Great Sandy National Park

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Great Sandy National Park
Queensland
Fraser Island Cathedral cliffs.jpg
The Cathedral coloured sands
Australia Queensland relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Great Sandy National Park
Nearest town or city Hervey Bay
Coordinates 25°02′43″S153°12′36″E / 25.04528°S 153.21000°E / -25.04528; 153.21000 Coordinates: 25°02′43″S153°12′36″E / 25.04528°S 153.21000°E / -25.04528; 153.21000
Established1971
Area2,195.55 km2 (847.7 sq mi)
Managing authorities Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
See also Protected areas of Queensland

Great Sandy National Park is a coastal national park in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. [1]

Contents

Geography

The park features untouched beaches, large sand dunes, heathlands, rainforests, swamps, creeks, freshwater lakes and mangrove forests.

Great Sandy National Park is divided into two sections. The Cooloola Recreation Area section is situated on the coast between Noosa Heads in the south and Rainbow Beach in the north and covers 18,400 hectares (45,000 acres). The Fraser Island (also known as K'Gari and Gari) section encompasses almost all of the world's largest sand island, which is situated north of Rainbow Beach, covering 56,000 hectares (140,000 acres).

Environment

Birds

The land within the park is classified by BirdLife International as the Cooloola and Fraser Coast Important Bird Area because it supports a large population of black-breasted buttonquails as well as many bush and beach stone-curlews, green catbirds, regent bowerbirds, mangrove honeyeaters, and pale-yellow robins. [2] Cooloola is also home to the eastern ground parrot and has one of the last coastal populations of the emu. [3]

Looking up at a rainforest in the Great Sandy National Park, Cooloola, facing east Rainforest in the Great Sandy National Park, Cooloola.jpg
Looking up at a rainforest in the Great Sandy National Park, Cooloola, facing east

Features

StateLibQld 1 163239 Maheno (ship).jpg
A216, Great Sandy National Park, Australia, Fraser Island, Maheno shipwreck, 2007.JPG
SS Maheno shipwrecked in 1935 and its rusted remains in 2007

The Cooloola section contains the Cooloola Great Walk, a five-day hiking trail. Boat tours and canoeing along the Noosa River are popular visitor activities. On Fraser Island is the 90 km long Fraser Island Great Walk. [4] Lake Cootharaba offers fishing, sailing, and canoeing opportunities.

Whale watching, fishing, four-wheel driving, and bushwalking are also popular. The park also features two shipwrecks; the SS Maheno and the Cherry Venture . [5]

The only place in the world where tall rainforest grows in sand is on Fraser Islsand. [5] The sand island has coloured sand cliffs on its eastern beach and numerous walking tracks from short boardwalks to longer walks, which cross sand blows.

Fraser Island also has more than 100 freshwater lakes including the largest perched lake in the world, Lake Boomanjin. [6] Lake Wabby is a popular swimming and fishing spot. [7]

A unique feature of Great Sandy National Park is the coloured sands, which are formed by old sand mixed with clay into a consolidated mass. The visible hues include red, brown, and yellow, which are a reflection of the iron-rich minerals embedded in the sands for thousands of years and brought to the surface by wind and water eroding the land. [8]

Lake Wabby A170, Great Sandy National Park, Australia, Fraser Island, Lake Wabby, 2007.JPG
Lake Wabby

Access

Access to Fraser Island ideally requires a high-clearance 4WD vehicle. [9] Parts of the Cooloola section are also inaccessible without a four-wheel drive. Vehicles entering the park need to obtain a vehicle permit for both Fraser Island and the Cooloola Recreational Area. Both sections have numerous camping areas.

Camping

Permits are required to camp in the park. About 15 camp sites are in the Cooloola section. [5] Only electric motors and non-motorised vessels are permitted past Campsite 3. [10]

Fines

Fines are issued for feeding Fraser Island's wild dingo population or leaving food or rubbish that may attract them. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Fraser Island Sand island in Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia

Fraser Island is a World Heritage-listed island along the south-eastern coast in the Wide Bay–Burnett region, Queensland, Australia. The island is approximately 250 kilometres (160 mi) north of the state capital, Brisbane, and is within the Fraser Coast Region local government area. The world heritage listing includes the island, its surrounding waters and parts of the nearby mainland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunshine Coast, Queensland</span> Region in Queensland, Australia

Sunshine Coast is a peri-urban region in South East Queensland, Australia. It is the district defined in 1967 as "the area contained in the Shires of Landsborough, Maroochy and Noosa, but excluding Bribie Island". Located 100 km (62 mi) north of the centre of Brisbane in South East Queensland, on the Coral Sea coastline, its urban area spans approximately 60 km (37 mi) of coastline and hinterland from Pelican Waters to Tewantin.

Double Island Point

Double Island Point is a coastal headland in Queensland, Australia. It is the next headland north of Noosa and is within the Cooloola section of the Great Sandy National Park, at the southern end of Wide Bay. It is approximately 12km south along the beach from the tourist township of Rainbow Beach, Queensland.

Great Sandy Strait Suburb of Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia

The Great Sandy Strait is a strait in the Australian state of Queensland of 70 kilometres (43 mi) length which separates mainland Queensland from Fraser Island. It is also a locality in the Fraser Coast Region local government area. In the 2016 census, Great Sandy Strait had a population of 4 people.

