To celebrate Australia Day, Liz and I took the kids for a walk through the rainforest in D’Aguilar National Park.
There are various traditional owners of the D’Aguilar Range area, including the Turrbal, Garumngar and Jinibara Aboriginal people. The country is magical: the calls of Bellbirds ringing in the forest, the cool mountain breezes, the dense rainforest and the towering majestic tress. I can only wonder what it would have been like thousands of years ago before European settlement.
We started our walk through the “Rainforest Circuit” in the Maiala section of Mount Glorious. We followed an easy 2km trail through some lush rainforest.
At different points in the forest we spotted giant Sydney Blue Gums towering over the forest. Before this area was logged in the 19th century, the area was full of these majestic trees. Now they’re much scarcer.
We then finished our walk following the trail from the “Western Window” lookout, through the bush back to the car park, before driving down to Jollys Lookout for some stunning views of the Greater Brisbane Area – no wonder Lord Mayor William Jolly built a road to it in the 1930’s!
Total distance: 4.91 km Total climbing: 167 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 01:18:18
Dundalli Sketch by Sylvester Diggles, 1854 Dundalli was an Aboriginal leader and fighter from the Dalla people of the Blackall Ranges who was eventually adopted by the fearsome Djindubarri people of Bribie Island in the 1840’s.
He was convicted of the murder of Andrew Gregor and Mary Shannon in 1846. People much more qualified than I have described how the trial and conviction of Dundalli were unjust. I won’t regurgitate those arguments here, but if you’re interested, you might like to read some articles by Dr Libby Connors and Dr Dale Kerwin.
His execution was particularly gruesome. The hangman botched it while his distraught relatives looked on in horror from the hillside on what is now Wickham Terrace. The rope was too long, at the drop Dundalli actually landed on his coffin, and the hangman had to bend his legs and drag down on them to kill him.
This happened exactly 156 years ago today. So I decided to honour Dundalli by cycling into the city to the GPO and back (about 80km), stopping by “Yorks Hollow” – an important traditional camping ground for Aborigines prior to European settlement.
Yorks Hollow used to cover most of what is Victoria Park Golf Course and the Exhibition Grounds. Today it’s little more than a small park beside the busy Inner City Bypass motorway. But it’s still a beautiful park – especially when you pause to think about what it was.
In her book, “Tom Petrie’s Reminiscences of Early Queensland”, Constance Campbell Petrie says of it:
Another big “tulan” or fight, Father remembers at
York’s Hollow (the Exhibition). He and his brother Walter
were standing looking on, when a fighting boomerang thrown
from the crowd circled round, and travelling in the direction
of the brothers, struck Walter Petrie on the cheek, causing
a deep flesh wound. The gins and blacks of the Brisbane
tribe commenced to cry about this, and said that the weapon
had come from the Bribie blacks’ side, and that they were
no good, but wild fellows. The brothers went home, and the
cut was sewn up. It did not take long to heal afterwards.
At that fight there must have been about eight hundred
blacks gathered from all parts, and there were about twenty
wounded. One very fine blackfellow lost his life. His
name was “Tunbur” (maggot). In the fight he got hit
on the ankle with a waddie, and next day died from lockjaw.
They carried the remains, and crossed the creek where the
Enoggera railway bridge is now, and further on made a fire
and skiimed the body and ate it. My father knew ” Tunbur”
well; he was one of the blacks who accompanied grandfather
Petrie on his trip in search of a sample of ” bon-yi ” wood.
I was pleasantly surprised to find out someone else had the same idea and had erected some signs about Dundalli in Post Office Square across the road from the GPO. The GPO was actually built in 1871 on the site of the old Female Convict Factory.
What struck me today was the irony. Here was a war memorial on the front wall of GPO comemorating soldiers who had died for their country in the First World War, yet it was the same place a black man was killed for trying to protect his country and uphold his people’s laws.
Even the grand statue of Major General Sir William Glasgow appeared to look away in shame from the GPO and the memorial posters there.
The trouble is we often become emotionally immune to irony, even though it can sometimes highlight painful truths. I’m glad I did what the sign said, and walked in his tracks.
Total distance: 78.87 km Total climbing: 682 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 04:38:14
Sheep Station Creek is a 231 hectare environmental reserve about 6km south-west of Caboolture.
The dense eucalyptus forest is very popular with horse riders, but today I explored it on the MTB with a couple of friends.
With all the rain we’ve been experiencing, it’s very difficult to find off-road places that are rideable. The gravel trails here hold up well in the wet – but we still managed to get covered in mud.
Historically, Sheep Station Creek is important because it contains many scarred trees which may be of Aboriginal origin, and it contains the remnants of the original road between Brisbane and Gympie that Tom Petrie helped blaze in the mid 19th century.
Looking at the dense forest and muddy trails, I am stumped as to how anyone would have driven a horse and cart through there!
This is definitely a place I’d like to explore more in drier weather!
Many thanks to friends Tim and Michael for introducing me to this lovely place!
In her book “Tom Petrie’s Reminiscences of Early Queensland”, Constance Campbell Petrie says:
“When Davis (or ” Duramboi “) was asked to mark a road
to Gympie, he sought my father’s assistance for the first part
of the way, saying he would know where he was all right
when he got to the Glass House Mountains, as he had been
there before when living with the blacks. So Father took
him to the other side of Caboolture and put him and party
on his (” Tom ” Petrie’s) marked tree line to Petrie’s Creek,
on the Maroochy River. Then when the Kne to Gympie
was marked, he went with Cobb and Co. to help them pick
out stopping places for the changing of horses. . The road
was just frightful at that time ; we in these days could not
recognize it for the same.”
