THE HISTORY OF MONTVILLE
an introduction To MONTVILLE'S HISTORY
Montville has long been one of Australia’s most welcoming destinations.
Aeons before European settlers arrived, the local Kabi Kabi and Jinibara people welcomed indigenous tribes from throughout eastern Australia to the banks of the Obi Obi Creek and nearby ‘Kondalilla Falls’ – to exchange songs, stories, tools and ornaments while feasting on the fruit of the Bunya pine.
A gathering of Kabi Kabi in about the 1880s: Picture: John Oxley Library
Abundant harvests were cause for celebration. The bush custodians sent messengers far and wide to announce an upcoming festival. It was a time for ceremonies and marriages. The nutritious bunya nut harvest and fresh creek water supported large gatherings for weeks.
That indigenous legacy of welcoming people from vast distances remains powerful today. Just 30 minutes from the Sunshine Coast’s beaches and airport, Montville is self-drive and fly-in perfect.
Nestled on the ridge of an ancient volcano, panoramic coastal and hinterland views will be yours. Montville’s jewel – majestic Lake Baroon – glimmers beautifully on local drives and from the balconies of Montville’s famed tourist accommodations.
A shining Lake Baroon: Picture: Reyjohn Gonzales
Venture this way and lose yourself in lush sub-tropical rainforest. Traverse the region along ancient pathways now incorporated into the Hinterland Great Walk. Explore eco rich Kondalilla National Park, a place of rushing water, magnificent falls and mossy rock pools. Misty one minute… and brilliantly sunlit the next!
The 400-metre elevation provides an enviable, temperate year-round climate. Fresh summers… and crisp winters for crackling cottage wood fires. Montville is a vibrant mountain holiday resort for you to relax, recharge and revive. Our clear, clean air, star-studded dark night skies, luxuriant rainforests, abundant wildlife and epic viewpoints will inspire you- body, mind and soul. Experience Montville: elevate, explore, escape!
Eyes above a Bunya Tree Forest : Picture: Jason McCarthy
1880'S
So how did we get from the 1880’s to now. That’s 140 years of history……
Timber-getting and agriculture were the first industries here. From the 1880s the first ‘white settlers’ cut into the rainforest (they called it vine scrub) to build a home. They sold the valuable timbers – red cedar, beech, hoop and bunya trees.
Montville Dome
'Glorious Montville'
(Brisbane Courier, Thursday 8 June 1922, page 8)
SUPERB MOUNTAIN SCENERY PICTURESQUE WATERFALLS AND ORANGE GROVES. by B.J. S.
There is a grandeur that passeth all human understanding in the glorious mountain scenery of Montville, for every day goeth down with a song of thanks-giving on its lips. The gilded and starred palaces of the East, with their noble spires, and the breath of antiquity, were never so majestic and inspiring in their splendour as the true works of the Great Creator, revealed in the deep gorges, running streams, rippling falls, rocky bluffs, immense panoramic views of lowlands, hills, and distant sea, and the flowering wonders of the tropical scrubs, of this sunny State of Queensland. And such is Montville. Read More…