We found Gladstone to be a fascinating place. It is also the most difficult I've encountered when it comes to describing it. The CBD and surrounding suburbs are spread across numerous hills, roads hardly run straight for more than a few hundred metres, the port seems to stretch endlessly to the east and west of the CBD and in addition to the waters of the port itself, the Auckland Channel and the marina, the town is surrounded by winding creeks and mangrove flats.
From almost every vantage point large ships can be seen moving in and out of the harbour channel or tied up alongside at the plethora of different wharves......coal, alumina, LNG, calcite etc, etc.
The raw energy of the industrial docks is off set by delightful parks and gardens. Charming buildings of the surprisingly small central business district stand in stark contrast to the stockpiles of export materials and towering silos less than half a kilometre distant. This is indeed a port city and one of constant contrasts. As I said, fascinating.
In an attempt to share what we found here in some sort of logical fashion, I've decided to break it all down into various topics....today's effort will focus on a snippet of the town's history, the site of its origins, a general overview of some of the suburbs and a wander through the CBD.
Let's begin with good old Google Earth to try and make some sense of all this.
The harbour and all the loading docks lie within the sheltered embrace of Facing Island and the much larger Curtis Island to its north. The port facilities stretch from the LNG plant (the white area mid shot) past several coal loading terminals and the town CBD (the red dot with the word 'Gladstone') down to the massive Queensland Alumina facilities with its red coloured stock pile (bottom central).
I'll have more to say about the port in a later missive. For now let me turn to a very potted (and for me equally fascinating) history of the development of this important port city.
In its infancy Gladstone, named after the British Colonial Secretary, had the potential to be much, much more than it now is. It was the site for the proposed capital of a very large chunk of northern Australia, the Colony of North Australia. As this map shows, the area of the proposed colony was massive, stretching from the Western Australian border to the Pacific and encompassing everything north of the 26th parallel (about where Gympie now stands.
This proposal did not last long. So what drove it and why did it founder? It was all to do with convicts. As I am sure you know, Australia's original inhabitants were, in the main, convicted British felons who had fallen foul of the extraordinarily harsh penal code of the time when, for example, stealing a loaf of bread could result in the punishment of 'transportation'.
Initially these convicts were plonked in penal settlements established in most of the new settlements. By 1840, transportation to the colony of New South Wales was discontinued, but they continued to arrive in droves in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania).
There, many of the original convicts had, by now, had 'done their time', and were roaming around the Apple Isle in vast numbers looking for work which was not available. This presented the redoubtable William Ewart Gladstone, who became the British Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1845, with a real problem. Tassie was chockers and New South Wales was off the agenda.........good old Bill had enough nous to know that to re-establish transportation there would have been political suicide.
At this point, the entire eastern side of the continent was formally New South Wales, now a convict 'no-go zone'. Not a problem, thought the ever resourceful William Ewart G. We'll hive off a goodly chunk of the northern part and start up a new colony......North Australia.
The plan was to then send all the pardoned miscreants of Van Diemen's Land to this new northern utopia where they would gratefully work their buts off and establish a new, thriving, free community.
In May 1846, Lt Col George Barney of the Royal Engineers received the undoubtedly unwelcome news that it would fall to him to find and establish a suitable site for the development of the main centre of the proposed new colony. He was dispatched to Sydney with instructions that the preferred location must be north of Moreton Bay, but no so far north that the heat and humidity of the tropics would have an adverse affect on the health of the newcomers. 'Fatherly concern' from the poobahs of the Mother Country....not a bit of it....people who are crook can't work hard!
In the meantime Queen Victoria had signed off on the new colony of North Australia with its southern boundary to be the 26th parallel......it was all official.
So with administrators and their families and a number of troops, the Lt Colonel set sail from Sydney on 8 January 1847 on the good ship Lord Auckland. Things did not begin well. The ship ran aground on the shoals at the southern end of Facing Island where all on board found themselves stranded for some time.
Eventually they came ashore at Port Curtis (as Gladstone was then known) at the spot now named Barney Point. The Colony of North Australia was formally underway, but not for long.
