about the 20-foot (seven metres) mark powered by a 10 hp diesel. I approached Phil, he took the job and stayed with it until the bridge was finished - towing pontoons and ferrying workmen as required. the 10 hp was a bit light for the job but what it lacked in power Phil made up for it with his knowledge of the winds and tides in the Channel.

"When you consider that the beams themselves were 72 foot 2 inches (about 26 metres) long and were floating in clumsy pontoons, and throw in a few other items like the fact that the tide turns a half an hour earlier at the Toorbul Point end of the bridge, and the vagaries of the wind and waves, it was no small feat of seamanship.

"The engineer in charge of the project, Noel Tedman, was killed with most of his family in a tragic accident a short time after the bridge was completed. I understand that he was on his way to start up a contract of his own. He was a fine person with a lot of energy and a good engineer. He left a lot of friends behind."

REFERENCES

Building toward the future of a resort [Ted Clayton remembers]
Near North Coast News, 19 Oct 1983, p. 20.

Bribie Bridge 20th Anniversary, special supplement,
Near North Coast News, 19 Oct 1983, pp. 17-20.

Bridge Anniversary 19 October 2017

The Bribie Island Bridge at sunset.
Photo: Janet Shorthouse, 2013, ABC Multiplatform.
http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2013/07/17/3805040.htm

BRIDGING THE GAP IN OUR HISTORY

Barry Clark, Bribie Island Historical Society

The arrival of Matthew Flinders on the sloop “Norfolk” in 1799 was a very significant date in the long history of the original people of this land.

Perhaps the most significant social and economic event in the 164 years after that was the building of the Bribie Island Bridge. When the bridge to Bribie Island opened on October 19th, 1963 life on Bribie Island, and in Queensland, and Australia, and the rest of the world, was very different from today. Depending how old you are reading this article, you may need to be reminded of some other things that happened back in 1963.

In 1963 when the Bridge was built
U.S. President John Kennedy assassinated in Dallas...
Queen Elizabeth & Prince Philip visited Australia...
Government announce Decimal currency to come in 1966...
Charles Perkins “Freedom Ride” to end aboriginal segregation...
The first National Television Network was formed...

Australia was largely an agricultural economy and primary produce accounted for 77% of Australia’s commodity exports. Also in 1963 the Commonwealth Marriage Act came into force legitimising children born out of wedlock by the subsequent marriage of their parents. Now in 2017 we have some similar issues occupying our thoughts, including concerns about an additional bridge, or a replacement bridge, and when and where it might happen.

Bribie a quiet holiday destination
In 1962 the resident population of Bribie Island was less than 600 people, with many more coming for weekends and holidays, but Bribie Island was still a quiet and peaceful holiday destination. There had been much speculation about building a bridge to Bribie island for over 30 years. In those days, even with a small population, there were two Councillors representing Bribie on Caboolture Shire Council and the community worked hard creating what they needed with their own volunteer efforts.

Steamship excursions from Brisbane to Bribie had carried thousands of people for weekends and holidays since 1912, but this had stopped in 1953. A car ferry service had become popular since 1947, after the military built a road from Caboolture in WW2, and motor car ownership increased. Politicians talked about a bridge to Bribie during election campaigns in the late 1950s, and had considered having it paid for by developers, in exchange for land on the island. This did not eventuate, but in 1961 a Contract was awarded for a bridge to be constructed at a cost of 358,000 pounds. 

The Bridge was opened by Premier Frank Nicklin on 19th October 1963 and was the longest precast pre-stressed concrete bridge in Australia. The complex construction had involved driving 206 piles, weighing 12 ton each, laying 38 spans of concrete beams to span the 832-metre length. 

  
Just weeks before the opening an expensive Toll was announced, to be paid by all vehicles coming to the island. The 10-shilling Toll was a significant cost and came as a complete surprise, people were very disappointed, and it impacted growth and development for some time. Better roads and increased car ownership had led to population growth on both the Gold and Sunshine Coasts, but this did not immediately eventuate on Bribie Island. In 1963 the 10 Shilling Bridge Toll would have paid the cost of Petrol to drive a car from Brisbane to the Gold Coast and back, and you could buy a pound of Beef for 2 shillings. The Bribie Bridge toll was 10 times that on the Hornibrook Highway, and was the most expensive road toll in Australia. Land prices and rates on Bribie had risen significantly in anticipation of change, but the expensive Bribie Bridge Toll lasted 12 years and was finally removed in 1975 when the bridge had been paid for by the money collected. The much lower Hornibrook Highway toll was also lifted in 1975 having been in place for 40 years. 