It’s pretty “frightful” today – but that’s the way we like it š
Total distance: 8.13 km Total climbing: 117 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 00:58:23
One of the Glasshouse Mountains. The rain stopped for a few seconds, and I thought I’d grab the chance while I could, despite the pesky power lines š
The legend of Coonowrin is as old as humanity. In the Dream-time, Tibrogargan needed to rescue his wife, Beerwah from a flooded creek. He asked his son, Coonowrin for help, but Coonowrin was cowardly and didn’t help his father.
In a rage, Tibrogargan struck his son, and broke his neck. Tibrogargan is now stone, and stands facing the sea to the east to this day, with his back to the son who disappointed him.
Beerwah is now stone too, but she forgave her son and faces him.
Coonowrin is now stone, too. And as you can see from this picture, his broken neck is still visible – testament to fiery emotions that can exist between parents and children in times of crisis.
The incident caused many tears, which is why there are so many small streams in the area.
Total distance: 29.25 km Total climbing: 412 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 02:57:31
Wights Mountain has one of the best preserved Aboriginal Ceremonial Bora Grounds in our area.
I didn’t have a wide-angled camera, so I had to stitch the photos together. Can you make out the raised ring of earth?
The Bora Grounds consisted of one large ring in which important tribal ceremonies were conducted, and a second secret ring where young initiates were taken to learn “mens business”. The two rings are connected by a sacred pathway approximately 400m long.
As I stood by the large ring, I imagined what it would have been like to stand here hundreds of years ago in the firelight as the tribe sang their songs, and young boys became men – learning secrets handed down for generations.
I felt a sense of loss.
European history is almost clinical. It has been chronicled in books for centuries for anyone to read. Aboriginal history is different. To learn it you needed to have a relationship to the person telling it to you, and a personal commitment to the community. We’ll never know many of the stories and secrets told here – they died with the story tellers.
I’ve only photographed the larger ring. I didn’t think it was respectful to photograph the smaller ring. If you want to see that, you’ll need to go to Wights Mountain yourself!
Here’s a diorama at the Samford Historical Museum depicting how the Bora Ring would have been used by the local Aboriginal people.
There are several Marked Trees at the Bora Grounds. One of these is obviously a Government Survey Tree (marked with an “R” and a number). I’m not sure whether the other trees are survey trees, or have been “marked” by Aborigines to signify the importance of the site. I’ll update the information when I find out.
Total distance: 78.19 km Total climbing: 1340 m Average temperature: Total time: 05:38:40
I rode out to Mt Samson and Samsonvale again this morning to continue my search for any remnants of the old Railway line, and to check out the Samsonvale Bora Ring.
The railway line heads north from Mount Samson to Samsonvale. Unfortunately it disappears into the lake now. This is the view looking South towards Mount Samson station. The embankments are still evident.
South of Mt Samson village the railway line runs under Kunde’s Road. This is the view west towards the unmistakable pyramid shape of Mount Samson in the D’Aguilar ranges.
The line continues north of Samsonvale through Gold’s Scrub towards Kobble.
This dead tree marks the site of the Samsonvale Bora Ring.
The Samsonvale Bora Ring was an ancient, sacred, ceremonial site used by the Turrbal Aborigines for corroborees and initiation ceremonies. It stands less than a hundred metres from a busy road and is easy to see, although I’m sure most of the people driving by would have no idea about the important events that have transpired here for thousands years.
The Grass Tree (Xanthorrhoea latifolia) is a very slow growing plant that grows widely throughout eastern Australia.
It can take more than twenty years for a trunk to appear, and then they normally grow at a rate of 1 to 2 cm per year.
The two larger specimens here had 2m trunks taller than me, so I’m guessing they would probably predate European settlement in the area. I.e. they’re probably at least 200 years old.
Aborigines used grass trees to make fishing spears. They also used resin from the plant as an adhesive and to mend leaking water containers.
The trees provide a habitat for native insects and lizards.
Some of the lakeside shores around here have forests of grass trees. When you think of how old some of these trees are, it’s an overwhelming sensation to stand among them.
The unveiling of the refurbished Tom Petrie memorial was an amazing experience for many reasons.
I’ve written severalarticles here previously about Tom Petrie. The man was remarkable for the way he learned the ways and language of the local Turrbal Aboriginal people, and showed them a respect and honor that was more than a century ahead of his time. It was fitting to remember him on the 100th anniversary of his death.
I also had the chance to meet Maroochy Barambah, an elder, Songwoman and Law-Woman of the Turrbal Aboriginal people. This talented and dignified woman is the great grand-daughter of Kulkarawa, a young Aboriginal girl who ran off with a Sri Lankan man named Shake Brown in the 1840’s. Brown was killed in the 1840’s on the banks of what is now called Browns Creek. By some strange co-incidence I actually took some photos of this area and wrote an article about it a few months ago. So I was overwhelmed to meet someone who was actually related to Kulkarawa (Granny Kitty) and Shake Brown (Grandfather Brown).
This event was the first formal occasion that descendants of Tom Petrie and the Turrbal people had met face to face since Petrie’s death. It gives me hope that things like this happen. The mutual history of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australia is something that can unite us, and strengthen our souls. It reminds us how precious is the place in which we live. It gives us continuity and reminds us that each of us is here for such a brief time, while the land is always here.
