Taking advantage of the last long weekend for a while, members of the Bundaberg Four Wheel Drive Club headed to Kalpowar to base ourselves at “Behind the Pines”.
It is a property which was an old school with a large oval, pine plantation, plenty of shade, tennis court and cricket field.
The area has many historical sites, with the Glassford Creek Copper Smelter, Markham’s Gardens, graveyards and the Monal Mine and Stamper Battery, a relic of the long past Gold Rush, on the list to visit.
Kroombit Tops National Park was also a must do.
A stop to admire the lookout on top of the cliffs and then onto the walk to “Beautiful Betsy”, an American liberator plane which went missing in 1945 with the loss of eight lives.
The wreckage was found in 1994.
Over the years people have illegally removed various pieces from the site, but plenty remains to be seen, with information boards scattered along the walking track.
On the groups travels we passed the “Three Moon Silo” the most famous piece in the Silo Art Trail in all of Queensland.
There is a couple of stories of how the area got its name.
One of them is of a local Aboriginal stockman who was boiling his billy on the banks of the creek when he stopped and took notice of the huge moon that had seemingly magically duplicated itself.
He saw one in the sky, one reflecting in the creek, and one in his billy.
The second story of how the name came to be was said that several Aboriginal men were employed to wash sheep at the farm, but the work was coming to an end shortly, putting the men out of work that was well-paying and in favourable conditions.
It was no use telling the men to return in three months to continue work, so they told them to return when three moons had passed.
From that time on the creek became known as Three Moon Creek.
The history embedded in these small townships is endless, and well worth making the effort to travel out and about to explore.
To find out more on the Bundaberg Four Wheel Drive Club and activities we have on, contact us via email at info@bundaberg4wdclub.com on the net at www.bundaberg4wdclub.com or catch us on Facebook or Instagram where you can see photos from our activities.
Brad Praed
Bundaberg Four Wheel Drive Club
