When all the rivers run …

A favourite tourist attraction at the then newly established The Ginger Factory at Yandina in the 1980s was an authentic replica of an 1880s paddle steamer.

Jenny and Ross Robertson organised a bus to take visitors from the factory to the nearby Maroochy River for short cruises on Ginger Belle. Ross was the captain and Jenny gave the commentary about the district’s early history, especially the agriculture industries of cane and ginger growing.

They also used the bus to take tourists to a local working ginger farm.

Ginger Belle was moored at Brownes’ Rocks, now known as The Rocks: a wedding venue off Coolum Road.

This part of the Maroochy River was the limit of navigation for steamers.

At low tide, rocks across the river can be seen.

However, Ginger Belle, although very popular, became an unsuccessful venture.

The paddle steamer was transported overland to the Thomson River in Central Queensland and renamed Thomson Belle. It takes tourists on sunset cruises.

Ginger Belle had been moored at The Rocks for its historical significance.

More than 100 years previously, Brisbane sawmiller William Pettigrew‘s paddle steamer Tadorna Radjah delivered goods for and collected produce from the settlers there. It was then known as Peter Stevens’ Wharf and, after ownership changed, Brownes’ Rocks.

On arrival, Tadorna Radjah would sound her horn to let settlers know they had 24 hours to deliver their produce and collect supplies bought in bulk directly from Brisbane.

Goods storage sheds were established at The Rocks and Eudlo Creek.

Buderim and Maroochy River produced an abundance of bananas at that time and these were delivered for transport to Brisbane.

The Maroochy River was the highway to the farms of the hinterland.

Settlers depended on the Maroochy for transport from the 1860s until the railway opened in 1891, when river transport went out of business.

Tadorna Radjah could tow rafts of timber and navigate small creeks. The ship was 63 feet long (19.2m), 12 feet wide (3.65m) with a 6-foot depth (1.82m) of hold and successfully and miraculously negotiated the bars of coastal streams, earning her nickname: ‘The Dodger’.

The paddle steamer regularly and safely crossed the Maroochy River bar and transported goods from the Pine and Caboolture rivers, as well as the Logan and Albert. It also carried miners who continued their journeys to the Jimna and Gympie goldfields.

Tadorna Radjah was the Aboriginal word for ‘mottled duck’. Its first run, in 1866, from Brisbane to Mooloolah Heads took a remarkably speedy eight hours.

In the great flood of 1893 on the Brisbane River, Tadorna Radjah was carried away and sank.

On March 20, 1893, Mr Pettigrew offered 10 pounds reward for anyone finding the wreck.

Regrettably, by June 1893, Tadorna Radjah’s hull, having been recovered, was on a sandbank for sale and this marked the end of her paddle steamer life.

 Audienne Blyth is a member of the Nambour Historical Museum, open 1-4pm Wednesdays to Fridays, and 10am-3pm on Saturdays.