Rainbow Beach, Queensland Town in Queensland, Australia

Rainbow Beach is a coastal rural town and locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Rainbow Beach had a population of 1,249 people.

Lake Cootharaba Lake in Queensland, Australia

Lake Cootharaba is a lake on the Noosa River within the locality of Noosa North Shore in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. It is the gateway to the Everglades, a popular tourist attraction for Noosa, being 20 km away from Noosa. The lake's major access is the town of Boreen Point, as well as the smaller camping-spot of Elanda Point.

Cooloola is a coastal locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Cooloola had a population of 3 people.

Noosa North Shore, Queensland Suburb of Noosa, Queensland, Australia

Noosa North Shore is a coastal rural locality in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Noosa North Shore had a population of 179 people.

Teewah Beach

Teewah Beach is a beach that extends from Double Island Point in Cooloola, Gympie Region through Noosa North Shore in the Shire of Noosa to the Noosa River in Queensland, Australia. It is part of the Great Sandy National Park. The beach extends from approximately 25°56'11"S, 153°11'18"E to 26°22'44"S, 153°04'38"E, a distance of about 51 kilometres.

Noosa River River in Queensland, Australia

The Noosa River is a river situated in South East Queensland. The catchment starts in the Como Escarpment near Mount Elliott in the coastal Great Sandy National Park and meanders south through a lakes district around Tewantin.

Kgari (Fraser Island) Great Walk

The K'gari Great Walk is a long-distance walking track on Fraser Island, Queensland, Australia. Hikers should be fully self-sufficient and to carry sufficient water. The walk is rated easy to moderate on a difficulty scale being mostly at sea level and is traversed in one direction.

Lake Wabby Lake in Queensland, Australia

Lake Wabby is a small freshwater, green colored lake. It is located in the Great Sandy National Park on the eastern side of K'gari off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The lake is directly adjacent to the Hammerstone Sandblow, which is slowly moving into the lake. Eventually it will disappear under the sand.

Cooloola Great Walk

The Cooloola Great Walk is a 102 kilometres (63 mi) coastal bushwalking route in the Great Sandy National Park of South East Queensland, Australia. Opened in 2010, it runs from Noosa North Shore through Cooloola to Rainbow Beach, and is planned as a five-day trek. The hiking trail was officially opened by Climate Change and Sustainability Minister Kate Jones in March 2010.

Sandy Cape Cape in Australia

Sandy Cape is the most northern point on Fraser Island off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The place was named Sandy Cape for its appearance by James Cook during his 1770 voyage up the eastern coast of Australia aboard the Endeavour. To the south the next two ocean headlands are Waddy Point and Indian Head.

Wide Bay–Burnett Region in Queensland, Australia

Wide Bay–Burnett is a region of the Australian state of Queensland, located between 170–400 km (110–250 mi) north of the state capital, Brisbane. The area's population growth has exceeded the state average over the past 20 years, and it is forecast to grow to more than 430,000 by 2031. It is the subject of the Draft Wide Bay–Burnett Regional Plan, which aims to facilitate this growth while protecting over 90% of the region from urban development.

Cooloola Tramway Historic site in Queensland, Australia

The Cooloola Tramway is a heritage-listed tramway at Great Sandy National Park, Cooloola Recreation Area, Cooloola, Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 1870s it was known as the Kaloola Railway. It is also known as Cooloola Railway, SEQ-5N 22, Pettigrew's Railway, and Pettigrew's Tramway. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 12 July 2013.

Butchulla

The Butchulla, also written Butchella, Badjala, Badjula, Badjela, Bajellah, Badtjala and Budjilla are an Aboriginal Australian people of K'gari, Queensland, and a small area of the nearby mainland of southern Queensland.

Tinnanbar is a coastal town and a locality in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Tinnanbar had a population of 123 people.

Lake Boomanjin Body of water

Lake Boomanjin is a large perched lake in the Fraser Coast Region of Queensland, Australia. The lake is located on Fraser Island in the Great Sandy National Park.

References

  1. ↑ "Great Sandy National Park (entry 44177)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government . Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  2. ↑ "IBA: Cooloola and Fraser Coast". Birdata. Birds Australia. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  3. ↑ "About Cooloola Recreation Area". Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing. 21 August 2014. Archived from the original on 8 September 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  4. ↑ "Fraser Island Great Walk". Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing. 24 March 2014. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Explore Queensland's National Parks. Prahran, Victoria: Explore Australia Publishing. 2008. pp. 23–27. ISBN   978-1-74117-245-4.
  6. ↑ "The Lakes of Fraser Island" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  7. ↑ "Lake Wabby". Queensland Holidays. Tourism Queensland. Archived from the original on 12 April 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  8. ↑ "Natural environment". Queensland Government Parks and Forests. Archived from the original on 2 July 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  9. ↑ Science, jurisdiction=Queensland; sector=government; corporateName=Department of Environment and (19 October 2009). "Things to do | K'gari (Fraser Island), Great Sandy National Park". Parks and forests | Department of Environment and Science, Queensland. Archived from the original on 2 October 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  10. ↑ (21 August 2014). Southern Cooloola, Great Sandy National Park: Frequently Asked Questions Archived 8 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine . Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
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