Buried underneath the modern wharves and cranes of the Port of Brisbane are a few islands that have their own stories to tell. #brisbane #fishermanislands
Thanks Rob for covering off the POB, my father worked at the seafarers mission in the 80’s. I used to also camp on Bishop Island in my late teens when the resort was just an abandoned group of buildings. I’m pretty sure we were the last people to camp and there before it was sealed off and reclaimed (We got kicked off the island). Most people have never heard of Bishop Island and the role it played in day trips for many families. Just across the river from the port used to be a little shanty town sitting on Boggy Creek where I used to go fishing with my father. A whole line of shacks lined the creek from the refinery pedestrian bridge which is still there today towards the mouth. We made friends with one of the residents Peter, years later before they were removed I was driving past and Peters shack was still there so I decided to stop on the off chance he was still alive and living there, which he was. We had a good chat and council were in the process of clearing the area. I asked Peter who was now in his 70,s what he was going to do and he told me that he had bought a large property out west and was moving there. He explained that even though he lived there for over 30 yrs with no power, running water and a menagerie of cats and dogs that he was very wealthy as he had spent his whole working career as an operator at the refinery and had saved up several million $. You can never judge a book by its cover and I just wanted to share this storey as he had no family. I never saw him again.
Hi Rob. My ancestors (well, one branch of them) were passengers on the Erin-Go-Bragh, bringing the first free Irish immigrants to Brisbane in 1862. The passengers on board were the first to be held in quarantine on St Helena Island and then were brought upriver and landed at Petrie Docks where the Brisbane Jazz Club is at Kangaroo Point.
That would be great if you could do a walk around St Helena Island. Fascinating history! Fisherman's Island was once a draw card for drag racing. That's as little as I knew about it until now. Thanks, Rob.
I liked the walk, although i felt sad that Fishermans Island was stolen from Aboriginals and the public of Brisbane. I used to often visit the island & surrounds from the 70s to 80s and it was a wonderful boat tourist attraction for Brisbane. It was a fantastic mangrove & beach area with quite rare tall high branching mangroves in parts of its habitat. There is still a small patch of these rarer types at the end of Kingsford Smith Road with in the industrial areas near the sulfa works. The island its self was a wonderful fishing location and breeding habitat too. With large numbers of big whiting on the in river side in a small bay area. The South had enormous shallow see grass habitat which was a large breeding ground for big tiger prawns, sting ray and regularly visited by feeding Dugong on the high tides. It expanded out into coral reefs which spread out past Winnum but were destroyed by cement harvesting, commercial crabbing with heavy pots and the edges by trawling. I used to scuba dive in these areas when young. But now they are all gone from extensive damage and change of environment caused by the port developments. Fishermans had a few wrecks which were great to explore and housed interesting species of fish & the mangroves made a catchment for river & bay junk & was a fun explore for treasure hunters. Its all so different now and becoming an ever evolving changed habitat. I hope the people of Brisbane will protect Mud Island from the Government and never allow the port to infringe on its unique habitat and incredible heritage. Mud is not far away and is a very unique habitat similar to what Fisherman was. With coral beach areas, mud flats and mangrove. It was used as a burial ground for people who died on ships coming to Brisbane and all are in unmarked graves, buried in shallow mud & coral graves on arrival prior to entering the river. Mud Island should be protected form port development at all costs and not sold out to private investors lucrative expansion.
I worked on building wharf 10 , years ago , there was a heap of ship wrecks dumped there while they were doing reclaimation work , the wharf piles had to be banged through the old wrecks or repositioned !!! I also done a bit of the reclaimation work on Fisherman's Island & the airport on the Volvox Asia (Dutch suction dredge /Van Oord dredging) & I was one of a few QLDers that worked on the new Gateway bridge !!!
David Westlake, a POBA worker and his barge was hired out to do the test drilling for the gateway bridge, they struck gold, way down in the Brisbane river bed.. just a bit of trivia.
Hey Rob, Great Video Mate, I find the world is much more digestible at walking pace, I've done some prep on a St Helena Vid, Just the geology, Happy to shoot it over you If you think it will help 😁
At that time when the first 2 container cranes come, I was involved in the hydraulic system commissioning of the new cranes. The view up there was quite spectacular but I was amassed how much progress was made there in Land reclaims. I like your Show.
