South Cumberland Islands National Park

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South Cumberland Islands National Park
Green turtle (Chelonia mydas)
Green turtle ( Chelonia mydas )
South Cumberland Islands National Park (Queensland)
Paris plan pointer b jms.svg
Coordinates: 20 ° 44 ′ 28 ″  S , 149 ° 28 ′ 25 ″  E
Location: Queensland , Australia
Specialty: Sandy beaches, coral reefs, tropical rainforest
Next city: Mackay
Surface: 31.6 km²
Founding: 1994
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The South Cumberland Islands National Park (English: South Cumberland Islands National Park ) is a national park in the east of the Australian state of Queensland . It is 831 kilometers northwest of Brisbane and 60 kilometers northeast of Mackay . It is part of the Great Barrier Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage Site .

The archipelago consists of Scawfell Island , the largest island, of Keswick Island , Saint-Bees-Island , Cockermouth Island and five other, smaller islands.

The national parks of Northumberland Islands , Percy Isles , Brampton Islands , Yuwi Paree Toolkoon and Smith Islands are in the vicinity .

history

Scawfell Island was discovered by Captain James Cook in 1770 and was part of the Cumberland Isles Group (later: Whitsunday Islands ), but was initially given no name. Lieutenant Matthew Flinders of the British Royal Navy referred to the island as L-Island in September 1802 , one of his many alphanumeric designations along the Queensland coast, which he performed on the HMS Investigator while circumnavigating Australia in 1802 and 1803 . In 1879, Staff Commander E. P. Bedwell of the British Royal Navy named Scawfell Island and surveyed it and several other islands that he reached with his ship SS Llewellyn . The new name of the island is derived from a mountain in Cumbria in England , the Sca Fell , a summit of the Scafell-Pike group .

National nature

Scawfell Island reaches an altitude of 397  m above sea level. The highest point is on the northern tip of the horseshoe-shaped island. Granite cliffs surround the island. Only in Refuge Bay , a wide, north-facing bay, is a 1.3 kilometer long sandy beach with trees. The bay is lined with a coral reef .

Flora and fauna

The steep mountain slopes of Scawfell Island are covered in dry rainforest . In addition, there is sparse eucalyptus forest and extensive grassland on the islands .

There is a small colony of koalas on Saint Bees Island . Green turtles and hawksbill turtles nest on the beaches of many of the islands . Box jellyfish can be found in the sea ​​around the islands from October to May .

Facilities and access

The islands are uninhabited. Wild camping is permitted on Scawfell Island, Saint Bees Island and Cockermouth Island. However, there are no special facilities for this and a fee must be obtained. Refuge Bay on Scawfell Island provides a good anchorage. Fishing is also allowed there.

The islands can only be reached by private or chartered boats.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Australian Government - CAPAD 2010 ( MS Excel ; 170 kB), DSEWPaC , accessed on October 7, 2012 (English)
  2. ↑ Australian Government - CAPAD 1997 ( MS Excel ; 93 kB), DSEWPaC , accessed on October 7, 2012 (English)
  3. ^ Steve Parish: Australian Touring Atlas . Steve Parish Publishing. Archerfield QLD 2007. ISBN 978-1-74193-232-4 . P. 11
  4. ↑ a b c d South Cumberland Islands National Park . Department of Environment and Resource Management. Retrieved December 7, 2012
  5. ↑ a b Whitsunday and Mackay Islands Visitor Management Strategy - Visitor Management Settings - Map 3 'Mackay' ( Memento of the original from July 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 1.8 MB), Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service , accessed January 7, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nprsr.qld.gov.au
  6. ↑ a b Explore Queensland's National Parks . Explore Australia Publishing, Prahran, Victoria 2008, ISBN 978-1-74117-245-4 , p. 17.