Back in Britain the Government had changed in July 1846. Earl Grey had replaced Gladstone and found himself under immediate pressure to rescind the decision to establish North Australia. The argument was simple, and probably rational. Why would free men choose to slave away in the heat of the north to establish a new settlement from scratch when there was plenty of work to be had in the now flourishing colony of New South Wales?
And the overall result of this grand plan? As the relevant Queensland Government history web site notes:
"The officials had endured 4 months of indecision, rain, heat, and mosquitoes before they returned to the civilisation of Sydney where they arrived in May 1847. No pardoned convict ever reached the new colony."
What a classic case of 'political policy on the run' being made by a government far removed from the reality of life (in this case in the Antipodes). Sound familiar??
So Gladstone of today could have been so much more....a State Capital no less. As it was, the area was not abandoned altogether, although growth was slow until the establishment of a meat works in 1893.
But for now, enough of history....I'll have more to share about the development of the area when we explore the port.
Let's first have a general look at the town itself as it now is, beginning where it all began in 1847, Barney Point. Here a leafy park
overlooks the Barney Point 'beach' (you can see part of the port infrastructure at the far end of the beach.....this is a common sight in Gladstone).
The park also overlooks the entrance channel into the port of Gladstone with the hills of Facing Island in the background.
Here, fittingly, stands a stone cairn which acknowledges the fact that this was the site of the first official residence in 'North Australia', the home of one Captain Maurice Charles O'Connell who was installed as the first Police magistrate and Commissioner of Crown Lands in April 1854. I say fittingly, because it was at this same point at which Barney came ashore on his ill-fated venture seven years previously.
As we left historical Gladstone behind us to drive to one of the town's several lookouts, this
suburban landscape is typical of the town.....hilly! As I said earlier, hills and water....this is Gladstone. I would ask you to note the large white, domed tower on the hill in the background....you will soon see this again.
Gladstone's permanent residents of about 50,000 are housed in suburbs which sprawl across the many hillsides and valleys of the town. The nearby areas of Boyne Island and Tannum Sands are always included as being part of the broader Gladstone suburbia.
Gladstone lies between the Calliope River to the north and The Boyne to the south. We first drove up to the top of Round Hill Lookout from which we hoped to be able to gain a better feel for the town layout, something we found quite difficult to do a ground level.
Here, looking more of less northwards, we could see over part of the town to the waters of some of the port with the bulk of Curtis Island lying along most of the horizon.
The quite small Gladstone CBD lies just to the left of the large silo block shown in this shot.
and the suburban areas of southern Gladstone, including Kin Kora where we were temporarily housed.
As I said from the outset, this is town which can be hard to come to grips with in terms of an overview, as these shots clearly demonstrate. I can only hope I have been able to provide some idea of what I mean when I talk of this being a 'city of hills'.
This is not to say that the topography has deterred home building......quite the opposite.
Here we have a house perched on such a steep slope that the owners and visitors coming in off the roadway have to 'walk the plank' to gain access.
With this general overview tucked under our tourist belts we wandered off into the city CBD, which as I have noted previously, we found surprisingly small.
The oddly named Goondoon Street is the centre of the action here. And like most of Gladstone, it is anything but flat.
We began our ramble at its northern end, at the intersection with Yaroon Street where the north-eastern corner is dominated by the Reef Hotel and apartments. At the bottom of the dip we can see the Auckland Channel which leads into the town marina, but we'll have a better view of this later.
But this shot serves to show that here in Gladstone, nothing is far from the water or the infrastructure of the port.
Before making our way up the incline of Goondoon Street, we detoured off to the left along Yaroon Street where the stately looking Gladstone Court House stands next to the local Police Headquarters. It was this that had caught our attention some days earlier as we drove past.
Throughout the country, Police Stations tend to present as functional and often somewhat intimidating structures. In Gladstone the exact opposite is the case.
Here the considerable number of boys and girls in blue who maintain law and order in what is a very industrial town, are housed in an imaginatively designed building surrounded as you can see by the most delightful gardens.
This really is unlike anything I had come across before....an enquiry and congratulations were mandatory.
A memorial to slain Gladstone Police Officers in the public entrance courtyard provides all who visit with a poignant reminder of the dangers faced by those who protect their community.