The addition of the historical maps/photos to these videos is greatly appreciated by us second-class Queenslanders who have no easy access to the State's Archival Stores. Seeing Peel Island on the extremities of 1 of these maps I'm emboldened to ask if you've ever considered checking out the history of the Quarantine Station/Leper Colony there? There's a couple of old photos around here somewhere of a distant twig of this Chimp's perch teaching Aboriginal children there many years ago. The lady eventually succumbed to Hansen's Disease. No idea if she's also buried there.
WalkaboutWithRob, I used to work for P&O in Transport and then container park divisions. The Port was officially opened at the end of 1980 with 2 portainercranes (now DP World) 1 for general users and the main one for a consortium formed by 75% P&O and 25% ANL (Australian National Line) called BATL (Brisbane Amalgamated Terminals Limited) and apart from Ampol No2 wharf that was all the "Island" contained. It did not last long as the Transport and shipping companies didnt want to go there and were happy with P&O Hamilton 2 and ANL (Newstead) for them to continue. After a hiatus of around 1-2 years it reopened and quickly Patricks constructed a wharf beside BATL. BATL later morphed into P&O. The "Island" started to take off as a slow pace at first but moved more rapidly as time went on. The first non port business on the island was the container park i worked in which appeared in your video at the Corner of Whimbrel and Bingera Drives. The container park opened in 1995. I left the industry in 2000 but still regularly drive down there to see what the latest goings on. The pond near the old visitor centre (which was demolished) was going to be reclaimed BUT the local residents got up in arms and it then stayed a local bird roost. The other roost you mentioned is for the migratory birds.
@Bigcarle thanks very much for sharing your memories. Very interesting indeed. Sounds like you might need to write your memoirs one day about working there. My Dad used to be the Operations Manager for P&O Cruises Australia.
ive gone for a drive up there on the weekend. i work not far from the port of brisbane, and i felt like i wasnt allowed there. and now i know i wasnt really allowed there. awesome video
@G'day, its Pete lovely to meet you, and thanks for stopping by. You certainly are eagle-eyed! All the best for your trip next year - and very much looking forward to seeing your videos from the US.
I remember fishing on one of the beaches on Fishermans Island with my Father also on the little bridge that crosses to FIshermans Isalnd. Last time I was there the beach was all walled off. There was also a port near by that has a Bait shop where you used to reverse the Valiant up to, drop the tailgate and Fish.
5:00 Wind turbine blades, that's my guess, they're bigger than you'd think. I was at the Port today actually, had a small delivery to the ACFS E-Depot on Bishop Drive.
For many years i had worked as a contractor in and around POB. It was great to see the area from your perspective as I was in and out and not able to enjoy it. I am surprised they let you capture the day to day of the Port as we were warned never to take photographs of ships etc. There is a certain feeling of an industrial area that I like. Especially POB, Pinkenba and Old Eagle Farm. I hope one day you'll do an Ascot walk, there is a place called Nyrambla house once occupied by McArthur. It was a beautiful home when i worked there years ago. I had a special bumker out the back and an interesting way for messengers to access the generals office on the upper floor.
Great video. By the way, at 8:01, the camera flicker reduction setting wasn't set to 50Hz to match the Australian AC power frequency of the lighting in that room.
G’day mate, I remember when we went on a school excursion, in primary school, to Bishop Island. It was one of the main islands at the mouth of Brisbane River, that became part of the Port of Brisbane. All I remember on that rainy bleak day, is that it was a run down place with absolutely no attraction to a group of year four students. What a hellhole! It wasn’t until I had my own vehicle, that you could go to the Port while it was under construction and you could actually enter their and go fishing wherever you wanted. I fished the edges of the land being reclaimed and actually fished under and beside the ships that were berthed there. We used to watch new imported vehicles being unloaded off large car carriers. One night fishing there, I witnessed the largest and most spectacular bright green meteoroid cross the sky, breaking into several pieces, that I have ever viewed. Absolutely brilliant. Yeah, and I would also like to thank you for ALL your videos that have literally brought tears to my eyes whilst remembering the greatest city in Australia. I grew up in and lived in a lot of the areas you have visited in your videos. Thank you so much.
