GOOMERI, QUEENSLAND

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A service centre for the local agricultural activities which includes the South Burnett wine region. The town hosts a pumpkin festival every year in May, a highlight of which is the Great Australian Pumpkin Roll.
Location: 265 km north-west of Brisbane (235km via the Burnett Highway); 78km from Gympie.
Origin of name: reportedly an Aboriginal word in the Waka language, Bujiebara dialect, indicating the kurrajong tree and the shield made from it. The word is probably a variant of gudmeri or kunmarin, taken from the Kabi language
Brief history: The earliest European settlements in the area were at Booubyjan Homestead and Boonara Station, both established around 1846. Each grew to become self-sufficient villages during the latter part of the 19th century (Boonara itself had more than 100 employees in the late 1880s). However, both slowly faded away in the early 20th century with the arrival of the railways. Goomeri itself was originally just a railway siding used primarily by timber hauliers and local farmers. A land sale in 1911 opened up 12,000 hectares of rural allotments and town blocks for settlement. This drew hundreds of new residents to the area and permanently established the township (Goomeri is also sometimes known as the "Town of 1911" in honour of this famous land sale). With the development of the the timber industry during the 1920s, the town boomed and continues to provide services provided to a local farming community that grows vegetables, vineyards and olive groves.
Natural features: Burnett River; Kinbombi Falls; Boat Mountain; Planted Creek; Barambah Creek; Lake Barambah; Coast Range.
Built features: Cheeseworld; Goomeri Memorial Clock and Hall of Memory; Bjelke-Petersen Dam; localities of Tansey (6km north), Kilkivan (25km north), Manumbar, Cherbourg, Windera, Proston, Hivesville, Mondure, Wondai.
Heritage features: Booubyjan Homestead (30 km north, 1847); Elginvale Mill Museum; 'Barambah' homestead