Around 1824, Sir Thomas Brisbane, the Governor of New South Wales, decided a site as far away from Sydney as possible was needed to dump the colony's worst murderers, rapists and repeat offenders. The sight he chose was Redcliffe and the Amity brought the first convicts here. The penal settlement was devastated by mosquito-borne disease and soon moved to Brisbane, now the capital of Queensland. |
Redcliffe is about 28 kilometres to the north-east of Brisbane. The city's name originates from "Red Cliff Point" named by the explorer John Oxley. Long popular as a seaside resort and well known as home to the Bee Gees for a time, we chose to walk the area this week starting at the Scarborough end of the peninsula. A highlight of the day was catching sight of the USS George Washington, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that was sailing out of Moreton Bay after a stop in Brisbane for the past five days. It stands 74.4 metres from keel to mast, is about the height of a 24-storey building, and stretches 333 metres from bow to stern. Even from the distance we viewed it, its immense size was obvious. Despite the clouds and cold, another first rate walk was declared by all participants - another grand day to be alive.
0 Comments
Last Wednesday's walk was cancelled due to rain, but the sun was soon shining again and Reg and I covered quite a few kilometres over the rest of the week. It is lovely being out and about in such glorious winter weather. We really do live in Paradise. It was nice to walk with my buddies back in Brisbane after spending the last 5 weeks up north. Today we covered a leisurely 15 kilometres along the Wynnum, Manly and Lota foreshores, then crossed the railway line and followed a trail that included a boardwalk section that crossed Lota Creek, passed through mangroves, saltmarshes, paperbark forests and a dry eucalypt forest. The weather was warm and sunny most of the way and made for a very pleasant winter's day outing. If you are looking for a variety of easy walks, the Bayside Parklands are well worth a visit.
|
Archives
March 2024
Categories
All
|