Bridge Opening celebrations
Bribie residents were outraged at the expensive toll and threatened to boycott or disrupt the opening ceremony. The opening day was however a big success, with large crowds and processions of floats, horse drawn carts, vintage cars, marching bands and hundreds of vehicles driving  to the island for the first time. It was so busy that the bridge was declared “One-Way” on to Bribie in the morning, and then “One-Way off in the afternoon.


This photo, taken on the opening day, shows the two lanes of vehicles coming onto the island. 

If you look carefully at the photo you will see many things that are different today.……. footpath handrail, overhead lights, sealed road …… how many more differences can you see ?

The Aerial photo of the mainland end of the Bridge, taken on the opening day, shows the huge number of buses, cars and people that gathered for the event, with the Toll Gates in the divided road surrounded by people waiting to walk across for the first time.

The “Bribie Star” local newspaper of the day produced a special complimentary souvenir edition documenting some fascinating history of the island by many of the pioneer residents. 

There had been an expectation that Bribie residents would not have to pay the toll, and eventually they did get a small concession. Books of tickets for multiple crossings could be purchased at a small discount and there was an exemption for Ambulance, Fire Brigade, Royal mail and Government vehicles. 14,000 cars crossed the bridge in the first week it was open, paying 7000 pounds to the two toll collectors, who were each on an annual salary of 5000 pounds. Many of the new visitors were very disappointed with inadequate parking facilities and amenities on the island, and may never have returned. In the first two years of the new bridge over 300,000 cars crossed over, but population growth was much lower than anticipated reaching just 2000 by 1975 when the toll was lifted.

50 years of Anniversaries
For the 10th Anniversary in 1973 the toll was still in force, but by the 20th Anniversary in 1983 the toll had been lifted and a major celebration was held in conjunction with the “Bribie Island Festival” organised by the Lions Club, who sold “Passports” to the Island as a fundraiser. 

In 1988 a “Silver Jubilee Carnival” was held for 25 years, together with a special edition of the local newspaper, and a souvenir T-shirt was produced.

The 30-year anniversary in 1993 was held in conjunction with a “Bribie Aquatic Festival”. 

I had only just come to live on Bribie Island in 2004 and knew nothing at all about Bribie History, or the significance of the Bridge, but I organised a fundraising walk for Rotary in which several teams of 10 people each walk over the bridge and back  4 times. So each sponsored team walked 40 kilometres and raised $4000 for Rotary causes. As a result of organising this event I met Stella Ray, a very long-term resident of the island, who sparked my interest in the unique history of this Island's community.

In 2008, I and many other enthusiastic people founded the Bribie Island Historical Society, and in 2013 the Historical Society placed a 50 year commemorative bronze plaque on a stone beside the bridge, and invited people involved in the bridge construction to participate. 

The Past …and Future
There has been much talk in recent years about the age and limitations of our 54-year-old bridge, and the need for a second or replacement bridge. There are some who say, “Bring back a Bridge Toll” and other who say “Blow the bridge up” and return to the peaceful days of water access only. Six years from now in 2023 the Bridge will be 60 years old, and will no doubt still be very much in use, whatever decisions are made about the location and timing of a second bridge.

Some readers of this article may have personal memories and photos of the original bridge opening, or photos and souvenirs from subsequent anniversary events. The Historical Society is keen to hear from you and capture your memories. 

Please contact us on bribiehistoricalsociety@gmail.com if you have photos or stories from attending a Bribie bridge anniversary celebration from 1973, 1983, 1988 or 1993.

Bribie postcards 1970s

Bribie Island

Postcard folder circa 1970

BIHS has recently recorded in our historical database, a folder of 6 postcards entitled simply Bribie Island Qld.

The folder was produced by Murray Views, Gympie around the year 1970.

Each postcard has a caption which describes the location of the picture as it was around 1970.  So not only can we see familiar island vistas as they were almost 45 years ago - we can also read what they were called at the time!

 Toll Bridge from Toorbul Point to Bribie Island 
[There were toll charges to cross the Bribie Bridge from 19 October 1963 to 22 March 1975.]

Bongaree Beach and jetty

Shopping Centre, Bribie Island [First Avenue, Bongaree]

Ocean Beach, Bribie Island

Picnic area, Bongaree Beach

Pumicestone Passage and bridge, Bribie Island

Acknowledgements
Murray Views, Gympie.