@Tarquin67 thanks for the fascinating feedback I would have loved to have seen the port area before it was built, i.e. the islands. It really has changed so quickly. I've got lots more videos planned so I hope you'll stick around
SO Magpies,... if you have some local ones that regular cross paths with you,... try feeding them, they can apparently remember 100 or more faces, once they know youre not a threat to their nest, theyll start coming up to you and singing til you give them a snack. I just use rolled oats that i use to soak up the weekend bacon grease...
Rob, really an opportunity missed here. If you had asked Ross at the Mission to Seafarers he would have explained a lot more. He is a former Brisbane Marine Pilot and was one of the directors. Port of Brisbane have many historical photos on display in their office too. Some suggestions in the region for future videos : Aquarium Ave Hemmant - so named after the Queensport Aquarium of 1889 Pinkenba Village - " Place of Turtles" - historical walking trail - a country town hidden in suburbia - The Pink Hotel- RAN 9 WW2 submarine detection - street names ending in 'A' Myrtletown / Luggage Point - a forgotten backwater of history - old tram relics - a beach - squatters - old orchards Fort Lytton - the Russian threat Perhaps you could include some interviews with local identities rather than just wandering the street. Most of the locals in Pinkenba have lived there for decades. Not hard to find someone who can give you a fascinating insight into days gone by. Just ask at the post office/general store/coffee shop - its all the one shop.
If you will take the time to watch my channel you will see that I have already covered the Queensport Aquarium in my Hemmant video. Additionally I have covered Fort Lytton in my video about Fort Lytton. I have also covered the Myrtletown area in my video about Brisbane's ghost town and that includes Pinkenba. And for the record, I don't just wander the streets; I create a pre-determined walking plan to take in as many sites of historical significance as possible.
We used to go to bishop island on day trips with captain cook ferry un the captain cook bridge it was a fun day out it had a nice beach kiosk and park we would have a swim the water was a lot cleaner in the early 70s 😂😂😂
Yes the hi-vis vest is very fetching 😁. How nice was the guy at the Seafarers mission to let you in to have a look and grab a beer. I wouldn't have even known half that stuff was there. I could hear a few whispered words every now and then through your monologue...wasn't sure if it was my ears playing tricks on me 😅
@walkaboutwithrob sure... I'll have to listen through it again and see if I can catch them. It was probably just you talking between filming, but I was intrigued
In the early 90's I worked on refrigerated containers at the P&O wharf and on the ships that came in. I used to watch the prostitutes board the ships to service the crew. They never got searched or anything nor did us mechanics. I imagine it would have been very easy to transport drugs in those days. We did come across an empty container with the evaporator drains filled with coke.
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 82 วันนี้!! คู่เอก | ยอดไอคิว vs อับดัลลาห์](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/hSsyTl_9bqs/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks Rob for covering off the POB, my father worked at the seafarers mission in the 80’s. I used to also camp on Bishop Island in my late teens when the resort was just an abandoned group of buildings. I’m pretty sure we were the last people to camp and there before it was sealed off and reclaimed (We got kicked off the island). Most people have never heard of Bishop Island and the role it played in day trips for many families. Just across the river from the port used to be a little shanty town sitting on Boggy Creek where I used to go fishing with my father. A whole line of shacks lined the creek from the refinery pedestrian bridge which is still there today towards the mouth. We made friends with one of the residents Peter, years later before they were removed I was driving past and Peters shack was still there so I decided to stop on the off chance he was still alive and living there, which he was. We had a good chat and council were in the process of clearing the area. I asked Peter who was now in his 70,s what he was going to do and he told me that he had bought a large property out west and was moving there. He explained that even though he lived there for over 30 yrs with no power, running water and a menagerie of cats and dogs that he was very wealthy as he had spent his whole working career as an operator at the refinery and had saved up several million $. You can never judge a book by its cover and I just wanted to share this storey as he had no family. I never saw him again.
Lived in the area for 70 years, you showed me places I am not allowed to see or visit. Thank you very much
Hi Rob.
My ancestors (well, one branch of them) were passengers on the Erin-Go-Bragh, bringing the first free Irish immigrants to Brisbane in 1862. The passengers on board were the first to be held in quarantine on St Helena Island and then were brought upriver and landed at Petrie Docks where the Brisbane Jazz Club is at Kangaroo Point.
