Holiday memories: Rainbow Beach in 1966
Dale and Dell Rutherford have been married 52 years; the couple have both retired from the Sacred Heart School where Dell worked as a teacher, office and then secretary, and Dale finished his working life as groundsman at the same school -they returned for their fifth trip to our coast
Dale and Dell Rutherford have fond memories of five trips to Rainbow Beach. On a return trip this year, they contacted the Community News to share their photos.
“The story was back then, we were married January ‘65, there was a bit in the Sunday Mail about ‘well kept secrets’ – something like that – places to visit.
“That’s what brought us here. That’s what we found – only really fisherman and the odd camper.”
After their first trip in ’65, these images were captured on their return trip in January, 1966.
The couple arrived here on the Sunday night, “Everyone else packed up and left.”
There was a house near the Life Saving Club. “It was the only house here those two years – we believe it was the Rutile Manager for the sand mining.”
Dale pointed at the photo, “This is a little shed here and man from Gympie used to come out and sell things – milk and soft drinks. You can see our little VW and tent beside it – no glamping in those days!”
“We like to be close to the water,” Dell explained.
Well, you couldn’t get much closer – perched on the cliff to the beach. “There was water coming out of the rocks – they reckon it was A rated,” smiled Dale.
They said fishermen used to come out to camp and fish, somewhere along the cliff there was a walkway to the beach, 4WDs used to access the beach too.
“Yes, we thought it was pretty fantastic,” agreed the couple.
For Dale and Dell, it was just an escape from the city. Leaving Brighton, in north Brisbane, they said, there was no 110 speed limit, and remembered most of the road from Gympie was dirt. “And there were no trees beside the road, it was sandy and dry.
“This is only our fifth time. It’s got bigger. In the early 90s we brought our last born child with us. We stayed in an A-frame on a hill, there was a huge change then.”
With further trips in 2005 and now, they say it’s grown every time. They have had much to compare, opting for a cabin at the caravan park this time, rather than their tent!
If you have some older photos or memories of the Cooloola Coast – please contact: 5486 3561 or email: info@rbcn.com.au
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- Dale said all they needed was their canvas and a little cooker
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- Who remembers the rock with the hole in it?
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- Dell agreed they both has lovely memories of Rainbow Beach, well before development
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- Where Phil Rogers Park is now and the Surf Club – taken in 1966!