If you would like to share your Bribie Island postcards - our email address is bribiehistoricalsociety@gmail.com

Bribie Island in the sun 1980

Cross the Bridge to Bribie Island: Queensland's island in the sun

brochure circa 1980

BIHS has recently recorded in our historical database, a tourist brochure entitled Cross the Bridge to Bribie Island: Queensland's island in the sun.

The brochure was produced by the Bribie Island Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with Caboolture Shire Council and Queensland Tourist and Travel Corporation around the year 1980.

While some of the scenes depicted in the brochure could have been taken yesterday, other scenes are of attractions from days gone by.

Koolamara Motel 

These scenes are timeless!

Sun, sand and sea!

The Saddlers' Restaurant 

Our Bowls and Golf Clubs are still very popular!

A montage of the Glasshouse Mountains in the background

with the bridge and Pumicestone Passage in the foreground.

Sculpture of Ian Fairweather in a tree trunk

near a replica of his hut.

Acknowledgements

The above brochure was reproduced on this blog with the kind permission of the Bribie Island Chamber of Commerce.

Further reading:

Squatters Restaurant (BIHS Blogspot) with a copy of a 1989 article ... 

http://bribieislandhistory.blogspot.com/2017/06/squatters-homestead.html

.... Squatters Homestead has been a landmark on Bribie for 14 years [in 1989].  It was built by Don Buckley...

If you would like to share your Bribie Island postcards - our email address is bribiehistoricalsociety@gmail.com

Information Leaflet prepared for 50th Anniversary

The following leaflet was prepared for the 50th Anniversary celebrations on 19 October 2013 by the Bribie Island Historical Society.

Saturday 19^th October 2013

50^th Anniversary of the Opening of the Bribie Bridge

INFORMATION LEAFLET

Introduction

Today, Saturday 19^th October 2013 marks the 50^th anniversary of the opening of the Bribie Island Bridge.  The building of the bridge allowed easy motor vehicle access resulting in Bribie Island’s rapid transformation. 

While Bribie Island had long been a popular holiday destination the construction of the bridge allowed many people to choose to move here permanently.

Today is an opportunity to celebrate the history of the bridge: its design, its construction, the opening day and the anniversary celebrations that have occurred since.  

Bribie before the Bridge

The earliest regular visitors to Bribie Island came by boat following the construction of the first jetty in May 1912 at Bongaree.

A number of steamships including the Koopa and Doomba transported holiday-makers from Brisbane to Bribie Island.

As car travel became more popular after World War II, Mr. Gordon Shields began a vehicular-passenger service between Bribie and Toorbul Point.  Over the years the barge service was operated by a number of different people, with the last operator being Mr. “Snowy” Drenan.  The ability to transport motor vehicles to the Island resulted in considerable home building and community infrastructure activity. 

Constructing the Bridge

The idea of a bridge to Bribie Island had been discussed for many years and on 17 November 1959 came an official announcement that the bridge would be built.  It was obvious that the bridge should be located near Toorbul Point where the passage narrows but the exact position was chosen after consideration of such additional factors as the depth of the channel bed, the length of the bridge and approach from each side, and the requirement for driven pile foundations.

On 29 March 1961 it was announced that the contract for the construction of the bridge was let to K.D. Morris & Sons Pty Ltd.  The bridge was built from the mainland across to Bribie Island.  The sequence of each span of the bridge involved pre-cast piles being driven, the reinforced concrete headstocks cast, pre-cast beams lifted into place and the reinforced concrete deck poured in-situ and finally the handrails erected.  The pre-cast concrete elements were supplied by Concrete Industries Pty Ltd.

The construction of the bridge presented a number of unique challenges, one of the biggest being the driving of the long concrete piles.  These piles were up to 85 feet in length and weighed over 12 tons each.  It was necessary for the piles to be driven from a floating platform that remained perfectly stationary, using a ten ton hammer to drive the piles.  As there was no plant capable of achieving this readily available in Australia, a special pile driving frame was mounted on a floating steel barge.

Construction of the bridge gave employment to a work force of up to forty men.  There were no fatalities though several accidents did occur, the most common being men falling into the passage from their lofty footholds.

Opening Day Celebrations

The opening celebrations for the bridge took place on Saturday 19 October 1963.  The events for the day included:

·       A formal opening ceremony with dignitaries and invited guests

The bridge was officially opened by the Premier of Queensland, Mr. Frank Nicklin.  Speeches were given by Mr. Frank Nicklin and Mr. David Nicholson, Queensland Parliamentary Speaker and Member for Murrumba.  Two memorial plaques on the mainland side were unveiled by Premier Nicklin and Sir James Holt, Co-ordinator General.

