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In 1930, there were a number of reports of loud booming noises coming from the local swamp. The noises would sometimes stop for a couple of months, but they would eventually come back just as before. There were also reports of missing cattle and people who were assumed dead. When the white people heard of this they thought that the animal must be something unknown and so they created the name Bunyip. There were also many humorous stories and drawings in the local Gold Coast Bulletin.

A thousand pound reward was offered to the person who found the Bunyip, dead or alive. As soon as the reward was offered people (usually those who had just come out of the pub) would go into the swamp in search for the Bunyip, hoping to become town heroes. One night (after a few beers) a couple of men decided to claim the reward. So off they went with a horse and cart into the wet land. This swamp was home for the swamp pheasants so as soon as the horse heard the eerie call of the swamp pheasants it bolted, wrecking the cart and leaving the men behind. The men were forced to spend all night trying to find their way home.

In 1938 Charles Finamore, a sanitary contractor, repeatedly came across a ten foot long crocodile at the northern end of the Miami Swamp, which is very close to the local rubbish tip. He followed the footprints for around 2.5 kilometres and encounted the remains of a cow. The bones were scattered everywhere. He continued to follow the tracks which led into the Miami Swamp. People were unconvinced that the crocodile was their bunyip because at the time the man in charge of the Brisbane Museum said Maryborough was as far south as the crocodiles could go. However a similar crocodile was shot in the Logan River, about 40 kilometres north of Burleigh. This discovery proved that it was possible for the crocodiles to survive further south. Of course the Aborigines knew that the bunyip was a crocodile all along.

The Bunyip story faded into myth as the area became more populated. What do you think? Could the Burleigh Bunyip still exist?