The shells are collected by Ozfish Central Moreton Chapter and used for shell fish reef restoration
5:00 - Wind turbine blades.
14:12 -Grass seed. It is mixed with a wetting agent, and dyed blue so they can see the coverage as they lay it down.
06:22 new Mahindra Pik Ups
That would be great if you could do a walk around St Helena Island. Fascinating history! Fisherman's Island was once a draw card for drag racing. That's as little as I knew about it until now. Thanks, Rob.
I liked the walk, although i felt sad that Fishermans Island was stolen from Aboriginals and the public of Brisbane. I used to often visit the island & surrounds from the 70s to 80s and it was a wonderful boat tourist attraction for Brisbane. It was a fantastic mangrove & beach area with quite rare tall high branching mangroves in parts of its habitat. There is still a small patch of these rarer types at the end of Kingsford Smith Road with in the industrial areas near the sulfa works. The island its self was a wonderful fishing location and breeding habitat too. With large numbers of big whiting on the in river side in a small bay area. The South had enormous shallow see grass habitat which was a large breeding ground for big tiger prawns, sting ray and regularly visited by feeding Dugong on the high tides. It expanded out into coral reefs which spread out past Winnum but were destroyed by cement harvesting, commercial crabbing with heavy pots and the edges by trawling. I used to scuba dive in these areas when young. But now they are all gone from extensive damage and change of environment caused by the port developments. Fishermans had a few wrecks which were great to explore and housed interesting species of fish & the mangroves made a catchment for river & bay junk & was a fun explore for treasure hunters. Its all so different now and becoming an ever evolving changed habitat. I hope the people of Brisbane will protect Mud Island from the Government and never allow the port to infringe on its unique habitat and incredible heritage. Mud is not far away and is a very unique habitat similar to what Fisherman was. With coral beach areas, mud flats and mangrove. It was used as a burial ground for people who died on ships coming to Brisbane and all are in unmarked graves, buried in shallow mud & coral graves on arrival prior to entering the river. Mud Island should be protected form port development at all costs and not sold out to private investors lucrative expansion.
Very interesting indeed, thanks for the info
I worked on building wharf 10 , years ago , there was a heap of ship wrecks dumped there while they were doing reclaimation work , the wharf piles had to be banged through the old wrecks or repositioned !!!
I also done a bit of the reclaimation work on Fisherman's Island & the airport on the Volvox Asia (Dutch suction dredge /Van Oord dredging)
& I was one of a few QLDers that worked on the new Gateway bridge !!!
David Westlake, a POBA worker and his barge was hired out to do the test drilling for the gateway bridge, they struck gold, way down in the Brisbane river bed.. just a bit of trivia.
Hey Rob, Great Video Mate, I find the world is much more digestible at walking pace, I've done some prep on a St Helena Vid, Just the geology, Happy to shoot it over you If you think it will help 😁
@T-ROCKS hi there, yes for sure please send :-)
I was very young when my family took me to Bishop Island by boat. Good to know where it went.
@Wendy Fry a shame about the Lucinda though.
At that time when the first 2 container cranes come, I was involved in the hydraulic system commissioning of the new cranes. The view up there was quite spectacular but I was amassed how much progress was made there in Land reclaims. I like your Show.
Thanks! I was fascinated by the POB area.
The addition of the historical maps/photos to these videos is greatly appreciated by us second-class Queenslanders who have no easy access to the State's Archival Stores. Seeing Peel Island on the extremities of 1 of these maps I'm emboldened to ask if you've ever considered checking out the history of the Quarantine Station/Leper Colony there? There's a couple of old photos around here somewhere of a distant twig of this Chimp's perch teaching Aboriginal children there many years ago. The lady eventually succumbed to Hansen's Disease. No idea if she's also buried there.
@theoztreecrasher haven't been to Peel island yet, certainly keen to see it though.
I remember going to Bishop Island for a high school excursion, in the 70's. It is a shame it was built over.
Fascinating indeed!
