A time when the North Shore was a lonely place

Tourists love the trip from the North Shore of the Noosa River to Double Island Point Lighthouse.

Double Island Point was named by Captain Cook. It has a double headland but is not an island.

In 1933, Nambour Chronicle reported a hunting and fishing trip by three local men who set out to see the sights of the North Shore. One was Harry Walker, the then member of parliament for Wide Bay and known as the ‘father of the House’:  one of the longest-serving members.

He lived on the North Shore of the Noosa River and intended looking at his cattle. The others were Bert McFadden, part-owner of Nambour Chronicle and a friend, Patrick Blackburn.

The men travelled in an old Ford, a ‘Tin Lizzie’. Sometimes such vehicles were modified with corrugated iron mudguards and extra wooden boards to stop sand flying up. Boxes on either side were built for the hunting dogs.

Carefully watching the beach tide, they managed 40mph (almost 65kmh) along the hard sand, past the impressive coloured sands of Teewah. They passed a fishermen’s camp and met some linesmen repairing the telephone line from Tiaro to Double Island Point Lighthouse – a vital connection. Having just shot three scrub turkeys, they gave one to the gang.

They climbed the steep slopes of the headland and spent a pleasant hour with the lighthouse keeper and his family. The view was, and still is, magnificent from 150m above sea level. Within 800m of the lighthouse out to sea is Wolf Rock, with good fishing. It was said that Noosa fishermen, Massoud and Sons, caught 20 cases of snapper there on one occasion.

The lighthouse was built in 1884, with cottages for staff. Mr Fuller, the lighthouse keeper, and his assistant alternated their hours: 6pm to midnight, midnight to 6am and so on.

Built in 1884, Double Island Point Lighthouse had an oil wick burner. In 1923, the light was altered to a kerosene burner. Ten years later, the light was converted to electric operation. The light was automated in 1991, reducing the work of the lightkeeper to that of caretaker – with no need for staff.

In 1933, the lighthouse was a lonely place and the group was grateful for Mrs Fuller’s offer of tea and hot scones.

The children were busy at their correspondence lessons.

The men gave the family another of the scrub turkeys and information on cooking it (regrettably, no recipe is available and scrub turkeys – or brush turkeys – are now protected).

There was plenty of wildlife. A lurking danger was the number of death adders. On the beach, they found a turtle washed up and an abundance of worms and eugarie for fishing. Dingoes came down to investigate the camp but a few shots frightened them away.

Further along the beach, they came across the camp of two cattlemen with 400 head of cattle on agistment from Wolvi and Kenilworth. The men came down to their camp for a yarn.

One was an Aboriginal man who  told how he drove 200 head from the Gulf to Adelaide.

There was not another soul to be seen.

The scrub country showed snigging tracks of early timbergetters. Further inland, Hyne & Son, of Maryborough, were cutting kauri. On Sunday morning, the party returned to Harry Walker’s house on the North Shore of the Noosa River, having covered 120 miles (193km).

The area is now national park, with no cattle agisted, no timber getting, no shooting and no eating the scrub turkeys.

In 2024, there are many, many  tourists – enough to trample down this lovely wilderness.

 Audienne Blyth is a member of the Nambour Historical Museum, open  1-4pm Wednesday to Friday and  10am-3pm Saturday.