bush

AN OUTBACK LEGEND Horses have been a part of our Outback lifestyles for decades—whether mustering livestock, transporting goods, or racing down the track, equines have marched alongside us in creating the region we know and love today. They’ve worked with us, traveled with us, and provided some of the most unbelievable moments in sporting history. One such horse that has marked our region on the map is Miss Petty, the Outback racehorse who’d earned herself the title ‘Queen of the Track’ with 22 long years of holding the Australasian record for most consecutive wins straight. While not on the track-winning trophies, Miss Petty was in the paddocks and the open land, mustering like she’d been born to cut cattle or carrying kids on gentle trail rides like a seasoned school horse. It’s safe to say, Miss petty was a jack-of-all-trades and certainly a horse we’ll never forget! Source: www.redridgeinteriorqueensland.com/miss-petty-bush-salute

THE BIRDSVILLE RACES, QUEENSLAND This iconic outback event started in 1882 and is the most romanticized of all. People travel from everywhere to reach the remote little speck on the eastern edge of the Simpson Desert - by 4WD, by plane, by caravan, by truck, by bus, by private aircraft, by horse, and even by camel. The horses are hidden somewhere in an ochre cloud of dust at the furthest end of the racecourse. The crowd yells for their favorites, drinks more beer, and finds any tiny patch of refuge from the burning sun they can. "There's nothing like this in the world," the bloke next to me sighs happily as he downs probably his 10th tinnie of the day, his scrap of bet paper in his hand. He's right. This tiny town of 115 people suddenly swells to host more than 8000, sleeping in the lone Birdsville Hotel, the caravan park, a newly erected tented camp, the private mini-cities put up by visiting tour companies, and in swags thrown out on the ground. Source: www.traveller.com.au/best-places-to-watch-country-horse-r...

Brothers Charles Collinson Rawson and Edmund Stanfield Rawson purchased the grazing property Abington in the Pioneer Valley, including a portion known as Shamrock Vale in 1867, and nicknamed it Sleepy Hollow, and hence its popular name The Hollow. Two houses, The Hollow and The Nyth were built on the banks of the Pioneer River, the present township of Mirani occupying the home paddock of The Hollow. Here the Rawsons attempted to recreate formal English gardens, including a lawn tennis court, gravel paths with vistas created by shrubberies, exotic vines and trees, a weather station, an attractive English-style fowl-house, and to the side of a fourteen foot wide verandah, a large fernery of split palms which housed a bathroom at one end. On the high bank of the Pioneer River, they planted an extensive fenced vegetable garden and orchard. H.H. Finch Hatton, who visited the homestead in 1878, described it in his book Advance Australia as "the prettiest place on the whole of the Pioneer". Due to this garden's beauty and place in local folklore, the name and inspiration has been included in the Mackay Regional Botanic Gardens, even though the garden and homestead were located some 30 minutes upriver at Mirani. Source: www.mackayregionalbotanicgardens.com.au/about/history_of_...

Barney Point (1428) is the only swimming beach in the township of Gladstone and is located 1 km east of the city centre, on Barney Point. It is a 300 m long, east facing beach that usually only receives low wind waves generated inside the harbour. It is composed of coarse sand and pebbles and consequently has a relatively steep beach face, fronted by 200 m wide tidal flats. It is backed by a reserve that commemorates the founding of Gladstone, together with a picnic, playground and barbecue area. While the access, facilities and easterly views are all attractive, the adjoining northern half of the point is occupied by a large coal storage facility, with the jetty and wharf running off the northern tip of the point, all within 1 km of the beach. A seawall for the facility forms the northern boundary of the beach, with rock flats and a 20 m high grassy bluff to the south. Source: beachsafe.org.au/beach/qld/gladstone/barney-point/barney-...

Barney Point Beach is the city's birthplace - Gladstone's first settlers landed here in 1847. It's also the location of the city's earliest grave, with historical plaques marking points of interest. A floating tidal enclosure makes for safe summer swimming. Source: www.queensland.com/au/en/plan-your-holiday/journeys/p-56b...