WalkaboutWithRob, I used to work for P&O in Transport and then container park divisions. The Port was officially opened at the end of 1980 with 2 portainercranes (now DP World) 1 for general users and the main one for a consortium formed by 75% P&O and 25% ANL (Australian National Line) called BATL (Brisbane Amalgamated Terminals Limited) and apart from Ampol No2 wharf that was all the "Island" contained. It did not last long as the Transport and shipping companies didnt want to go there and were happy with P&O Hamilton 2 and ANL (Newstead) for them to continue. After a hiatus of around 1-2 years it reopened and quickly Patricks constructed a wharf beside BATL. BATL later morphed into P&O. The "Island" started to take off as a slow pace at first but moved more rapidly as time went on. The first non port business on the island was the container park i worked in which appeared in your video at the Corner of Whimbrel and Bingera Drives. The container park opened in 1995. I left the industry in 2000 but still regularly drive down there to see what the latest goings on. The pond near the old visitor centre (which was demolished) was going to be reclaimed BUT the local residents got up in arms and it then stayed a local bird roost. The other roost you mentioned is for the migratory birds.
@Bigcarle thanks very much for sharing your memories. Very interesting indeed. Sounds like you might need to write your memoirs one day about working there. My Dad used to be the Operations Manager for P&O Cruises Australia.
ive gone for a drive up there on the weekend. i work not far from the port of brisbane, and i felt like i wasnt allowed there. and now i know i wasnt really allowed there. awesome video
I got chased by a security guard in aute about 20 years ago while I was driving around in the middle of the night, was pretty funny.
Thanks Rob I enjoyed this one..
I was lucky enough to go up to where the cafe was. Amazing views. Thanks for the video
Hi Rob, the tubes are the upright towers for the wind generators producing electricity 😀
Another great video Rob
Yes please do a video on St Helena Island
Absolutely! I was definitely gonna request this!! 😻 RjB
Great video Rob, was great to catch up. Good luck, be safe.
@G'day, its Pete lovely to meet you, and thanks for stopping by. You certainly are eagle-eyed! All the best for your trip next year - and very much looking forward to seeing your videos from the US.
Great effort - thanks Rob, That blue/green thing was soil binder I believe. You should have explored port Bulk terminal drive too.
Good video. Thanks.
I remember fishing on one of the beaches on Fishermans Island with my Father also on the little bridge that crosses to FIshermans Isalnd. Last time I was there the beach was all walled off. There was also a port near by that has a Bait shop where you used to reverse the Valiant up to, drop the tailgate and Fish.
5:00 Wind turbine blades, that's my guess, they're bigger than you'd think. I was at the Port today actually, had a small delivery to the ACFS E-Depot on Bishop Drive.
Definitely wind turbine blades
Yeah, was thinking the same too.
Yep. They've been sitting up on every spare bit of port land for a couple of years.
The turbine blades have recently began being trucked out west to Dulacca wind farm west of Miles.
yea masses of turbine blades and masts for the wind generators
For many years i had worked as a contractor in and around POB. It was great to see the area from your perspective as I was in and out and not able to enjoy it. I am surprised they let you capture the day to day of the Port as we were warned never to take photographs of ships etc. There is a certain feeling of an industrial area that I like. Especially POB, Pinkenba and Old Eagle Farm. I hope one day you'll do an Ascot walk, there is a place called Nyrambla house once occupied by McArthur. It was a beautiful home when i worked there years ago. I had a special bumker out the back and an interesting way for messengers to access the generals office on the upper floor.
Great video. By the way, at 8:01, the camera flicker reduction setting wasn't set to 50Hz to match the Australian AC power frequency of the lighting in that room.
Not a biggie.
Great stuff as always, Rob. Really enjoy these
I had been a bit curious about the Port every time I notice it on google maps, so thanks for this video.
Really interesting thanks, especially since it’s a no go for most of us plebs 😁
G’day mate, I remember when we went on a school excursion, in primary school, to Bishop Island. It was one of the main islands at the mouth of Brisbane River, that became part of the Port of Brisbane. All I remember on that rainy bleak day, is that it was a run down place with absolutely no attraction to a group of year four students. What a hellhole!
It wasn’t until I had my own vehicle, that you could go to the Port while it was under construction and you could actually enter their and go fishing wherever you wanted. I fished the edges of the land being reclaimed and actually fished under and beside the ships that were berthed there. We used to watch new imported vehicles being unloaded off large car carriers. One night fishing there, I witnessed the largest and most spectacular bright green meteoroid cross the sky, breaking into several pieces, that I have ever viewed. Absolutely brilliant.
