1925 Bribie Island The Rising Resort

The following advertorial appeared in the 1925 brochure entitled Mountain and Seaside Resorts from Noosa to Tweed which was compiled and issued by the state Tourist Bureau. 

Bribie Island The Rising Resort

December 1925

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

Near the jetty there is a commodious refreshment-room, where fish and oyster dinners are obtainable, and also stores at which campers can purchase requisites. A large pavilion, bathing-sheds, and other conveniences for the use of visitors have been erected. Accommodation is provided for by a number of boarding-houses, and, as a further inducement, the steamship company has erected twelve huts of a standard design and size (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. 6d. 

For the excellence of its fish and oysters, Bribie is known far and wide, and during the summer months the company run their steamer to Bribie every alternative Saturday to afford city folk and anglers an opportunity of a week-end at this resort. 

The Amateur Fishermen's Association has erected a fine cottage for the convenience of members. It is situated about half a mile from the jetty. 

Bribie has made rapid and substantial progress during the past two years. An excellent road has been constructed from the jetty across the island to the Ocean Beach, where a handsome and commodious kiosk has been erected by the Brisbane Tug and Steamship Company for the convenience of visitors. 
The main ocean beach is ideal for surfing, and excellent fishing may be enjoyed nearly all the year round. This beautiful hard sandy beach stretches for miles along the eastern side of the island. Motor 'buses meet all steamers and convey passengers to the ocean beach.

 There is a Government experimental station a short distance from the jetty. Visitors will receive much assistance and useful information from Mr. Bob Davies, at his store near the jetty.

Travelling from Bongaree to Caloundra through Pumice Stone Channel

December 1925

Caloundra can be reached by a through smooth trip from Brisbane. The glimpses of scenery obtained during the passage through the winding channel are such that must be seen to be appreciated. Leaving Bribie, Toorbul Point, on the mainland, is passed; thence the old fish-canning works. Presently an old iron hulk is viewed; then are seen what appear like fenced selections on the sea, which are really licensed oyster banks protected by this means against the enemies of the shellfish.

Looking further northward one perceives the green-carpeted sward of the banks on which hundreds of aquatic birds, from the large pelican to small snipe, are peacefully feeding, whilst further away great flocks of black swans are gracefully swimming.

Ever and always about us are the towering peaks of the Glass House Mountains, their grey trachyte sides viewed first from the south-east, thence due east, and again from the north-east. By proceeding from the metropolis to Caloundra Via Bribie, and returning via Landsborough by rail to Brisbane, or Vice versa, a splendid round trip is afforded tourists.

REFERENCE:
Mountain and seaside resorts from Noosa to Tweed. (1925) Compiled and issued by The Queensland Government Intelligence and Tourist Bureau, 10 December 1925. Bribie Island the rising resort [text and photos] pages 94-94. Travelling from Bongaree to Caloundra through Pumicestone Channel [text and photos] pages 67-70. Viewed on the Internet Archive https://archive.org/  

Q150 2009 South Esplanade

Q150 Heritage Plaque - 2 of 16 - South Esplanade
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

SOUTH ESPLANADE  From the 1920’s many large guest houses operated along here.  Proprietors met the “Excursion Ships” and carried guests luggage over creeks and sand tracks, offering the attraction of specialty food and entertainment.

Memories

There are  references to guest houses and kiosks that catered for the tourists arriving on the Steam Ship “Koopa” as early as 1915.

Pictured Davies' Kiosk, at the Jetty

Guests disembarking from either the “Koopa “or the “Doomba” would be met at the jetty by the proprietors of the guest houses and assisted with their luggage.  The walk along the Esplanade at this time was a sand track through grass and trees.

There were as many as six guest houses as well as private homes, along South Esplanade.  In those early days the sand track of South Esplanade continued further south, following the beach, past the Amateur Fisherman’s Association headquarters cottage.  In the 1950s  and 1960s cyclones caused extensive erosion and the road was eventually washed away, and now turns inland at Renton Lane.

Some of the beachside guest houses along South Esplanade

For those who chose not to pitch their tent along the foreshore, the choice of guest houses along South Esplanade provided a more comfortable alternative.     

Glan-y-Mor guesthouse

“Glan-y-Mor” was another guest house  run by Bob Davies for board and residence in conjunction with his twin sisters, Rose and Lil, situated a little further away on the corner of Campbell and Banya Streets.  When the main residence was fully occupied, external accommodation was provided in the form of thatched roof open air shed with an added luxury of drop down mosquito nets for protection against midges and “mossies”.

Novelty Gardens around Glan-y-Mor

The Davies family also had a kiosk at the jetty and established “Novelty Gardens” around Glan-y-Mor  which featured shapes of animals carved and trimmed from young pine trees, which quickly became a tourist attraction and a garden venue for Rose and Lil to entice visitors for a cup of tea.  

Their dining room was renowned for their pea and ham soup and fresh fish dinners.

Happy excursionists disembarking from Steamship Doomba