NOSTALGIC BUS TOUR organised by the Mackay and District Italian Association Incorporated

Brisbane, July 21 (MCCQ Newsdesk) By Carmel Baretta on behalf of Mackay and District Italian Association Incorporated

On 29 June last twenty-four members of the Association enjoyed a nostalgic bus tour around the Mackay District visiting settlement sites of Italian migrants.

Habana, renowned for its fertile black soil, well-drained lands and being just 20 kilometres from the City was a popular choice for settlement. Twenty-nine farming sites were identified by the Tour Director who also gave dates of settlement and the current owners.

Other important landmarks included Habana Catholic Church, Refalo’s Blacksmith Shop, Habana Store, the Butcher’s Shop and Habana Sugar Mill.

The journey continued onto the Habana-Yakapari Road and then the Seaforth Road.

At Mt Jukes passengers were shown the location of the Pizza Place run by Italians. It is proving to be very popular on weekends for locals and tourists alike.

We travelled a back-road (Seaforth-Mt Ossa Road) and arrived at Zarby’s Café at Mt Ossa for Morning Tea which consisted of freshly baked home-made scones, jam and cream and delicious Ballantine strawberries.

The rail line at Mt Ossa was used to transport sugarcane to the mills. A horse-drawn whim and a Derek lift were used until the 1940’s to load whole-stick bundles of cane onto the cane wagons.

At least ten Italian families settled in the surrounding area. Stephano Sennini migrated to Australia in 1890 and settled at nearby Mt Pelion in 1926. Descendants still own and farm the land.

From Mt Ossa the bus continued its journey to Calen and then down to Cameron’s Pocket. Much of this tropical land is now used for cattle grazing. A quick stop at The Boulders before arriving at Mt Charlton where Giordano and Luigi Lando took up land in 1930 and is still owned by the family. The Lando Brothers donated land for the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church to be built in

1950. Land was also donated by the family for a sports ground adjacent to the school. At 12.30pm the bus arrived at Marian Railway Hotel for a delicious lunch. After a photograph of our group we took the slow road to the northern side of the Pioneer River where Peter Aprile gave us some historical details of Italian settlement in this area. The site of the Dumbleton Sugar Mill was identified as well as the area near the Dumbleton Weir which was reserved for local Islanders who lived in traditional grass huts and planted mango trees and bananas as well as clumps of bamboo.

A slow drive home enabled passengers to reminisce on the sights they had seen, the memories recalled and the sheer joy of sharing precious moments with their fellow passengers.

One 89 year-old lady who has always helped to make Italian biscuits for our stalls over the past ten years or more, said that this was her first ever ride in a bus and was so looking forward to another in the near future.