Kioloa Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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Kioloa: TIMBER WAS ALWAYS IMPORTANT in the early development of the
district.
In spite of the poor harbour (unprotected and shallow) a village
was serveyed at Kioloa in May 1843. The site was on and at the back
of O'Hara Head, south and south-west of the present boat ramp.
The earliest record of a mill in this area was a hand-powered
pit-saw mill owned by Woons and was about one kilometre west of
Merry Beach.
In 1884 Goodlet and Smith moved a mill from Redhead (now Bendalong)
to Kioloa.
It was set up near the present boat ramp, at the south end of
Kioloa Beach. It is reported to have been slightly further inland
than its successor.
This first mill ceased operation after a boiler tube burst in 1893.
Logging continued and teamsters were employed to bring logs to the
beach and load them onto the South Coast trading boats.
The logs were hauled through the surf by means of winches on the
beach and on the boat. Bullocks on the beach pulled the wire and
slings into the shore. The boat's winch would wind the wire back
and the logs would be pulled through the water and hoisted over the
ship. They were then lowered into the hold or onto the deck.
It was not until 1912 that milling resumed at Kioloa with a new
mill owned by Hepburn McKenzie. It was described at the time as the
largest saw mill in the southern hemisphere and was capable of
cutting up to 100 000 super feet of timber each week.
It was destroyed by fire in 1916. The mill was re-built soon after
and operated until the buildings were destroyed by another fire in
1926.
McKenzie purched a large boiler from the gold mine at Yalwal near
Nowra and hauled it to Kioloa by two bullock teams to be used in
the McKenzie's mill.
The old boiler is one of a few remaining relic's from those bygone
days and sits just south of the boat ramp carpark.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gbc fbhgu-jrfg pbeare.