·       An afternoon tea

The newly built Bellara Motel Restaurant was the venue for afternoon tea for the official party.  A review platform was set up on the front lawn for the Premier and official party to watch the procession.

·       A procession 

The procession included: vintage and veteran cars, a horse guard, marching girls, buses, scouts and other local groups crossed the bridge into Benabrow avenue.

·       A Debutante Ball in the evening.

In the evening the Bribie Ambulance Ladies’ Appeal Committee held a Debutante Ball at the Church of England Hall in Banya street.  The debutantes were Yvonne Williams, Brenda Gould and Teresa Clarke.  The flower girls were Michele and Terese Kendall.

Bridge Anniversaries

Over the years there have been several anniversary celebrations held for the Bribie Island Bridge, including 10^th, 20^th, 25^th, 30^th and 40^th year anniversaries.  While some of the anniversaries coincided with other Bribie festivals others were more low key events. 

1973 – 10^th anniversary

The 10^th anniversary celebrations were held on Saturday 20^th October 1973.  The toll was lifted for the day and bridge was closed to traffic while the procession was in progress.

1983 – 20^th anniversary

The 20^th Anniversary celebrations were held on Saturday 22 October 1983 and coincided with the annual Bribie Island Festival.  The bridge celebrations included a parade, an afternoon tea and a commemorative publication.

1988 – 25^th anniversary

The silver anniversary was celebrated with the Bribie Bridge Carnival which was held in October 1988 over five days.  As part of the celebrations there were three commemorative publications, a carnival t-shirt and a display of artwork.

1993 – 30^th anniversary

The Anniversary celebration was part of the Bribie Island Aquatic Festival which ran from 15 to 17 October 1993.

 2003 – 40^th anniversary

For the 40^th anniversary a walk was held by the Rotary Club of Bribie Island to raise funds.  Each person of a 10-person team walked four times over the bridge.

Toll

When the bridge first opened there was a toll of ten shillings.  The popularity of Bribie as a holiday destination for people from Brisbane can be gauged by how quickly the toll paid off the loan for the bridge – it took just under 12 years! 

The first toll ticket was purchased by Premier Nicklin and the last toll ticket was purchased by Bribie resident Mr. Stan Balmer on 22 March 1975. 

The Toll Master for the duration of the toll, 20 October 1963 to 22 March 1975, was Mr. Jack Greenhalgh.

Bridge Facts

. At the time it was constructed the Bribie Island Bridge was the longest pre-stressed, pre-cast concrete bridge in Australia.

. The Bridge spans 2742 feet (835 metres).

. At the centre of the bridge there is a clearance of 24ft (7.3m) at low tide to cater for small craft.

. There are 104 beams each weighing 18 tons.  The beams of pre-stressed concrete are each 72ft (21.9 m) long and 4ft 6in (1.4 m) deep.

. The bridge cost £350,000, a little over $700,000.

. The bridge now has 13 lights and walkway hand railing which were additions to the original design.

Acknowledgements:  With thanks to Graham Mills, Barry Clark and Donna Holmes for compiling the above information leaflet.  October 2013.

Bribie Island Bridge 50th Anniversary 2013

Bribie Island Bridge 50th Anniversary - Memorial Plaques

The following information and photos are sourced from Monument Australia
http://monumentaustralia.org.au/australian_monument/display/100534

Bribie Island Bridge 50th Anniversary

Saturday 19 October 2013

Description:
Two plaques commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the opening of the Bribie Island Bridge on Saturday 19 October 1963.

The bridge, which took two years to build, was the longest, pre-stressed, pre-cast concrete bridge in Australia at the time of its construction. Spanning 2736 feet (831.4 metres), the bridge cost $716,321 and had a 10 shilling toll to cross it.  The bridge was officially opened on Saturday 19 October 1963 by the then Premier of Queensland, Frank Nicklin.

Plaque One Inscription:
1963 - 2013

50 year anniverary of the Bribie Island Bridge

This plaque commemorates the opening of the Bribie Island Bridge on 19th October 1963, a significant event in the development of the island.  From 1912 when the Bongaree Jetty was built, visitors came on steamship "excursions" before roads & motor cars became popular in the 1940s.

A car ferry was then the required transport from the mainland opposite.

As vehicles and population numbers increased throughout the 1950s, Government consider the possible construction and funding of a bridge.  Various alternatives were considered before construction of this longest pre-stressed concrete bridge in Australia at the time.

A significant toll (10 shillings) was imposed to cross the bridge, which enabled the bridge to be paid for in 12 years, and the toll ended in 1975.

