Nudgee Waterholes Reserve

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Grab your walking shoes, pack a picnic and explore a hidden gem



Grandparents morning - life doesn’t get much more exciting than a morning spent with our littlies! The kidlets have moved house, which means we now have new adventures to discover and Nudgee Waterhole Reserve beeped on my radar as an awesome ‘first’ spot for an introductory walkabout to this area.



The Nudgee Waterholes provided a home and food gathering area to many generations of Aboriginal Australians. The waterhole at Nudgee Waterholes Reserve is fed by a permanent spring which runs into an open brook, flowing into the waterhole. The local Indigenous people took care of these waterholes, ensuring that the water was always clean and free of foreign weed growth, naturally providing a healthy environment for fish, turtles and waterfowl to thrive.

Waterfowl including ducks, cormorants, herons and ibis are frequently seen in this area as well as pigeons, doves, quail and kingfishers. The Grey Kangaroo and Swamp Wallaby are still resident in this area today.



The indigenous people of Nudgee and the very early settlers had an amicable relationship. The settlers would share food with them and the Aboriginal Australians would, in return, provide mud crabs and fish, which had been caught in the saltwater creeks nearby. According to Aboriginal folklore, the Nudgee waterhole has never run dry and has always been an excellent source of water.



European settlers used the Nudgee Waterhole for permanent clean drinking water for themselves and their stock. Carts were used to carry water to the farms for the crops. Stock driven to the Brisbane markets would use the fresh drinking water and a cattle dip was built nearby.



In the early days, pure clean sand from the waterhole area was used to make concrete for construction work on local farms.  Large mullet could be seen jumping out of the water and could easily be caught after heavy rains as they crossed the causeway on the dray track (later to become Nudgee Road). In the period of the early 1920s, the shire Alderman William Schulz would put a timber dingy into the water hole to clean out foreign weed growth.  He would keep the picnic area clean as families from all over the north side of Brisbane would travel by car or horse and sulky to picnic next to the clean waters of the reserve (which then looked like a lake).



In the 1920s and 1930s, gypsies often took up residence at the waterhole.  A kiosk was built on the Northern bank near the cattle dip which was constructed and operated by the Toombul Shire Council.  The waterholes were excavated and deepened by the Council in 1919.  A gravel quarry had previously been built to supply material for local roads.  It was closed in 1919.



Part of the reserve was used as a camp by the American Armed Forces in 1942, who left behind two large petrol dumps.


The men’s Bora Ring is still adjacent to the waterhole, with its very own viewing platform and information signage. Unfortunately, there are no remains of the women’s camp.



Early on a Thursday morning and much to our delight, we discovered a car park that was still empty, a children’s playground with plenty of equipment perfect for little adventurers and even an undercover picnic with a BBQ area. Personally, I love the idea of ‘going bush’ with our Master 4 and enjoying all that nature has to offer - we had dragonflies, butterflies aplenty, an ample supply of rocks to skim across the creek waterways and the cherry on top … watching the turtles coming up for a breath and inquisitive look-’n-see, hoping for a tasty morsel or two.



The 1.4-km loop trail around the waterhole is generally considered an easy route, taking an average of sixteen minutes to complete - not that we went all the way around, Master 4 was more interested in watching the turtles in the water. This trail is a combination of boardwalk and gravel paths, ideal for hiking and walking and it's unlikely you'll encounter many other people while exploring. We did meet another nature lover, who was actually waiting for someone’s plane to arrive at Brisbane Airport and was killing time before fetching his ‘human’ cargo.



The Nudgee Waterholes Reserve trail is open all year round and is beautiful to visit anytime. Dogs are welcome but must be on a leash.

Grab your walking shoes, pack a picnic and explore a hidden gem.

Location: 1186 Nudgee Road, Nudgee
Information courtesy of https://www.ecn.net.au/~kflesser/heritage/page13.html



All images courtesy of author, Elaine de Wet

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#educational
#family_friendly
#community
#walks
#fun_for_children
#dog_friendly
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