Family Islands National Park is an Australian national park comprising a group of

continental island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

s lying a short distance off the coast, about midway between

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

and

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

, in

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stretches north to the Torres Strait, and west to the Gulf C ...

. Most of the area has been designated as part of the national park. The islands were given their collective name and also English names by Captain Cook when he sailed through the area in 1770. They were part of the mainland until roughly 8,000 years ago when the sea level rose.

The Islands

The largest of the Family Islands, their Aboriginal names, and their position in the "family" are: *

Dunk Island Dunk Island, known as ''Coonanglebah'' in the Warrgamay and Dyirbal languages, is an island within the locality of Dunk in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It lies off the Australian east coast, opposite the town of Missio ...

''(Coonanglebah)'' – the father * Richards Island ''( Bedarra)'' – the mother * Wheeler Island ''(Toolgbar)'' and Coombe Island ''(Coomba)'' – the twins * Smith Island (''Kurrumbah''),

Bowden Island {{Infobox islands , name = Bowden Island , native_name = , sobriquet = , image_name = , image_size = , image_caption = , image_alt = , locator_map = , locator_map_size = , map_ ...

''(Budjoo)'' and

Hudson Island Hudson Island is the southernmost island of the Family Islands group and located approximately 20 km East of Tully Heads. The Aboriginal name for this island is ''Coolah Island''. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority The Gre ...

''(Coolah)'' – the triplets. There are also a number of smaller islands: * Kumboola, which is connected to Dunk Island on particularly low tides * Mound Island ''(Purtaboi)'', which is protected as a sea bird nesting habitat * Woln Garin, a small island off Dunk Island's south east corner, known locally as "40ft Rock" * Battleship Rock ''(Pee-Rahm-Ah)'', named because of its distinctive shape when seen from the north *

Thorpe Island Thorpe Island is one of the middle islands of the Family Islands group within the locality of Dunk in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland. Australia. It is about 15 km east of Tully Heads. It is also known as Timana Island. In 1770 C ...

''(Ti mana)'', which is privately owned with one residence. This is the only Australian island which is owned

freehold Freehold may refer to: In real estate *Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple *Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England *Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice p ...

. The European names of the islands reflect the names of the officers on board the survey ship HMS ''Paluma'': Lieutenant G. Richards, commander; Lieutenants Wheeler, Combe and Bowden-Smith; Dr. Thorpe, surgeon; and Mr. Hudson, engineer.

Facilities

Camp grounds are available on Dunk, Coombe and Wheeler Islands, with permits available from Queensland Parks and Wildlife. Resorts operate on Dunk and Bedarra Islands.

References

{{National Parks of Queensland National parks of Far North Queensland Islands on the Great Barrier Reef Protected areas established in 1994 1994 establishments in Australia Islands of Far North Queensland

The Islands

Facilities

See also

References