Commemorating 50 years of the Bridge`s service to the community

Bribie Island Historical Society

19th October 2013


Plaque Two Inscription:
1963 - 2013

Bribie Island Bridge - Built 1963

This concrete block was an anchor for a pile driving barge used to construct this longest pre-stressed bridge in Australia at the time.  A total of 206 piles, up to 26m long and 12 tons each, were driven up to 10 metres into the sea bed.  Calculations for this complex task were checked with a "new" electronic computer at the University of Queensland.

For over 30 years a bridge had been discussed but the resident population in 1963 was only 700.  The population grew by just a few hundred before the toll was lifted in 1975.  Today it has increased twenty-fold

Acknowledgements:
The above photographs by John Huth dated 13 Sep 2014 were supplied to Monument Australia.
http://monumentaustralia.org.au/australian_monument/display/100534

Nostalgia - Trip to Bribie by Ken Blanch 1988

Nostalgia

When a trip to Bribie Island was a big adventure by sea

By Ken Blanch

Published in The Sunday Mail Magazine, Sep 11, 1988, page 37.

Today [1988] a visit to Bribie Island is little more than a comfortable suburban run north from Brisbane; but 25 years ago [1963] a Bribie outing was an adventure.

Those were the days before bitumen roads and a bridge, when access to the quiet, bushland Moreton Bay island was by cruise boat from Brisbane or barge from Toorbul Point.

You had to be a real Bribie-lover to make the trip in those days.

Back in the 1950s you could still go by the old steamship Koopa, which took about three hours - including a stop at the Redcliffe Jetty if the weather permitted.

Published in The Sunday Mail Magazine, Sep 11, 1988, page 37

The Koopa, with its outmoded, smoke-belching coal furnaces, could fill your eyes with cinders and blacken you crisp summer clothes when the wind was contrary.

But she was an institution beloved by Brisbaneites and most other Queenslanders who knew her, and there was hardly a dry eye among Bribie addicts when they took her off the island run.

Who could forget the old steamer's grand staircase, leading to the saloon where cool salads were available in summer and hot snacks of soup and stews in winter?

Then there was the homely old weatherboard kiosk that stood by the island jetty, where you could sit down to strong tea and a home-cooked square meal before tackling the bone-shaking trip across the unsealed road to the surf side.

The cross-island journey was made on the back of a truck fitted with hard wooden seats, and covered by a galvanised iron canopy. Dust swirled around you in dense clouds, and, if it rained, you got wet. But, despite those small discomforts, a trip to Bribie was fun.

All that changed dramatically 25 years ago [1963] when a bridge was built across Pumicestone Passage and overnight Bribie was no longer either an island or remote. Sealed roads and endless streets of houses and businesses are now the order where peace and solitude once reigned.

In the old days you really wanted to go to Bribie. Now people do it without a second thought.

Anyhow, resident Bribie Nostalger Denny Field tells me the silver anniversary of the bridge that changed all that will be celebrated with the island's biggest carnival from October 5 to 10 this year [1988].  The festivities start on Wednesday, October 5 [1988], with a wine festival.  There are a celebrity golf event and a beer fest on October 7 [1988].  And the big week-end starts with aquatic events, birdman contest, Freeps concert, race meeting, fireworks, disco and ball on the Saturday.

Festivities on the Sunday provide the whole works from recovery breakfast through a bridge opening re-enactment, procession, raft race and Wickety Wak floor shows to a rock 'n' roll concert. And there's more on the following and final day.

A far cry from the trip a Sunday Mail colleague made by barge from Toorbul Point in 1955 when she wrote about getting mudbound for one and a half hours before she reached "Bribie Island, picturesque, its deep waters full of fish, its sloping beaches looking across to the dramatic contours of the Glass House Mountains, which should be an asset to Queensland".

They were talking about building a bridge in those days; but, then, they had been talking about building a bridge for 40 years, hadn't they?

"In the meantime," our intrepid reporter wrote, "the emus chase the visitors, the barge gets stuck in the mud, the old man kangaroos come and nibble in your backyard of an early morning and the road across the island does its best to dislocate your spine."

I hope all those revellers at the silver anniversary celebrations spare a minute or two to think about that.

Ken Blanch

For information about writer Ken Blanch

http://www.jacksim.com.au/ken-blanch.html 

http://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/southeast/crime-writer-ken-blanch-remembers-the-young-men-who-fought-at-the-battle-of-long-tan-ahead-of-vietnam-veterans-day/news-story/17f47f8e637dbd0a3925ee3b24ebefc3