River City Life

The view from the boardwalk at Teneriffe on a winter's day looking towards Hawthorne CityCat stop. Not too shabby.

The Engine Room

 

The small red-brick building in the foreground is known as The Engine Room and sits on the banks of the river at Teneriffe. In 1908/9, the Brisbane Stovedoring and Wool Dumping Company constructed wharves and storage areas here for the export of, among other things, refrigerated meat to Britain. This building housed two ammonia compressors that were driven by steam engines to provide the refrigeration needed in the cold storage areas. It's now heritage listed.

I was really surprised they had refrigeration up and running this early - pretty state of the art I would have thought...especially in what was a relatively small outpost at the time.  Although, if you have a look at the buildings that remain in Brisbane from around that time, it is evident the British intended Brisbane to be a sophisticated, cultured and prosperous place and it looks like a lot of money flowed though here at the time.

Teneriffe Dock Bollard

It says "Evans, Anderson and Phelan" across the middle (an engineering company, I think). These dock bollards remain along the riverside path, rusting up nicely and serving as a reminder that there wasn't always posh flats round there. By the way, Teneriffe was only recognised as a suburb by Brisbane City Council earlier in the year so a big shout-out to all the Teneriffe dwellers who I'm sure now have a nice warming sense of validity.