Sept 14, 2025 Bundaberg Queensland Sugar Plantation
We drove 27 miles to the town of Bundaberg, a hub of the most productive agricultural region of Australia, sugar cane being a primary crop, but orchards abound as well, with macadamia and avocado primary crops. We went to the Bundaberg Botanical Garden and learned about the sugar cane industry in the area. The Fairymead House was moved from the Fairymead Sugar Plantation outside of town to the Botanical Garden and restored as a museum.
The house was built in 1890 for the Young brothers who kick-started the sugar cane industry in the area after the government passed regulations that enabled interested parties to acquire land to grow sugar cane.
“Plantation” evokes some strong images, and those are well founded, even in Australia. Convict labor was relied on in Australia until ‘transportation’ of criminals to Australia ended in 1840. The large land-holding agriculturalists looked for other sources of labor and began the practice of ‘blackbirding’ Southsea Islanders, coercing or even outright kidnapping men, women and even children, to work in the fields in Australia, especially in the subtropical area of Queensland.
The house is a fine example of the ‘Queenslander” architecture. Large verandas, tall roof that is actually a huge air duct, creating draft that cools the interior, and raised off the ground, maybe to protect from the snakes? The stained glass skylight lets light into the interior, and the huge overhangs shade the house. It is only 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, parlor, formal dining room and casual dining room. The kitchen and servants room are separate, to the right of the entrance, for fire safety
A cute little steam train runs through the Botanical Garden. It is a restored ‘sugar train’ that was used to haul the cut cane from the fields to the refinery, repurposed for tourism now.