Mount Surprise, Queensland Explained

Type:town
Mount Surprise
State:qld
Coordinates:-18.1455°N 144.3175°W
Pop:138
Postcode:4871
Area:3613.4
Timezone:AEST
Utc:+10:00
Dist1:99.9
Dir1:W
Location1:Georgetown
Dist2:124
Dir2:SW
Location2:Mount Garnet
Dist3:219
Dir3:SW
Location3:Atherton
Dist4:285
Dir4:SW
Location4:Cairns
Dist5:1717
Dir5:NNW
Location5:Brisbane
Lga:Shire of Etheridge
Stategov:Traeger
Fedgov:Kennedy
Elevation:453
Elevation Footnotes:[1]
Maxtemp:31.1
Mintemp:16.1
Rainfall:790.3
Near-N:Fossilbrook
Springfield
Near-Ne:Forty Mile
Near-E:Minnamoolka
Near-Se:Greenvale
Near-S:Conjuboy
Near-Sw:Einasleigh
Near-W:Talaroo
Near-Nw:Abingdon Downs

Mount Surprise is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Etheridge, Queensland, Australia.[2] [3] In the, the locality of Mount Surprise had a population of 138 people.

Geography

The town is located in the Gulf Savannah in Far North Queensland on the Gulf Developmental Road, 1722km (1,070miles) north west of the state capital, Brisbane and 285km (177miles) west of the regional centre of Cairns.

History

The town was founded by Ezra Firth, from the English county of Yorkshire, who along with his family settled in the area in 1864. The property struggled at first; relations with the indigenous inhabitants of the country were hostile and the country was not suited for wool growing. The discovery of gold in the 1880s and the subsequent gold rush allowed Firth to sell his sheep to the miners, convert his holding to cattle and become wealthy selling goods to the miners. In 1908, the Etheridge railway line reached Mount Surprise.[4]

Mount Surprise Post Office opened by July 1908.[5]

In October 1942 detachments of 16 Australian Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers travelled to Cooktown, Mount Surprise and Coen to build Repeater Huts.[6]

Mount Surprise State School opened on 12 February 1917.[7]

Demographics

In the, the locality of Mount Surprise and the surrounding area had a population of 162 people.

In the, the locality of Mount Surprise had a population of 306 people.

In the, the locality of Mount Surprise had a population of 169 people.

In the, the locality of Mount Surprise had a population of 138 people.

Heritage listings

Mount Surprise has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Education

Mount Surprise State School is a government primary (Early Childhood-6) school for boys and girls at Garland Street (-18.1465°N 144.3199°W).[11] [12] In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 23 students with 3 teachers and 5 non-teaching staff (2 full-time equivalent).[13]

There are no secondary schools in Mount Surprise, nor nearby. Distance education and boarding school are options.

Amenities

The town has a pub, one cafe, two petrol stations with a small store, a post office, a train station, a gem-shop, a police station and two trailer parks or caravan parks.[14] One park, Bedrock Village Caravan Park & Tours, has camp sites, cabins and a pool. It is one of the tour operators for guided tours to the lava tubes at Undara Volcanic National Park.[15] At the Mount Surprise Tourist Park, a large bird aviary is open to the public.

Attractions

Some of the Savannahlander tourist rail services start from, passes through, or stop at Mount Surprise.[16]

Collins Lookout is in the north of the locality (-18.0389°N 144.4886°W).[17] It is within the Byrimine cattle station.

The town is near the Undara Volcanic National Park and Forty Mile Scrub National Park. Other activities in the area include gem fossicking.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bureau of Meteorology . 28 October 2007 . 2 September 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070902055001/http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_030036.shtml . live .
  2. 27 December 2020.
  3. 27 December 2020.
  4. Web site: Mount Surprise . Walkabout - Australian Travel Guide . Fairfax . 28 October 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070903064820/http://www.walkabout.com.au/locations/QLDMountSurprise.shtml . 3 September 2007 . dead .
  5. Web site: Phoenix Auctions History . Post Office List . Phoenix Auctions . 4 March 2021.
  6. Book: North, Alan Reeve . Building bases : 16 Australian Field Company Royal Engineers, in the defence of Australia in World War II . Alan Reeve North . 2011 . 9780646547039 . Canberra, Australia . 23.
  7. 4 March 2021.
  8. 7 July 2013.
  9. 7 July 2013.
  10. 1 August 2014.
  11. Web site: State and non-state school details. Queensland Government. 9 July 2018. 21 November 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181121065959/https://data.qld.gov.au/dataset/state-and-non-state-school-details/resource/5b39065c-df32-415c-994c-5ff12f8de997. 21 November 2018. live.
  12. Web site: Mount Surprise State School. 4 March 2021.
  13. Web site: ACARA School Profile 2018. Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. 28 January 2020. 27 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200827085246/https://www.acara.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/school-profile-2018.xlsx. live.
  14. Web site: Mt Surprise . Etheridge Shire Council . 26 September 2021.
  15. Web site: Bedrock Village Caravan Park & Tours . Bedrock Village Caravan Park & Tours . 26 September 2021.
  16. Web site: Tours. live. 2021-03-04. Savannahlander. en-AU. 25 February 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210225083058/https://savannahlander.com.au/tour-home/.
  17. Web site: 18 November 2020. Tourist points - Queensland. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201124222328/https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/built-features-queensland-series/resource/c0b6c26c-6bde-452c-b60a-d77b969b60d2. 24 November 2020. 24 November 2020. Queensland Open Data. Queensland Government.