Te Kowai is a rural

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

in the

Mackay Region The Mackay Region is a local government area located in North Queensland, Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by three previous local government areas with modern histories extending back as far as 1869. It has an estima ...

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. In the Te Kowai had a population of 218 people.

Geography

The locality is bounded by the

Pioneer River The Pioneer River is a river located in North Queensland, North Queensland, Australia. The long river flows through the city of . History Captain John Mackay (Australian pioneer), John Mackay and his party were the first Europeans to discover ...

to the north, by the

Mackay Ring Road The Mackay Ring Road is a bypass route near Mackay, Queensland, Australia The proposed full length of the road is long and will be built in 3 stages. Stage 1 opened in September 2020. Stage 1 is 11.34 km in length and connects the Bruce ...

to the north-east and east, and Bakers Creek (the watercourse) to the south-west and south. The land is flat and low-lying, between above sea level, and is used for growing

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

. The

Peak Downs Highway The Peak Downs Highway links the towns of Mackay and Clermont in the Australian state of Queensland. It represents the main link between Queensland's Whitsunday Coast and the Central West region of the state. The highway runs for a total lengt ...

enters the locality from the east (

Racecourse A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also use ...

) and exits to the west (

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...

).There is a network of

cane tramways The rail network in Queensland, Australia, was the first in the world to adopt narrow gauge for a main line, and now the second largest narrow gauge network in the world, consists of: *the North Coast Line (NCL) extending from Brisbane to R ...

in the locality to transport the harvested sugarcane to the sugar mills.

History

StateLibQld 1 170743 Road through Te Kowai Sugar Mill, Mackay, Queensland, ca

The name of the suburb is derived from a former railway station, itself derived from a nearby sugar plantation named after a New Zealand tree, kowhai. The name was shortened and the

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

definite article An article is any member of a class of dedicated words that are used with noun phrases to mark the identifiability of the referents of the noun phrases. The category of articles constitutes a part of speech. In English, both "the" and "a(n)" ar ...

"Te" added. The Te Kowai sugar mill was established in 1874 at and operated until 1894 when it amalgamated with the Palms Mill. Te Kowai State School opened on 13 November 1883 and closed in December 1968. It was at 5 Te Kowai Foulden Road (). Constructed on the

Mackay railway line The Mackay Railway was a line situated in the Pioneer River valley in North Queensland, Australia. It opened in a series of sections between 1885 and 1911. It had three short branches, parts of which were initially built by the local governmen ...

, initially from

Mackay Mackay may refer to: *Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives Mackay may also refer to: Places Australia * Mackay Region, a local government area ** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region *** Mackay Airpor ...

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

, commenced on 14 November 1883 and was completed on 10 August 1885. In Te Kowai it followed the route of the present-day Peak Downs Highway with the Te Kowai railway station at . The line closed in 2009. Te Kowai Presbyterian Church opened on 8 December 1918. In the Te Kowai had a population of 218 people.

Education

There are no schools in Te Kowai. The nearest government primary schools are Dundula State School in neighbouring Bakers Creek to the south-west, Walkerston State School in Walkerston to the west, and Mackay West State School in

West Mackay West Mackay is a suburb of Mackay in the Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , West Mackay had a population of 6,210 people. According to the , West Mackay includes the largest Maltese Australian community of any suburb in Queensland, n ...

to the north-east. The nearest government secondary school is

Mackay State High School Mackay State High School is located at 123 Milton Street, South Mackay, Mackay, Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia. Mackay State High School is a public educational institution located in the city of Mackay, Queensland, Australia. The school of ...

South Mackay South Mackay is a coastal suburb of Mackay in the Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , South Mackay had a population of 6,706 people. Geography As its name suggests, the suburb of South Mackay is immediately to the south of the centra ...

to the east.

Facilities

Mackay South Water Recycling Facility (also known as Bakers Creek Water Treatment Plant) is a

sewage treatment Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding envir ...

plant at the western end of Temples Lane (). Operated by the

Mackay Regional Council The Mackay Region is a local government area located in North Queensland, Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by three previous local government areas with modern histories extending back as far as 1869. It has an estima ...

, the plant processes waste water from 63,000 people. It provides high quality recycled water for irrigation as required by farmers (reducing drawdown of

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...

) with any remaining water being discharged into Bakers Creek. As the water is high in nutrients, it is better for the environment to use it on crops than to add it to the nutrient load of the creek. The sludge that remains after processing is

centrifuged A centrifuge is a device that uses centrifugal force to separate various components of a fluid. This is achieved by spinning the fluid at high speed within a container, thereby separating fluids of different densities (e.g. cream from milk) or ...

to remove remaining water and the solid waste is sold as nutrient-rich compost for farms.

Weather Station

Te Kowai weather station is a

weather station A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include tempera ...

at Te Kowai, operated by the

Bureau of Meteorology The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM or BoM) is an executive agency of the Australian Government responsible for providing weather services to Australia and surrounding areas. It was established in 1906 under the Meteorology Act, and brought together ...

. This weather station does not run on weekends and public holidays.

References

{{Mackay Region Mackay Region Localities in Queensland