Tully, Queensland

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Tully
state = qld


caption = Tully's main street
lga = Cassowary Coast Regional Council
postcode = 4854
pop = 2,540 (2001 Census)
est =
elevation=
maxtemp =
mintemp =
rainfall =
stategov = Hinchinbrook
fedgov = Division of Kennedy
dist1 = 1569
location1= Brisbane
dist2 = 142
location2=Cairns
dist3 = 209
location3=Townsville

Tully is a small town in Queensland, Australia, adjacent to the Bruce Highway and by road approximately 140km south of Cairns and 210km north of Townsville.

The Tully River (previously known as the Mackay River) was named after Surveyor-General William Alcock Tully in the 1870s. The town of Tully was then named after the river (previously it had been known as Banyan).

With an average annual rainfall exceeding 4000mm, and the highest ever annual rainfall in a populated area of Australia (7900mm in 1950), Tully is arguably the wettest town in Australia - a rivalry exists between Tully and the nearby town of Babinda for said title. In 2003 a giant gumboot (the "Golden Gumboot") was erected as a monument to the town's climate; it also serves as a museum documenting past floods, as well as displaying the current rainfall for the year.

Perhaps Tully's most interesting claim to fame is that it is Australia's UFO headquarters, with hundreds of sightings every year. On the morning of January 19, 1966, a local sugar cane farmer saw a machine rise up from a Tully lagoon about 30 to 40 feet (10-12m), turn on its side, and then fly away. After the sighting, the lagoon was noted to contain a 9m circular mass of reeds, tightly woven in an intricate design swirling clockwise and strong enough to support the weight of 10 men. Other events at the site were reported in 1972, 1975, 1980, 1982 and 1987. [ [http://www.circlemakers.org/tully.html ¤ c i r c l e m a k e r s ¤ ] ] , [ [http://www.project1947.com/bctrace2.htm PROJECT 1947 - AUSTRALIAN UFO PHYSICAL TRACE CASES ] ] .

Tully is also the last place reclusive All Black Keith Murdoch has been sighted. [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/location/story.cfm?l_id=138&ObjectID=10348988]

Tully, with a population of approximately 3500, is one of the larger towns of the Cassowary Coast Regional Council. Prior to the 2008 amalgamation of the Cardwell and Johnstone Shires, Tully was the administrative centre for the Cardwell Shire. The economic base of the region is agriculture; sugar cane and bananas being the dominant crops grown. The sugar cane grown at the many farms in the district is processed locally at the Tully Sugar Mill to give raw sugar which is shipped elsewhere for refinement.

Transport

Tully is a prominent station on the main North Coast Railway Line, situated just over half way between Townsville and Cairns. By 10 December, 1924, Tully was connected with both Townsville and Innisfail ["Tully as a Railhead: Timber, Cattle and Cane" Milne, Rod Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, May, 1989 pp99-106] .

chools

Tully State High School

Tully State High School has serviced high school students in the Tully District (comprising Cardwell, Kennedy, Mission Beach/Wongaling, Tully, El Arish and various other small centres) since its establishment in 1964. Tully State High School has a present enrolment of approximately 630 students. As of 2008, Ms Sprott is the principal of the school.

Tully State High School has been accredited as a Centre of Excellence in Mathematics, Science and Technology and is also one of only a few Reef Guardian schools. The campus is situated on extensive grounds, and includes an aquaculture centre, a worm farm, an arboretum, a banana crop, a herd of cattle and several sports fields.

The previously mentioned worm farm is managed by the school based company "Banyan Worms", which was founded in 2004 and comprises year 10 Business Education students. The company is a part of the Young Achievement Australia programme and enjoyed success at trade expositions at local, state and national levels in 2004.

In 2006, another Young Achievement Australia business was set up by the year 10 business students, "Yamanii boxer shorts".

Also, in 2007, there were two business classes who participated in YAA- Yanique, making environmetally-friendly cards and VouchYa, making coupon booklets. Both classes did extremely well and both went away and were successful at the local, state and national awards.

Three main sporting events are contested by the school's four sports houses (Walter Hill - green, Tyson - blue, Kirrima - yellow and Mackay - red) each year: a swimming carnival; an athletics carnival; and a cross country run (through the cane paddocks near the school and along the Banyan).

The events of the school are chronicled each year in the school's student-produced magazine - the "Waltykima" (the name an amalgamation of the initial letters of the names of the school's sports houses).

Tully State High School's motto is "Quanti est sapere", which means "How valuable is wisdom".

See also: Queensland state high schools

Tully State School

Tully State School caters to the educational needs of the town's primary school children. When erected in 1924, it was known as Banyan Provisional and has since gone through a number of name changes: Tully Provisional (1925); Tully State School (1926); Tully State Rural School (1934); Tully State Rural and High School (1951); and reverted to Tully State School in 1964. The school's current motto is "Work well and succeed".

t. Clare's Parish School

St. Clare's Parish School is a Catholic primary school which was erected in 1928.It is a small but cozy school.

References

ee also

*Kareeya Hydro Power Station, Queensland

External links

* [http://tullyshs.qld.edu.au/ Tully State High School website]
* [http://tullyss.qld.edu.au/ Tully State School website]
* [http://circlemakers.org/tully.html/ Material on Tully UFO sitings]