cairns

The Queen and Duke flew to Brisbane from Toowoomba on 11 March before flying the next day to Townsville. To get from Townsville to Cairns the Royal couple changed their mode of transport and sailed on the Royal yacht, the SS Gothic. They arrived in Cairns on 13 March at 11.30 am. People waited overnight on the wharf and in the streets to get the best vantage point. The couple’s time in Cairns was very short, however, and by early afternoon the Queen and Duke were back on the Gothic to cruise south to Mackay through the Whitsundays. They left the yacht to view the reef in private through a glass-bottomed boat and spent a free afternoon on Seaforth Island. Source: www.qhatlas.com.au/content/queen-queensland-1954

In the 1850s, tens of thousands of Chinese people traveled to the Australian goldfields. Written accounts, artworks, photographs, and artifacts from a vivid picture of Chinese people in Australia at the time of the gold rush. This writing is complemented with the same photo of Kwong Sue Duk, his three wives, and 14 children. Yet, no other explanation is and info is provided. Source: www.sbs.com.au/gold/voices/

Kwong Sue Duk (1853-1929): His Life and Family in Australia + Kwong Sue Duk was a prosperous and generous Chinese gentleman who had four wives and twenty-four children and made Australia his chosen home, during and after the nineteenth-century northern Australian gold rush period. + Kwong Sue Duk was born in Guangdong Province, China, in 1853 and ventured abroad to the California goldfields at an early age to seek his fortune. After several years, he earned enough money for his family and passage home to Taishan, China, then embarked on education in Traditional Chinese Medicine. In 1874, Kwong Sue Duk married his first wife, Gee An Gow. + In 1875, after the birth of his first son (Kong Sing), Kwong soon heard of the gold rush of Australia and took a ship to Cooktown, North Queensland. He made several trips home to China and in 1879 a daughter (Jon Gee) was born. In 1882, Kwong arrived in the prospering township of Southport in the Northern Territory, where he eventually established a successful general trade store and real estate enterprise, operating under his business name, Sun Mow Loong. He became well respected and influential amongst the Chinese and European communities and was consulted over many matters concerning the Chinese. + In 1884, Kwong Sue Duk married his second wife, Chun Ngor Gwei, and obtained his naturalization certificate in Australia. Kwong moved to Palmerston (early Darwin) and in March 1887 he met and married his third wife, Yuen Yuk Lau. He returned to China and another daughter (Toy Mee) was born to his first wife. Not long after the birth, he traveled back to Australia to tend to his thriving businesses and to buy a number of rental properties. In 1888, Kwong's third wife gave birth to a daughter, Ly Kin. + He returned to China in 1889 and subsequently brought out his first wife and three children to Palmerston, where she later bore him another daughter (Sum Gwai). Kwong and his three wives lived in harmony and supported the family together. Over the next twelve years, eleven more children were born - Thomas, Edward, Leslie, Elsie, Fred, Lim, Maizie, William, Kathleen, Mary, and Lily. By 1902, there were sixteen Kwong children. Kwong prospered well in the remote Northern Territory, purchasing rental properties and at least five large gold mining leases. If you want to know more please follow the link: arrow.latrobe.edu.au/store/3/4/5/5/1/public/stories/kwong...

" A pretty scene fresh water", says the writing in the photo.

Henry HACKER (1876-1973) Henry Hacker Born Walthamstow, Essex, England, son of a surgical instrument maker. Early experience at British Museum. Arrived in Australia late 1890s and went gold prospecting and insect collecting in WA, SA, and NQ, often traveling long distances by bicycle. Supplied Coleoptera to many Australian taxonomists. Fought in Boer War 1900-1901. Farmed on Mulgrave River in NQ 1909-10 and was a neighbor to butterfly collector, Conrad Kelsall. Sold 6000 Coleoptera to Berlin Museum in 1910. Appointed insect curator at Queensland Museum 1911. Magnificent collector with great knowledge of habits and life histories. Built the QM research collections and made links with taxonomists around the world. Developed QM's public displays of insects. Skilled insect photographer. Published mainly on Hemiptera and Hymenoptera. Joined many of Perkins' UQ field trips. Seconded in 1929 to the Dept. of Agric. and Stock insect collection and served there until retirement in 1943, working 1-2 days per week at QM. Kept bees at his Herston home and became apiary inspector at the time of the foul brood outbreak in 1931. In retirement sold an extensive collection of Hemiptera to American hemipterous, Carl Drake, whose collection went to the Smithsonian. Hacker was a founding member of the Entomological Society of Queensland in 1923, serving on the first Council for 11 years, President in 1934, and Honorary Life Member from 1943. Source: www.esq.org.au/archive/HIstoricalPages/HackerH.html

If you’re visiting the Cairns and Port Douglas region in summer, you absolutely must check out some of our freshwater swimming spots as well as the iconic Great Barrier Reef. These are where the locals go to cool off and some, like Mossman Gorge, receive large numbers of tourists too. Families visit these jungle swimming holes because they are widely considered safe, there are no crocodiles or marine stingers here, (we hope!), and they are stunningly beautiful. Swimming in crystal clear, freshwater, deep in the jungle rainforest, surrounded by fish, is a bucket list experience. A series of photos and brief words about some of the swimming holes, waterfalls, and swimming lakes near Port Douglas and Cairns, the Daintree and Tablelands, in Far North Queensland Australia. Source: worldtravelfamily.com/fresh-water-swimming-spots-around-c...