My chat with the staff of the front office revealed that this magnificent landscaping (which again my photos do not do full justice) was conceived and created by one of the department's handymen. I suspect my surprise to discover this was equalled by that of those behind the counter that a passing (retired) colleague would show such interest and take the time to ensure that he passed on his congratulations to those responsible. I was told that my visit would absolutely make the day of the chap concerned. I was pleased I had made the effort.
So with this mission completed, we retraced our steps back to Goondoon Street where the ascent into the commercial centre is guarded by two significant Gladstone buildings,
the old Commercial Bank of Sydney on one side
and on the other, the Old Gladstone Post Office.
Just south of this intersection, the roadway of Goondoon Street narrows and although vehicular traffic is not banned, the allowed speed is significantly reduced. We noticed that most locals treat this section virtually as a pedestrian mall.
Here we passed the city library building
and the Gladstone Entertainment and Convention Centre opposite.
And in the opposite direction the street again falls away to provide glimpses of the blue waters of Port Curtis past yet another accommodation hotel, this time the Metro.
On with our stroll, now 'down' Goondoon Street, where immediately south of the Roseberry intersection this small area of street art with its nautical theme of brightly coloured lateral markers and so on,
From the next intersection, where those with a thirst can quench it at a more modest pub, the Queens Hotel,
In its infancy Gladstone, named after the British Colonial Secretary, had the potential to be much, much more than it now is. It was the site for the proposed capital of a very large chunk of northern Australia, the Colony of North Australia. As this map shows, the area of the proposed colony was massive, stretching from the Western Australian border to the Pacific and encompassing everything north of the 26th parallel (about where Gympie now stands.
This proposal did not last long. So what drove it and why did it founder? It was all to do with convicts. As I am sure you know, Australia's original inhabitants were, in the main, convicted British felons who had fallen foul of the extraordinarily harsh penal code of the time when, for example, stealing a loaf of bread could result in the punishment of 'transportation'.
Initially these convicts were plonked in penal settlements established in most of the new settlements. By 1840, transportation to the colony of New South Wales was discontinued, but they continued to arrive in droves in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania).
There, many of the original convicts had, by now, had 'done their time', and were roaming around the Apple Isle in vast numbers looking for work which was not available. This presented the redoubtable William Ewart Gladstone, who became the British Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1845, with a real problem. Tassie was chockers and New South Wales was off the agenda.........good old Bill had enough nous to know that to re-establish transportation there would have been political suicide.
At this point, the entire eastern side of the continent was formally New South Wales, now a convict 'no-go zone'. Not a problem, thought the ever resourceful William Ewart G. We'll hive off a goodly chunk of the northern part and start up a new colony......North Australia.
The plan was to then send all the pardoned miscreants of Van Diemen's Land to this new northern utopia where they would gratefully work their buts off and establish a new, thriving, free community.
In May 1846, Lt Col George Barney of the Royal Engineers received the undoubtedly unwelcome news that it would fall to him to find and establish a suitable site for the development of the main centre of the proposed new colony. He was dispatched to Sydney with instructions that the preferred location must be north of Moreton Bay, but no so far north that the heat and humidity of the tropics would have an adverse affect on the health of the newcomers. 'Fatherly concern' from the poobahs of the Mother Country....not a bit of it....people who are crook can't work hard!
In the meantime Queen Victoria had signed off on the new colony of North Australia with its southern boundary to be the 26th parallel......it was all official.
So with administrators and their families and a number of troops, the Lt Colonel set sail from Sydney on 8 January 1847 on the good ship Lord Auckland. Things did not begin well. The ship ran aground on the shoals at the southern end of Facing Island where all on board found themselves stranded for some time.
Eventually they came ashore at Port Curtis (as Gladstone was then known) at the spot now named Barney Point. The Colony of North Australia was formally underway, but not for long.
Back in Britain the Government had changed in July 1846. Earl Grey had replaced Gladstone and found himself under immediate pressure to rescind the decision to establish North Australia. The argument was simple, and probably rational. Why would free men choose to slave away in the heat of the north to establish a new settlement from scratch when there was plenty of work to be had in the now flourishing colony of New South Wales?
