Kangaroo-Point-Cliffs-photo-taken-September-2007

Kangaroo-Point-Cliffs-walking-track-photo-taken-September-2007

The Kangaroo Point Cliffs are

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...

cliffs In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

located at Kangaroo Point just across the

Brisbane River The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the Go ...

from the

Brisbane CBD Brisbane City is the central suburb and central business district of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. It is colloquially referred to as the "Brisbane CBD" or "the city". It is located on a point on the northern bank of the ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. A popular recreation spot, especially for climbing and running, they are conveniently close to the city and the

South Bank Parklands The South Bank Parklands are located at South Bank within the suburb of South Brisbane in Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list ...

. It can be reached by the Pacific Motorway,

South East Busway The South East Busway is a grade separated bus-only road running south from the Brisbane central business district to Eight Mile Plains in Queensland, Australia. The busway was completed to Woolloongabba in September 2000 and to Eight Mile P ...

or a ferry to

Thornton Street ferry wharf Thornton Street ferry wharf was a ferry terminal located on the southern side of the Brisbane River serving the Brisbane suburb of Kangaroo Point, Queensland, Kangaroo Point in Queensland, Australia. It was served by Transdev Brisbane Ferries' C ...

. The cliffs were formed after stone was quarried from the site and used in the construction of a number of local structures in the

Moreton Bay penal settlement The Moreton Bay Penal Settlement operated from 1825 to 1842. It became the city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. History The Moreton Bay Penal Settlement was established on the Redcliffe Peninsula on Moreton Bay in 1824, under the instruc ...

History

The Kangaroo Point Cliffs were created by convicts mining the

volcanic rock Volcanic rock (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) is a rock formed from lava erupted from a volcano. In other words, it differs from other igneous rock by being of volcanic origin. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic r ...

or ignimbrite or welded tuff which form the cliffs. These lavas and

pyroclastic Pyroclastic rocks (derived from the el, πῦρ, links=no, meaning fire; and , meaning broken) are clastic rocks composed of rock fragments produced and ejected by explosive volcanic eruptions. The individual rock fragments are known as pyroc ...

rocks were deposited in the

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...

Period about 230 million years ago and filled an ancient river valley. These rocks were known as porphyry and later became known as the geological unit called the

Brisbane tuff Brisbane tuff is a type of rock, formed as a result of a volcanic eruption. As the name suggests, it is a type of tuff found in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is a form of welded ignimbrite. Brisbane tuff comes in a variety of colours: pin ...

. Records indicate that it was Captain

Patrick Logan Captain Patrick Logan (1791 – October 1830) was the commandant of the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement from 1826 until his death in 1830 at the hands of Aboriginal Australians who objected to him entering their lands. As he had been hated by con ...

, commandant of the Moreton Bay penal settlement, who first opened a quarry to supply stone to his building works as early as 1826. Those structures still standing today include The Old Windmill and the Commissariat Store. From 1842, the quarry was rented to private stonemasons (including

John Petrie John Petrie (15 January 1822 – 8 December 1892) was a Scottish-born politician, architect, stonemason and building contractor in Brisbane who became the city's first Mayor. Private life John Petrie was born 15 January 1822Toowong Cemetery ...

, later the first Mayor of Brisbane) until it was taken over by the Brisbane Municipal Council in 1860. It continued to supply stone as

sailing ballast Ballast is used in ships to provide moment to resist the lateral forces on the hull. Insufficiently ballasted boats tend to tip or heel excessively in high winds. Too much heel may result in the vessel capsizing. If a sailing vessel needs to vo ...

for ships. The Rector of St Mary's Church above the quarry believed this was a wasteful use of the stone and convinced the Queensland Colonial Government to take over control, which it did in 1864. In the 1880s, the government developed coal wharves along the southern end of the cliffs. They were serviced by a rail line and siding until the wharf was demolished in 1974. A marine defence depot was built at the foot of the northern end of the cliffs. It was used for storage and as a training facility. One of the buildings used by the depot remains today as the Naval Stores Museum. Stone from the quarry was used to line parts of the Brisbane River with walls, for the Manly Boat Harbour and at the new

Port of Brisbane Port of Brisbane is the shipping port and coastal suburb of the City of Brisbane, on the east coast of Queensland, Australia. In the , Port of Brisbane had no residents living in the suburb. The port is the largest in the state of Queensland. ...

. The quarry finally closed in 1976.

Climbing

The cliffs are situated on the east bank of the river north of the

Maritime Museum A maritime museum (sometimes nautical museum) is a museum specializing in the display of objects relating to ships and travel on large bodies of water. A subcategory of maritime museums are naval museums, which focus on navies and the militar ...

and opposite the

Queensland University of Technology Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The univ ...

. The area is a popular picnic and

abseiling Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling the person descending controls their own movement down the rope, in contrast to Bela ...

site. The Kangaroo Point Cliffs feature excellent

rock climbing Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and ...

possibilities for all skill levels, being primarily a place for recreational climbing. The cliffs are mainly used as a training ground by South East Queensland's

rock climbers Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically an ...

. The cliff face is lit at night by numerous flood lights.

Facilities

At the base of the cliff, next to the Brisbane River, is a narrow strip of parkland. The park contains electric barbecues, tables and chairs, sculptures, toilets and ample views of the Captain Cook Bridge,

Story Bridge The Story Bridge is a heritage-listed steel cantilever bridge spanning the Brisbane River that carries vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the northern and the southern suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is the long ...

, mangroves, the

City Botanic Gardens The City Botanic Gardens (formerly the Brisbane Botanic Gardens) is a heritage-listed botanic garden on Alice Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was also known as Queen's Park. It is located on Gardens Poin ...

and downtown buildings across the river. Native vegetation has been redeveloped into gardens which display a very natural design. At the top of the cliffs is Scout Park. It was opened in 1982 to commemorate 75 years of the scouting movement in Queensland. A new park was created at the site of the former TAFE college in 2010.

Heritage listing

The cliffs were listed on the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As a ...

in 2003.

References

External links