Most Queensland school children are taught that the first non-Aboriginal people to settle in their state were convicts and their gaolers who arrived in September 1824. But actually the first white-skinned people to live in what would become Queensland were three castaway ex-convicts who came ashore 18 months earlier. In 1823 Governor Brisbane sent theContinue reading “Thomas Pamphlett and the Remarkable Castaways of Moreton Bay”
Tag Archives: Shipwreck
The Loss of the Mandalay: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
As Captain Emile Tonnessen saw the sheer granite walls of Chatham Island loom into sight, he knew his ship and crew of 12 men were in serious trouble. Unrelenting gale force wind and high seas had driven his 913-ton iron barque Mandalay North-east for the past several days, and his chart showed that should heContinue reading “The Loss of the Mandalay: Between a Rock and a Hard Place”
The Mystery Ship of Walga Rock
Tucked away at one end of an Aboriginal art gallery at Walga Rock is a clear depiction of a European sailing vessel. What makes this truly extraordinary is that Walga Rock lies more than 350 km (220 miles) inland from the nearest place where the rolling waves of the Indian Ocean crash against the WesternContinue reading “The Mystery Ship of Walga Rock”
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The Loss of Carpentaria Lightship CLS3
The Carpentaria Lightship CLS3 was driven ashore at Vrilya Point, Cape York during Cyclone Greta in January 1979.
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Tales from the Quarterdeck 