Hang on, I hear you cry. This decision was made well before Barney sailed north from Sydney. Indeed it was, but by the time Queen Vic had revoked the Letter Patent establishing the colony, and all this paper work had been shipped off to Sydney, the months had passed. Finally, in May 1847, orders reached Barney from Sydney. He and all his troops were to abandon the colony and return to Sydney.
"The officials had endured 4 months of indecision, rain, heat, and mosquitoes before they returned to the civilisation of Sydney where they arrived in May 1847. No pardoned convict ever reached the new colony."
What a classic case of 'political policy on the run' being made by a government far removed from the reality of life (in this case in the Antipodes). Sound familiar??
So Gladstone of today could have been so much more....a State Capital no less. As it was, the area was not abandoned altogether, although growth was slow until the establishment of a meat works in 1893.
But for now, enough of history....I'll have more to share about the development of the area when we explore the port.
Let's first have a general look at the town itself as it now is, beginning where it all began in 1847, Barney Point. Here a leafy park
overlooks the Barney Point 'beach' (you can see part of the port infrastructure at the far end of the beach.....this is a common sight in Gladstone).
The park also overlooks the entrance channel into the port of Gladstone with the hills of Facing Island in the background.
Here, fittingly, stands a stone cairn which acknowledges the fact that this was the site of the first official residence in 'North Australia', the home of one Captain Maurice Charles O'Connell who was installed as the first Police magistrate and Commissioner of Crown Lands in April 1854. I say fittingly, because it was at this same point at which Barney came ashore on his ill-fated venture seven years previously.
As we left historical Gladstone behind us to drive to one of the town's several lookouts, this
suburban landscape is typical of the town.....hilly! As I said earlier, hills and water....this is Gladstone. I would ask you to note the large white, domed tower on the hill in the background....you will soon see this again.
Gladstone's permanent residents of about 50,000 are housed in suburbs which sprawl across the many hillsides and valleys of the town. The nearby areas of Boyne Island and Tannum Sands are always included as being part of the broader Gladstone suburbia.
Gladstone lies between the Calliope River to the north and The Boyne to the south. We first drove up to the top of Round Hill Lookout from which we hoped to be able to gain a better feel for the town layout, something we found quite difficult to do a ground level.
Here, looking more of less northwards, we could see over part of the town to the waters of some of the port with the bulk of Curtis Island lying along most of the horizon.
The quite small Gladstone CBD lies just to the left of the large silo block shown in this shot.
Panning further to the right, the horizon is now taken up with the low lying Facing Island.
The houses of the Barney Point are can be seen mid shot, whilst the white tower about which I spoke earlier can just be seen on the high ground towards the left of the photo.
Swinging in the opposite direction (we were actually walking around the roadway at the top of Round Hill) brings a view to the west where the three smoke stacks of the Gladstone power station dominate the landscape.
Moving on further to the left brought into view the flat area which is home to the Gladstone Airport (you will recall that the runway takes aircraft directly over our park)
and the suburban areas of southern Gladstone, including Kin Kora where we were temporarily housed.
As I said from the outset, this is town which can be hard to come to grips with in terms of an overview, as these shots clearly demonstrate. I can only hope I have been able to provide some idea of what I mean when I talk of this being a 'city of hills'.
This is not to say that the topography has deterred home building......quite the opposite.
Here we have a house perched on such a steep slope that the owners and visitors coming in off the roadway have to 'walk the plank' to gain access.
With this general overview tucked under our tourist belts we wandered off into the city CBD, which as I have noted previously, we found surprisingly small.
The oddly named Goondoon Street is the centre of the action here. And like most of Gladstone, it is anything but flat.
We began our ramble at its northern end, at the intersection with Yaroon Street where the north-eastern corner is dominated by the Reef Hotel and apartments. At the bottom of the dip we can see the Auckland Channel which leads into the town marina, but we'll have a better view of this later.
But this shot serves to show that here in Gladstone, nothing is far from the water or the infrastructure of the port.
Before making our way up the incline of Goondoon Street, we detoured off to the left along Yaroon Street where the stately looking Gladstone Court House stands next to the local Police Headquarters. It was this that had caught our attention some days earlier as we drove past.
