Tinaburra, Atherton Tableland, NQ, Australia.
Tinaburra Waters “Avenue of Honour” is the only War memorial in Australia for soldiers who were killed in the Afghanistan theater of war; the memorial is the realization of a dream of Gordon and Susan Chuck to commemorate their son Ben and all the soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan, from conception to completion, the Chuck family, aided and supported by Yungaburra Councillor, Rod Marti, the local community, volunteers and friends worked tirelessly to raise government and donated finances and services. The 250 meter avenue is lined with Illawarra Flame Trees, shade Sails symbolize birds in flight, a 2.8 meter high winged sculpture facing the lake represents the undaunted Spirit of the Australian Digger, the roll of honour names the 41 soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country, sadly on opening day, one more Australian soldier joined his brothers in arms.
A second memorial is a sculpture of a Army dog standing on a rock ledge facing the Avenue of Honour, the dog is in the paved area under the shade sails and directly behind the roll of honour, this memorial is dedicated to the five Australian army detection dogs killed during the war; they will be remembered as Australia’s four legged friends, and for their devotion to their handlers and their loyal unfailing service to Australia.
The Shade Sails and Sculpture was designed by Sydney based Abacus Shade Structures and is the winner of the 2013 Specialized Textiles Association Awards for Excellence in the Shade Sails or Structures Commercial Category. The Sculpture symbolizes a bird in flight, and the design was chosen by Avenue project manager Gordon Chuck for the site, with almost all the components donated by local suppliers. The design has only been used in one other location in Australia and the world, the second location is at Manley’s Freshwater Village Plaza, Sydney, the bird in flight sculpture design has been submitted for the Industrial Fabrics Association International Achievement awards to be held in Florida, USA in October 2013.The Avenue of Honour was officially opened on Saturday the 23rd June 2013 by the Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, guests in attendance were the opposition leader Tony Abbott, the Chief of Defence Force General David Hurley, and Major General John Cantwell (retired) former commander of the Australian forces in Afghanistan. Atherton Tableland Mayor, Rosa Lee Long, and over 4,000 locals, tourists, families and interested parties from all over Australia.
Tinaburra .. Lake Tinaroo
Tinaburra Waters Peninsular on the southern end of Lake Tinaroo, is only five minutes’ drive from Yungaburra and a popular water playground for locals and visitors, with many activities including camping,swimming,speed boat sports, water skiing, jet skis, kayaking, canoeing, sailing and all year Barramundi and Redclaw fishing.
Lake side Inn Caravan Park and camping is adjacent to the Avenue of Honour. Facilities at Tinaburra Waters include a concrete boat ramp, lakeside sheltered BBQ’s, tables and chairs, children’s playground, and grassed parks sloping down to the water’s edge, shade trees, picnic areas, toilets and showers
Bird watching is a favorite pastime on the Tinaburra Waters Peninsular, with up to 35 species sighted in one day, birds in and around the lake include the cotton pygmy goose, plumed whistling duck, Little black cormorant, Australian darter , Australian Pelican, and the Black Falcon.
Tinaburra Waters Peninsular is 18 minutes (15.7 klms-10 miles) from Atherton and 1 minute (1 mile) from Yungaburra
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