beachfront

Interesting story

Queen of the Colonies The vessel, Queen of the Colonies made five trips from the United Kingdom and Ireland to the colony of Queensland during the 1860s. Unfortunately, no picture of the ship is known to exist. During the voyage, which ended on 8th April 1863, the ship made good time. She anchored off Moreton Island on 6th April, and on 7th April at 5 pm, 13 crew and volunteer passengers took the lifeboat to the island to bury one of the passengers, Mrs Barnfield, who had died in childbirth. In the boat were Mr Barnfield, Captain Hill, and Messrs Durrant, Arundel, Langford, Ford, Eldridge (chief officer), Grant (fourth-mate), Roach and Murray (quarter-masters), and three able seamen. At 7 pm the boat returned and had reached the ship but a violent squall erupted and the crew were unable to reach the rope thrown for them. The lifeboat then disappeared. Captain Cairncross decided to continue to Brisbane on the 8th of April, whereafter search crews were sent to look for the life-boat. The men attempted to row to Brisbane but the boat overturned on a sandbank, and Mr Barnfield was drowned. They returned to a beach near where Caloundra is today. Three of the men (Eldridge, Grant & Durant) then tried to reach settlement overland and were the last to be found - on April 26th. The remainder had already been found at Caloundra. All were in terrible condition - sunburnt and starving, and nearly naked, having lost clothing when the boat overturned. A street in Caloundra is named after the ship Queen of the Colonies Parade - and for many years a Pandanus tree stood at Moffatt Head, which bore the inscription "Queen of the Colonies" and several of the castaways initials engraved on it. (The Queen of the Colonies Tree). The remains of the tree are now held by the Royal Historical Society of Queensland, in their Queen of the Colonies display. Source: nanopdf.com/download/queen-of-the-colonies-shipwreck-pand...

Pandanus spiralis is a shrub or small tree that can grow up to 10 meters in height and is native to northern Australia. It belongs to the family Pandanaceae. It is also found growing in the wild in the northern West Bengal and Sikkim regions of India. It is commonly called Screw Palm or Pandanus Palm despite not being a true palm. It has spined leaves in a spiral arrangement. Wildlife including birds take advantage of the spiny leaves by living in the tree for protection. They also favor its fruit which occurs as large, pineapple-like clusters that turn orange-red when ripe. This is a really useful plant. Humans can extract the fruit's seeds, grinding them into flour. The leaves can be used to weave neckbands and armbands. The fiber of the leaves can be used as the string for dillybags, baskets, mats, and shelters. In addition, mashed leaves can be used to cure headaches when tied around the head. The Burarra people use the plant to make fish traps. What a plant!!! Source: www.projectnoah.org/spottings/28012027

The Brisbane Botanic Gardens were laid out by Walter Hill, the Colonial Botanist and Curator, and one of his first actions was to plant the now magnificent bunya trees which skirt the riverside walk. A great deal of experimental and acclimatisation work was carried out by him in connection with cotton, sugar cane, arrowroot, ginger, indigo, allspice and many others he considered likely to suit the cool and temperate zones of Queensland. Thereafter, he journeyed in the tracks of the pioneers and obtained many valuable specimens of plants and trees. Fortunate indeed, is the city that the pleasantly situated City Botanic Gardens Brisbane are still in their present spaciousness and available for visits by those who enjoy the beauties of plant and flower life as well as the peaceful quietude which raises the heart and refreshes the spirit. Much has been accomplished in the first century of the Brisbane Botanical Gardens. It is now doubly opportune to ponder, compare and evaluate the strivings of Walter Hill (as well as his successors) who, from the small six-acre Botanical Reserve hewn from the original native scrub of Brisbane Town, reclaimed, developed and beautified the City Botanic Gardens Brisbane as they are nowadays. Walter Hill did not happily retire from his sphere of activity. Tranquillity would even seem to now permeate the stones which form the base of the dwarf wall facing Alice Street. These blocks of stones once formed the walls of the early Brisbane Gaol in Petrie Terrace built by Andrew Petrie in 1854, and when the Gaol was demolished after the erection of the Boggo Road Gaol in 1881, an entirely different and peaceful environment from the turbulent former surroundings was found for them as a base in the City Botanic Gardens iron-railed fence. Source: www.brisbanehistory.com/botanical_gardens.html

The small rocky headland Kirra Point separates Kirra Beach to the north and Coolangatta Beach to the south and is noted as one of the world's premier surf breaks. In the past, the surf break was known for producing high-quality barrels. Today sand pumping across the Tweed River mouth has filled it in and changed its character. The name of the neighborhood comes from Kirra Hill (28.1681°S 153.5333°E)[2] which is 27 meters (89 ft) above sea level,[3] which first appears on an 1883 survey plan by surveyor Mr Schneider. Although believed to be an Indigenous name, the specific language and meaning is unknown. For example, in the Yuggera language, kaiyar means white cockatoo while in the Kabi language kirran means fire. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirra,_Queensland

I'm fairly certain that the headland in the distance is not Burleigh Heads. The people are most likely on Greenmount point in the foreground with Kirra point in the background.