Yeah, and I would also like to thank you for ALL your videos that have literally brought tears to my eyes whilst remembering the greatest city in Australia. I grew up in and lived in a lot of the areas you have visited in your videos. Thank you so much.
@Tarquin67 thanks for the fascinating feedback I would have loved to have seen the port area before it was built, i.e. the islands. It really has changed so quickly. I've got lots more videos planned so I hope you'll stick around
Please could you discover ampol refinery and the history behind it and why it is on an old fort
@Deeninetytwo Would love to, but I wouldn't get the permissions I would need to be able to walk around there. It's all very high security.
SO Magpies,... if you have some local ones that regular cross paths with you,... try feeding them, they can apparently remember 100 or more faces, once they know youre not a threat to their nest, theyll start coming up to you and singing til you give them a snack. I just use rolled oats that i use to soak up the weekend bacon grease...
Rob, really an opportunity missed here. If you had asked Ross at the Mission to Seafarers he would have explained a lot more. He is a former Brisbane Marine Pilot and was one of the directors. Port of Brisbane have many historical photos on display in their office too.
Some suggestions in the region for future videos :
Aquarium Ave Hemmant - so named after the Queensport Aquarium of 1889
Pinkenba Village - " Place of Turtles" - historical walking trail - a country town hidden in suburbia - The Pink Hotel- RAN 9 WW2 submarine detection - street names ending in 'A'
Myrtletown / Luggage Point - a forgotten backwater of history - old tram relics - a beach - squatters - old orchards
Fort Lytton - the Russian threat
Perhaps you could include some interviews with local identities rather than just wandering the street. Most of the locals in Pinkenba have lived there for decades. Not hard to find someone who can give you a fascinating insight into days gone by. Just ask at the post office/general store/coffee shop - its all the one shop.
If you will take the time to watch my channel you will see that I have already covered the Queensport Aquarium in my Hemmant video. Additionally I have covered Fort Lytton in my video about Fort Lytton. I have also covered the Myrtletown area in my video about Brisbane's ghost town and that includes Pinkenba. And for the record, I don't just wander the streets; I create a pre-determined walking plan to take in as many sites of historical significance as possible.
andaccah means Mullet Fish
Awesome.
We used to go to bishop island on day trips with captain cook ferry un the captain cook bridge it was a fun day out it had a nice beach kiosk and park we would have a swim the water was a lot cleaner in the early 70s 😂😂😂
Yes the hi-vis vest is very fetching 😁. How nice was the guy at the Seafarers mission to let you in to have a look and grab a beer. I wouldn't have even known half that stuff was there. I could hear a few whispered words every now and then through your monologue...wasn't sure if it was my ears playing tricks on me 😅
Oh, could you make out what the whispered words were??
@@walkaboutwithrob no...I tried but couldn't make them out.
@@shellebelle53 if you could please let me know the time code I will have a listen
@walkaboutwithrob sure... I'll have to listen through it again and see if I can catch them. It was probably just you talking between filming, but I was intrigued
1:41 5:31
I feed those magpies, they're friendly.
In the early 90's I worked on refrigerated containers at the P&O wharf and on the ships that came in. I used to watch the prostitutes board the ships to service the crew. They never got searched or anything nor did us mechanics. I imagine it would have been very easy to transport drugs in those days. We did come across an empty container with the evaporator drains filled with coke.
Fairly sinister introduction! 😂
Where is Bishop Island?
@JM it's now buried under the Patrick Terminal.
You need to do jimboomba
@Libby Curley done!
"this is not a pedestrian friendly part of Brisbane". lol. Yep, there's no such thing.
Wind turbines blades
In 1977 we made a school movie there , wynnum north primary school
The movie was called
mc bath
Fort lytton
Uniformly flat - should cope a treat with any rise in sea levels.
rise in sea levels only happens on mainstream media and in ads where the vested interests try to scare you with klimate change and then ask for money
@@operationscomputer1478 "Klimate Change" shouldn't affect most of us. The approaching Nuclear Winter will take care of that, Komrad!
@@operationscomputer1478 The people who told you this BS conspiracy are the ones scamming you for money.