FOR MORE than a century, the Cardwell Post Office and Telegraph Station was the communications heart of the community. Now, the Cardwell Bush Telegraph Heritage Centre is the hub of history in town.
The centre is on the corner of Victoria and Balliol Streets (on the main highway) and is the oldest building in a historic precinct featuring the old courthouse and jail (relocated from other sites) and the existing shire library which is housed in a building that was once the Divisional Board Hall.
The Bush Telegraph Heritage Centre has free entry and is open weekdays from 10.00am to 1.00pm and on Saturdays from 9.00am to noon. It gives visitors a fascinating insight into the history of early communications in the far north and includes interactive displays and activities. One of the favourites is trying your hand at sending a message in Morse code!
You can either be regaled with stories on a guided tour given by museum staff or you can go at your own pace on a self-guided tour of the precinct.
Kookaburra Holiday Park
175 Bruce Highway, Cardwelll Queensland 4849
Phone (07) 4066 8648
En suite villas and units, family cabins, caravan and camping sites
Email: admin@kookaburraholidaypark.com.au
Website: www.kookaburraholidaypark.com.au
|
When visiting Cardwell, stay at the Kookaburra Holiday Park, which is situated right on the Bruce Highway just across the road and down one block from the beach! What kind of accommodation do you prefer? Motel units or villas? Backpacker rooms or campsites? Or a powered site where you can park your caravan? They’re all available within a tropical garden landscape.
On Thursdays, the park hosts a barbecue. Everyone brings some salad and enjoys a great social occasion - visitors say it’s one of the best park barbecues they’ve experienced during their travels because there’s almost a family atmosphere.
Close by are supermarket, fruit shop and bakery, so there’s no need to travel too far afield for necessities. You can save all your energy for visiting the attractions!
You can see them by flying, cruising or by driving yourself. Here’s a sample of some of the natural beauty you can see in a day (or even half a day, if you have time constraints) from Cardwell. Pack the car with a picnic lunch and set off for the Cardwell Lookout.
Turn off the Bruce Highway into Bransenose Street, go over the railway crossing and keep going straight ahead, following the signs when the bitumen runs out.
At the lookout, three walking tracks give different views across the township of Cardwell and the Hinchinbrook Channel to Hinchinbrook Island and the largest mangrove everglades in Australia.
That gives you the big picture. Some of the more intimate scenery along the way includes Attie Creek, Dead Horse Creek and the Spa Pool. They all have picnic facilities and safe swimming holes during the wet season.
A 500m walking track from the Attie Creek carpark leads to a waterfall and a deep rock pool.
At Dead Horse Creek, you could spend hours exploring as you follow the water upstream to discover deep rock pools, good swimming holes, waterfalls and abundant birdlife.
Spa Pool is the perfect place to cool off in nature’s rocky spa before returning to Cardwell. And as unbelievable as it may seem, all this natural bounty will put only 26km on your car’s odometer.
There are many other rewarding drives and walks in this gorgeous shire, including the Edmund Kennedy National Park. Check at the visitor information centre for details.
