April 23, 2018
South Burnett residents and visitors who’d like see a little-known corner of the Timbertowns are being invited to come along to a bush picnic in May.
The Blackbutt And District Tourism And Heritage Association will be running another Googa Googa Creek Bush Picnic on the former school’s cricket pitch from 10:00am on Sunday, May 27.
Googa Creek is located south of Blackbutt in what is now the Googa State Forest, and the Googa Creek School operated there from 1921 to 1950 to provide education for the children of timber getters and farmers in the area.
While the school is long gone, an inaugural bush picnic in 2015 saw former students from the Ashby, Morgenstern and Stewart families attend, as well as many “new” locals and their families.
The picnic was held around the old cricket pitch and many stories emerged about the history of the area, including the location of the former school on the site.
The school’s tennis court, vegetable garden and horse paddock were also pointed out to visitors by the former students, and a barbecue lunch was followed by poetry recitals and singing.
The day was rounded out with the erection of a sign near the roadside created by Blackbutt woodworkers to mark the old school site.
Since then the bush picnic has become a popular annual outing, allowing visitors to view a rarely-seen part of the South Burnett and hear fascinating stories about what life was like there almost a century ago.
The $10 admission fee covers lunch, sweets, a cold drink and coffee, along with musical entertainment from the Sempf Family, but picnic goers should BYO chair.
To find the school, turn at Blackbutt’s Radnor Hotel and follow the bitumen Crows Nest Road for 6km before turning left into the gravelled Googa Creek Road for 2km, where the road changes to Douglas Road.
Continue on Douglas Road for a further 3km, then veer right at Stewart Road (ie do not turn left into Stewart Road, just veer to the right) and travel a further kilometre to reach the former school site.
Signposts will be erected on the day to guide visitors, but to help plan the catering RSVPs would be appreciated by May 14.
They can be made by phoning Jackie on 0438-785-009 or by emailing her
