Kingaroy itself is the largest town in the South Burnett and the region's
commercial centre, offering all the services, shopping facilities and many
of the industries generally expected in much larger centres. The town has
its own hotels, motels, caravan parks, bed and breakfasts and cabins;
supermarkets and convenience stores; and a range of restaurants, fast food
outlets and petrol stations (including a 24-hour petrol station). Kingaroy
township has a population of around
8,000 people. You can obtain
an easy-to-print map of the town in Adobe PDF format
by clicking here (225K).
Kumbia - located about 29km south-west of Kingaroy in the foothills
of the Bunya Mountains - has its own hotel, caravan parking area,
golf club, racecourse, convenience store and petrol station as well as several
B&B's and farmstays in the immediate vicinity. Kumbia is one of the two
principal gateways to the Bunya Mountains (the other being Maidenwell in
adjoining Nanango Shire) and has a population of around 600 residents.
Wooroolin - the other major town in the Shire, is located 18km north
of Kingaroy on the Bunya Highway. It has its own hotel, convenience store
and petrol outlet and a population of around 150 residents. It's also
the home of the Wooroolin Wetlands and gateway to nearby Gordonbrook
Dam, both of which are very popular with bird-watchers.
Photo: Kingaroy has many pretty parks and nearby lookouts that
are popular with visitors. Memorial Park (shown above) is located only a
few blocks from the CBD and is home to the popular
Wine & Food In The Park
Festival which is held on the second weekend in March each yea.
Kingaroy has the most
cosmopolitan feel of any South Burnett township
but it's still a very relaxed, friendly and informal country town at heart.
It has the typical low-humidity semi-alpine climate of all South Burnett
towns and is surrounded by extensive (and very picturesque) farmlands
interspersed with low rolling hills. The
Booie Range lies immediately
north-east of the town and the
Bunya Mountains about 55km to the
south-west.
The CBD area of the township is almost completely flat and is dominated by
the Peanut Company of Australia's twin peanut silos (a local landmark). The
Kingaroy Visitor Information Centre, Kingaroy Art Gallery and
the Kingaroy Heritage Museum are all located directly opposite the
peanut silos in the town's Heritage Precinct. This in turn is made up of
a collection of historic buildings ranging from Carroll's Cottage
(the first building constructed in Kingaroy) through to the Carrollee
Hotel and the Shire's earliest Council chambers, which were built in
1913.
Traditionally, Kingaroy has always been the centre of Australia's
peanut and navy bean industries. But since the early 1990s
it's also developed into one of the twin hubs of the South Burnett's
rapidly-expanding wine industry (the other hub is at Murgon, Redgate
and Moffatdale, 55km to the north). Several wineries are located either in
or very close to the town, along with the Booie Range Distillery which
opened in 2001 - only the third distillery in Queensland.
Kingaroy has a vibrant sporting, cultural and social life and is home to
two art galleries and several local craft outlets as well as a range of
well-maintained and attractive parklands. The town has two lookouts (at nearby
Mt Wooroolin and Apex Park in Fisher Street) which provide
striking panoramic views across the area. Kingaroy also has its own golf
club, bowling club and RSL and regularly hosts live entertainment at these;
at the Kingaroy Town Hall; and at several CBD hotels. A half-dozen wineries
are located either in town of very close to it.
Major annual events include the
Wine and Food In The Park
Festival (held on the second Saturday every March); the Kingaroy
Show (held each May); the
Burrandowan Picnic Races
(held at Burrandowan on the outskirts of the Shire, also each May); the
Kingaroy Peanut Festival
(held each September); the two-day Taabinga Spring Music
Festival (every October); and the Christmas Carnival (every December)
Photo: Mt. Wooroolin Lookout is located a few kilometres from
Kingaroy's CBD and it provides extensive views over the town and the surrounding
countryside (photo courtesy of Clive Lowe).
Even through Russell was reputedly the first European to realise the potential
of the South Burnett, it was Simon Scott of Taromeo (now Blackbutt) and the
Haly brothers of Taabinga who brought the first flocks of sheep to the area
in the late
1850s.
In 1878 the district where Kingaroy now stands was settled by the
Markwell brothers. When the first resumptions were made from the enormous
Taabinga holding the brothers selected two adjoining areas and in 1883
these leases were converted to freehold and became known as the 'Kingaroy
Paddock'. The corner of this paddock was located on what is now known as
Haly Street, named after the brothers who settled at Taabinga Station about
12km east of present-day Kingaroy.
A small, prosperous village grew up around Taabinga in the 1890s but the
arrival of the railway in 1904 led to a land explosion around Kingaroy
and the development of Kingaroy as it now exists. Taabinga quickly declined
into a ghost town by the end of World War I and today the original Taabinga
Homestead and a few outbuildings are all that remain of it. Kingaroy celebrated
its Centenary in 2004.
Photo: The Bunya Mountains are located south-west of Kingaroy and
are one of the few National Parks in Australia visitors can drive through.
The Mountains offer spectacular bushwalks and abundant native wildlife.
