Gheebulum Kunungai (Moreton Island) National Park

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Gheebulum Kunungai National Park
Queensland
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Australia Queensland location map.svg
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Gheebulum Kunungai National Park
Nearest town or city Brisbane
Coordinates 27°03′09″S153°23′28″E / 27.05250°S 153.39111°E / -27.05250; 153.39111
Established1966
Area168 km2 (64.9 sq mi)
Managing authorities Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
Website Gheebulum Kunungai National Park
See also Protected areas of Queensland
Signpost of Moreton Moreton Island National park, QLD, signpost.jpg
Signpost of Moreton

Gheebulum Kunungai (Moreton Island) is a national park which covers 98% of Moreton Island (Mulgumpin) in Queensland, Australia, 40 km northeast of center of the Brisbane. Its eastern part of he City of Brisbane. It has three main townships, Bulwer, Cowan Cowan and Kooringal.

Contents

The island is home to Queensland's oldest operating lighthouse located at Cape Moreton on the northern tip of the island. [1] The township of Cowan was home to the Australian soldiers during WWII and many relics remain on the island. Access to the park was restricted during a clean-up of oil from the 2009 southeast Queensland oil spill. [2]

Activities such as bushwalking, fishing and watersports are popular in the park. Humpback whale can be seen in surrounding waters between late winter and spring. [1]

In 2021 Moreton Island National Park was renamed to Gheebulum Coonungai National Park following the transfer of Moreton Island (Mulgumpin)'s ownership from the Queensland Government back to the native Quandamooka People. [3] The names Gheebulum and Coonungai are the Quandamooka name of two spiritually significant sand hills within the national park. [3]

Flora

Red-capped plover Red-capped Plover male.jpg
Red-capped plover

The park contains mostly heath and open forests of scribbly gum and pink bloodwood, as well as the coastal she-oak. Other areas contain mangroves, sedge and melaleuca swamps. [1]

Access

Access to the island is via the MICAT vehicle ferry service from Lytton, near the Port of Brisbane, the Tangalooma Flyer launched from Pinkenba or the Kooringal Trader from Amity Point on North Stradbroke Island. The Combie Trader barge service from Scarborough in Redcliffe City to Bulwer no longer operates.

Camping

Camping is permitted in specified campsites as well as within zones along eastern and western beaches. [1]

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bribie Island</span> Island in Queensland, Australia

Bribie Island is the smallest and most northerly of three major sand islands forming the coastline sheltering the northern part of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. The others are Moreton Island and North Stradbroke Island. Bribie Island is 34 kilometres long, and 8 kilometres at its widest. Archibald Meston believed that the name of the island came from a corruption of a mainland word for it, Boorabee meaning koala. However, the correct Joondaburri name for the island is in fact Yarun.

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Originally a whaling station, Tangalooma Island Resort is a resort on the west side of Moreton Island in Queensland, Australia. It lies on the eastern shore of Moreton Bay and is known for its resort accommodation, dolphin-feeding program, sand dunes and wreck diving. Swimming is popular along the white beaches. It has a population of over 300 and receives more than 3,500 visitors every week as it is about 70 minutes from Brisbane by express catamaran. Moreton Island National Park covers 98% of the island, though there are three small townships including Bulwer, Kooringal and Cowan Cowan. The adjacent waters are protected as the Moreton Bay Marine Park. Tangalooma is the aboriginal word meaning "where the fish gather".

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bulwer, Queensland</span> Suburb of City of Brisbane (Deagon Ward), Queensland, Australia

Bulwer is a coastal town and locality at the north-western end of Moreton Island in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census the locality of Bulwer had a population of 49 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 southeast Queensland oil spill</span>

The 2009 southeast Queensland oil spill occurred off the coast of southeast Queensland, Australia on 11 March 2009, when 230 tonnes of fuel oil, 30 tonnes of other fuel and 31 shipping containers containing 620 tonnes of ammonium nitrate spilled into the Coral Sea, north of Moreton Bay during Cyclone Hamish. It happened after unsecured cargo on MV Pacific Adventurer damaged other cargo, causing the spillage. Over the following days, the spill washed ashore along 60 kilometres (37 mi) of coastline encompassing the Sunshine Coast, Moreton Bay, Bribie Island and Moreton Island.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Cowan Cowan</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

Fort Cowan Cowan is a heritage-listed World War II fortification at 30 Jessie Wadsworth Street, Moreton Island, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is also known as RAN 3 Cowan Cowan, Fort Cowan and Cowan Cowan Battery. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 1 October 2007.

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Signal Station, Moreton Island is a heritage-listed signal station at 25 Dorothy Newnham Street, Moreton Island, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built in the 1930s. It is also known as Former Navy Signal Station Fort Cowan. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 1 February 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quandamooka people</span>

The Quandamooka people are Aboriginal Australians who live around Moreton Bay in Southeastern Queensland. They are composed of three distinct tribes, the Nunukul, the Goenpul and the Ngugi, and they live primarily on Moreton and North Stradbroke Islands, that form the eastern side of the bay. Many were pushed out of their lands when the English colonial government established a penal colony near there in 1824. Each group has its own language. A number of local food sources are utilised by the tribes.

Kooringal is a coastal town and locality on the south-west coast of Moreton Island within the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census the locality of Kooringal had a population of 45 people.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Explore Queensland's National Parks. Prahran, Victoria: Explore Australia Publishing. 2008. pp. 34–35. ISBN   978-1-74117-245-4.
  2. "Coast beaches re-open after spill". Brisbane Times . Fairfax Media. 21 March 2009. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  3. 1 2 "Mulgumpin (Moreton Island) land returns to Traditional Owners". Ministerial Media Statements. Retrieved 5 July 2021.