Chowey Bridge

Every two months, Marianne and I go to a lunch with some of my old High School classmates. We chat for a couple of hours and during the lunch a week ago when we were discussing places to visit, Jack Taylor mentioned Chowey Bridge. I had never heard of it so we decided to visit it.

The bridge is near Biggenden which we visited last year on the way to Lismore. You can read about it here. We were lucky that we did the trip last year since the whole of the downtown area of Lismore was devastated by floods earlier this year. If you click on this link you can read a long article about how the floods unfolded and how bad it was.

Fifty years ago, there were only two ways to drive from Hervey Bay to Maryborough and this was the scary road over Ghost Hill. Back then, the road was just a rough dirt track and the descent down the steep hill was quite tricky. Occasionally I take this route, but Marianne requested we go this way. Here is the story behind the name.

The Tale of Ghost Hill
In the early days when the timber getters were felling timber at Pialba, Ghost Hill was just called The Hill.

One night Mr List, who lived on The Hill near the top, was late home from Maryborough and his wife was concerned. She went out onto the road in her long white night gown holding a lantern to look for him.

At the same time Boyle Martin and Anders Christiansen were making their way back to camp at Bunya Creek after a night at the Hunters Hotel. Mrs List, on seeing the two men, ran for the cover of the trees and the two men thought they saw a ghost.

We reached Biggenden and I had a very good meat pie for lunch. It took our old minds a while to remember that we had been here last year, probably because we arrived from a different direction. The town had not changed too much.

This winter has been much colder than last year and temperatures can get down to freezing in this area. Remember that most old houses in Australia don't have insulation and are just as cold inside as out.

I won't be joining the Body Groovers, even though it would probably be good for me.

We ate our lunch in one of a few sheds in the park.

Photos of old families from the area.

The old cricket team of 1927. All long gone.

A huge bottle tree which is native to this area.

We drove out of town to the bridge along a narrow highway that reminded me of highways of 60 years ago. The bitumen is so narrow that when you meet a car or truck coming in the opposite direction, each vehicle moves over with the passenger side wheels in the dirt.

Finally, the dirt road to the bridge. Marianne reckons I am not happy if there is not some dirt road to drive on when we go for a trip.

It's quite hilly in this area.

First glimpse of the bridge at a small park.

It's a disused rail bridge that was built in 1905 and was one of the earliest examples of concrete bridge construction in Australia.

There are fences blocking access to the bridge which was last crossed by a train in 2005.

Photos of construction. You can click on the photo to read the blurb.

It's a very elegant arch and is on the Queensland Heritage Register.

Finally, for those who follow my blog, we are going on a trip to Canada in late September. We will fly to LAX, take the train to Seattle, and then on to Vancouver. Marianne will then have to put up with five days on the train to Toronto before we fly home. She's not all that keen on such a long journey, but because of my health condition, she has decided that I need a companion on all of my long trips in case something goes wrong. Good on her!