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Nar-dha
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Places of Interest
Shell Middens
These are places where Aboriginal people left marine shellfish
used for food. The shells at Nar-dha probably came from Nudgee Beach
about 5 kilometres away to the east.
Gravel Pit
One of the earliest historical operations at Nudgee Waterhole was a gravel pit, gazetted in the late 1800s. Men would load gravel into horse drawn drays and then cart the gravel for use on road maintenance in the Nudgee, Cribb Island and Nudgee Beach areas. Gravel operations were finally closed by Council about 1922.
Old Dray Track
A dray track ran from the waterhole to Pius XII (Banyo) Seminary. It was used from about 1863 to cart water on a horse drawn dray. The cart would be backed into the shallow water and barrels would be filled by hand.
Ochre Site
Ochre is found at Nar-dha. Red (guji), yellow (burrganbalam) and white (banjirr) ochre was used in ceremonies connected to the kippa. Aboriginal people in the Brisbane area used ochre extensively as body decoration and to ornament shields and weapons.
Spear
In July 2002 during restoration work on the waterhole by Brisbane City Council, Aboriginal people recovered a wooden shaft of a spear. This rare find was immediately conserved and then analysed at the Molecular Archaeological Services Centre at the University of Queensland.
Microscopic examination revealed traces of red and yellow ochre on the shaft and it had been shaped with a stone scraper.
Bungwall Fern
Bungwall fern (Blechnum indicum) was one of the most important
staple foods for Aboriginal people in southeast Queensland. This
fishbone fern grows in shallow Teatree swamps. Its thick rhizome
(root) was dug up and pounded with a special stone tool called a
Bungwall pounder. The root was then cooked in a fire and eaten.
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