Throughout the country, Police Stations tend to present as functional and often somewhat intimidating structures. In Gladstone the exact opposite is the case.
Here the considerable number of boys and girls in blue who maintain law and order in what is a very industrial town, are housed in an imaginatively designed building surrounded as you can see by the most delightful gardens.
This really is unlike anything I had come across before....an enquiry and congratulations were mandatory.
A memorial to slain Gladstone Police Officers in the public entrance courtyard provides all who visit with a poignant reminder of the dangers faced by those who protect their community.
My chat with the staff of the front office revealed that this magnificent landscaping (which again my photos do not do full justice) was conceived and created by one of the department's handymen. I suspect my surprise to discover this was equalled by that of those behind the counter that a passing (retired) colleague would show such interest and take the time to ensure that he passed on his congratulations to those responsible. I was told that my visit would absolutely make the day of the chap concerned. I was pleased I had made the effort.
So with this mission completed, we retraced our steps back to Goondoon Street where the ascent into the commercial centre is guarded by two significant Gladstone buildings,
the old Commercial Bank of Sydney on one side
and on the other, the Old Gladstone Post Office.
Just south of this intersection, the roadway of Goondoon Street narrows and although vehicular traffic is not banned, the allowed speed is significantly reduced. We noticed that most locals treat this section virtually as a pedestrian mall.
Here we passed the city library building
and the Gladstone Entertainment and Convention Centre opposite.
From this point the street scape is decidedly commercial for the short distance south to the next main intersection, with Roseberry Street.
Here the architecture of the aptly named Grand Hotel stands in complete contrast to the tower block of the Oakes apartments behind it.
At this point, looking west along Roseberry Street over the Hanson Road oval at the bottom of the street to the apartment buildings beyond, we were again reminded of the hilly nature of this town.
And in the opposite direction the street again falls away to provide glimpses of the blue waters of Port Curtis past yet another accommodation hotel, this time the Metro.
In addition to many things which surprised about Gladstone, the amount of short term hotel and apartment accommodation was one, but on thinking it through, this made sense. This is a town which hosts many large industrial enterprises which in turn attract many short term visiting executives and specialist staff. They all have to sleep somewhere, and in most cases the cost is not an issue of concern.
Mind you, we had already been told that things are no longer as rosy as they were on the industrial scene. This was brought into sharp focus when we tarried briefly to peer at the advertisements in a real estate office in Goondoon Street.
On offer in this most impressive (very poorly photographed) apartment block building, located in a desirable part of town and boasting harbour views and much more
was an apartment with all the bells and whistles, and fully furnished to boot, if you please. Just look at the weekly rental......step straight off the plane and move in for a mere $220 per week. This is nothing short of extraordinary.
In a later chat to a couple opposite us in the caravan park we learnt that they had just rented a fully furnished, two bedroom, two bathroom house in a most acceptable section of Barney Point for, wait for it....$180 per week. We were almost tempted to become residents of Gladstone. This is cheaper than most caravan sites and is a somewhat sad reflection on the mining and industrial downturn which has followed the boom.
heralds the entrance to another narrow, but this time, one way stretch lined on one side with something we had not seen for a while, bottle trees.
This section of the street houses the impressive building of the Gladstone Regional Council
which faces off with yet another hotel block and arcade with a well known brand name, Rydges.
Goondoon Street finally flattens out although as you can see, another hill is not too far distant.
At this point we could not see much of real interest to take us further and we did an about turn and hoofed it back to our starting point along a main town thoroughfare which is home to both commercial enterprise and significant civic amenities. And of course, it all goes up and down.
Let me conclude this blog with an apology for the justification errors in the central part of the text......another visit from the 'blogger gremlins' and one which I just could not be bothered attempting to rectify. The time taken to gather this material together and present it in some sort of order has left me devoid of any enthusiasm for further editorial challenges!
Let me conclude this blog with an apology for the justification errors in the central part of the text......another visit from the 'blogger gremlins' and one which I just could not be bothered attempting to rectify. The time taken to gather this material together and present it in some sort of order has left me devoid of any enthusiasm for further editorial challenges!
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