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HERITAGE NOOSA
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Myrtle Andrew Oral History
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Myrtle Andrew recounts her childhood and adult life in Cooran, Tewantin, and Noosa from the 1930s onward, offering a vivid portrait of a small, close knit regional community before modern development. Born in 1930, she moved to Tewantin at age five, describing unsealed roads, minimal shops, and local institutions such as Godber’s Café, Donovan’s garage, the picture theatre, and the original Royal Mail Hotel. Her memories highlight a childhood spent outdoors—fishing, crabbing, rowing boats, swimming, and playing among mango trees, bee farms, and undeveloped riverbanks.
Andrew’s account details domestic routines of the era, including caring for cows, churning butter during wartime shortages, and doing housework in local guesthouses such as Laguna House and San Elanda. She recalls a strong sense of community safety, where homes remained unlocked and neighbours were connected through work, family, and social events like dances, debutante balls, and picture nights.
Her narrative touches on wartime experiences, including local American troops, air raid drills at school, and the service of her brothers and uncles. Andrew reflects on profound personal losses, family separations, and later life challenges, while also lamenting the dramatic transformation of Noosa and Tewantin—from quiet fishing settlements into busy, built up towns. Her reflections preserve the memory of an earlier, simpler era in the region’s history.
Myrtle Andrew recounts her childhood and adult life in Cooran, Tewantin, and Noosa from the 1930s onward, offering a vivid portrait of a small, close knit regional community before modern development. Born in 1930, she moved to Tewantin at age five, describing unsealed roads, minimal shops, and local institutions such as Godber’s Café, Donovan’s garage, the picture theatre, and the original Royal Mail Hotel. Her memories highlight a childhood spent outdoors—fishing, crabbing, rowing boats, swimming, and playing among mango trees, bee farms, and undeveloped riverbanks.
Andrew’s account details domestic routines of the era, including caring for cows, churning butter during wartime shortages, and doing housework in local guesthouses such as Laguna House and San Elanda. She recalls a strong sense of community safety, where homes remained unlocked and neighbours were connected through work, family, and social events like dances, debutante balls, and picture nights.
Her narrative touches on wartime experiences, including local American troops, air raid drills at school, and the service of her brothers and uncles. Andrew reflects on profound personal losses, family separations, and later life challenges, while also lamenting the dramatic transformation of Noosa and Tewantin—from quiet fishing settlements into busy, built up towns. Her reflections preserve the memory of an earlier, simpler era in the region’s history.
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Myrtle Andrew Oral History. Heritage Noosa, accessed 14/08/2026, https://heritage.noosa.qld.gov.au/nodes/view/4417
