Boondall was formerly known as Cabbage Tree Creek, which is the main waterway of the wetlands. There is a small residential area near the creek and as you can see, mooring for some boats. As nice as it looks, the mosquitoes were just too much for me this day. There is a mosquito spraying programme which keeps everyone safe and apparently still maintains the bio-diversity in the area for the wildlife to survive, and not to upset the food chain significantly.
Indigenous people have lived in the region for a very long time and the wetlands contained campsites, ceremonial grounds and essential supplies such as food, fibres and medicines.
A series of contemporary cast aluminium totems symbolise aspects of Indigenous culture in the Boondall Wetlands. This one is Murri (kangaroos) which were once common in the area. Kangaroos provided food, rugs, sinew for stitching and tying and bone for tools and ornaments.
The diversity of Boondall is so varied for such a relatively small area; tidal flats, mangroves, saltmarshes, wetlands, grasslands, open forest and woodlands. As you would expect, there is a large number of wildlife, and these wetlands are a major migration destination for birds from as far away as Siberia. The birds you can just see here are some less exotic sacred ibis, of which we have very many in Brisbane. In the city areas they are a bit of a nuisance and will scrabble around in bins and rubbish for a discarded sandwich or a left-over burger. Anything really! It's nice to see them in a natural setting. What you can't see are the millions (well, seemed like millions) of mosquitoes that seemed to think that a free lunch on my legs was the dish of the day. The things I do to bring you a post.
Living in the sub-tropics we expect to have afternoon summer storms, and we've been getting those over the weekend. The mornings start off mostly clear and sunny and as the day progresses, the heat and humidity builds up to a crescendo, the clouds billow and swell, becoming darker until the rain falls in a torrent. With the wet in mind, I will take you to Boondall Wetlands, Brisbane's largest remaining wetlands, just 15kms from the city centre. They sit on the edge of Moreton Bay and cover an area of over 1000 hectares.
