ued for another fifty years until a permanent tide-proof causeway was finally constructed to join the two ends of the coast.
That separate history however, allowed Emu Park and Yeppoon to develop distinct personalities that are still apparent today. Emu Park's beautiful public places and grand old buildings are evidence of a very rich history and the wealth bestowed upon it by its patrons.
The rail line also made access easier to Keppel Sands, at least for half of the journey, with a siding located at Tungamull. From there, the fifteen kilometre trek to Sand Hills as the township was then named, was frought with peril, not least of which was the permanent wetlands that effectively made the town an island. Monsoonal rains could isolate Keppel Sands for several weeks.
It was because of this inaccessibility that Keppel Sands failed to grow at the same pace as its sister towns across Coorooman Creek, but nonetheless a pioneering spirit from local residents saw the township prevail. In 1893, the Sand Hills State School opened.
Six kilometres south of Keppel Sands yet even more inaccessible, Joskeleigh was settled by pastoralists around the same time. The first of these was Paul Alexander Joske and his wife Leigh for whom the district is named. Keppel Sands and Joskeleigh are linked due to their mutual isolation but also because of their closeknit and somewhat disturbing history.
To the present day, Joskeleigh remains a testament to times that many white Australians might prefer to forget, as it is home to one of Australia's most prominent South Sea Island communities; descendents of peoples black birded from their native homes to work as indentured labourers in the sugar and tobacco plantations of the day.
Golden age
The late 1850s ushered in a feverish period of growth and expansion with the fast-growing town of Rockhampton at its centre. Gold finds at Mount Morgan and Canoona brought prospectors who hoped to make
