Deception Bay and the historic Bancroft Baths

So a couple of weeks ago we decided to do a day trip to Deception Bay. I was mainly just looking for somewhere new to go for the day and take Ada. Deception Bay, named in 1832 by John Oxley for the unusual shallowness of the bay is Gubbi Gubbi land. The first Europeans in the area were convict castaways rescued by the Gubbi Gubbi people, (https://www.visitmoretonbayregion.com.au/natural-attractions/deception-bay-heritage-trail)

Brisbane does have some magical locations on its doorstep and this is one of those. The bay really is amazingly shallow, at one point Ada looked as if she was walking to New Zealand when she waded out couple of hundred metres and her paws still seemed to touch the bottom. The beach itself is pretty narrow but allows off leash dogs, which was a big part of why I thought it was worth the day trip. I am always looking for places to give Ada adequate exercise, she is a dog that not only loves to run, she seems to need to run, so finding good off leash locations has now become a part of my life. And beaches I have discovered are the best places to exercise a high energy, high drive dog.

Moreton Island protects and shelters the Bay. The shallow bay and lack of waves makes it a good spot to introduce kids to the beach and ocean swimming, there is no danger of them being dumped by even a small wave. Skirted by mangrove, the area reputedly provides good fishing. The cottonwood walk along the foreshore is peaceful and picturesque and it forms part of the longer heritage trail which makes for a gentle, and picturesque walk. The Bancroft baths are a bit of a historic highlight. The heritage listed baths were carved out of the sandstone bedrock sometime around the 1880s – 1890s by Joseph Bancroft. Bancroft is generally recognised as the founder of medical research in Australia and it is believed he created the first and smaller of the baths for his wife.

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Bancroft owned extensive property at Deception Bay, grazing cattle, experimenting with crops like rice and even experimented with cultivating pearls in the bay. He also established a dried beef factory that at one stage supplied the British War office. Joseph Bancroft and his son Thomas, who also made significant contributions to early scientific and medical research, were avid naturalists and several native Australian plants bear their name. The Bancroft’s made significant contributions to the fields of entomology and botany and perhaps most importantly to parasitology. Joseph discovered that Wucheria Bancrofti parasitic worm is responsible for causing elephantiasis and his son Thomas discovered that the parasite was transmitted by the Aedes Aegypi mosquito. More info here at the wiliepedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deception_Bay_Sea_Baths Mosquitoes must have been familiar bathing companions at the baths given the nature of the environment, nestled as they are amongst mangrove.

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The baths are an interesting curiosity, they are very much in their natural state and are naturally silted up but you can see the outline and the walk does have plaques and information posted along the way explaining the baths and other history in Deception Bay. I found the information about the Bancroft’s fascinating.

That whole north Brisbane coastline is lovely to visit, Deception Bay is quite and picturesque hard to believe the state capital is so close. The northern coastal Brisbane suburbs are great to visit and esplanade walks are easy. We also went to Redcliffe and caught the markets, lots of interesting stalls including some great street food. Cafe’s with sea views dot the entire walk so plenty of options to caffeinate and re-fuel.

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While in the Redcliffe area we checked out an awesome off leash dog park; the Kroll Gardens dog park, wow what a park. A huge open space for the dogs to romp in, at least a couple of acres, a separate small dog area, if you need it and a fantastic agility course great for exercising high drive dogs. This is something I wish all councils would provide, the dog agility structures I mean, we do have some lovely off leash parks but it would be great to access to something like this in Toowoomba, so many high energy dogs would benefit. Our region has an obesity issue, perhaps the council should consider providing a dog park that that would help both the dogs and their owners exercise more, I would definitely use it almost daily if we had one. At least for that one Saturday between the romp on the beach, the walk and the dog park I managed to wear out our little energy bomb.

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