Historical/Indigenous

Historical events Historical must-sees

Historical 'must-sees'

• Cleveland Point Heritage Precinct - historic buildings and Queensland's oldest Banyan tree.
  
• Spend a day exploring the Heritage Trail which meanders through Cleveland and neighbouring Omiston, and visit the Redland Museum with its informative displays of history in the area.
  
• Fort Bribie relics at Woorim Beach, Bribie Island - established as an artillery installation early in WWII.
  
• Take in Sandgate's Heritage Trail - this trail takes in Sandgate Post Office, Railway Station and Pier. Walk along the foreshores of Sandgate and Shorncliffe and admire classic Queenslander homes loverlooking Moreton Bay, or visit the Sandgate Town Hall – an icon in the area.
  
• A visit to the Redlands is not complete without a stroll down the paths of local history. Scar trees and middens provide insight into the Indigenous heritage and cultural practises of the region's original inhabitants, while majestic historic houses, jetties and shipwrecks remind us of the pioneering past. Explore a slice of Redlands history following one of three self-guide trail booklets; North Stradbroke Island, Cleveland and Ormiston, or the new Southern Moreton Bay Islands Heritage Trail.
  
• At Redcliffe, visit Settlement Cove at Sutton’s Beach, and Redcliffe Museum - site of the first European settlement in Queensland.
  
• Take a ferry to St Helena Island. This notorious institution was established as a convict settlement in 1867, and dubbed the ‘hell hole of the Pacific’ for its reputation as a place of great misery and torment. For something a little different book on the night ‘Ghost Tour’.
  
• Nearby Peel Island, now only accessible by private launch, is historically significant as the first established quarantine station. It then became The Benevolent Asylum for aged and infirm members of the Moreton Bay settlement, and later an Inebriate Asylum where individuals were sent for problems with alcoholism. Its most significant association, though, is for being the site of the settlement’s leper colony.
  
• North Stradbroke Island is rich in Aboriginal and European historical sites. Visit the Dunwich North Stradbroke Island Historical Museum for a fascinating history of the island, and the cemetery at Dunwich which includes graves of shipwreck victims from 1847.
  
• Aboriginal shell middens can be found throughout North Stradbroke Island. Myora Springs is the best example of this, and today is a significant Aboriginal historical site.
  
• Like nearby Peel Island, North Stradbroke was also the site of the fledgling colony’s Benevolent Asylum for a time.
  
• Learn about the Redland region’s rich Aboriginal heritage at Eprapah Scouting Reserve, Victoria Point.
  
• Visit Coochiemudlo Island in July and be part of the re-enactment festival commemorating Matthew Flinders’ historic landing on the island almost 200 years ago.
  
• Queensland's oldest lighthouse is on Moreton Island. Another famous historical lighthouse is at Point Cleveland. Built in 1864 it is one of only a few remaining hexagonal lighthouses still standing in Queensland.
  
• Stroll along beautiful Cambridge Parade, Manly for a taste of architecture reminiscent of early fishing villages.
  
• For something quite unusual, head to Deception Bay at low tide, explore the mudflats towards the north east corner and see if you can find the two unusual baths that have been excavated out of bed rock. Named Bancroft Bath No1 and No2, these curious structures were created by a local resident as a type of hydrotherapy unit to allow his sick wife to bathe in the salt water.
  
• Many other museums can be found throughout the region - check out photographs, shipwrecks remains, artifacts, early settlement information and relics of the past.