Double Island Point is a coastal headland in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is the next headland north of

Noosa The Shire of Noosa is a local government area about north of Brisbane in the Sunshine Coast district of South East Queensland, Australia. The shire covers an area of . It existed as a local government entity from 1910 until 2008, when it was ...

and is within the Cooloola section of the

Great Sandy National Park Great Sandy National Park is a coastal national park in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. Geography The park features untouched beaches, large sand dunes, heathlands, rainforests, swamps, creeks, freshwater lakes and mangrove fores ...

, at the southern end of Wide Bay. It is approximately 12km south along the beach from the tourist township of Rainbow Beach, Queensland.

History

The Kabi Kabi people have lived, hunted and fished in this area for tens of thousands of years. The site had obvious cultural significance and was used as a burial site by local indigenous people. The point was named by

Captain Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

when he passed it on 18 May 1770, "on account of its figure" (i.e. shape). In the original of his journal he had written ''Fiddle Head'', but crossed that out.

Geography

Despite the name, there is no (double) islands, but rather a sandspit. It is the southern point of Wide Bay. Wolf Rock is a set of four volcanic pinnacles off Double Island Point. There is no road access to the point, but

four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

vehicles can go along the beach, either from the township of

Rainbow Beach Rainbow Beach is a coastal rural town and locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Rainbow Beach had a population of 1,249 people. It is a popular tourist destination, both in its own right and as a gateway to Fraser Islan ...

in Wide Bay, or the longer way up from

Noosa Heads Noosa Heads is a coastal town and suburb in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Noosa Heads had a population of 4,484 people. It is a popular holiday destination. Geography The suburb is bounded to the west by Wey ...

(after taking a ferry across the

Noosa River 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. Lakes situated on ...

). The northern side of the point is a

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

location. On a good swell, a right-hander breaks over sand, and for perhaps as much as 300 metres in ideal conditions.

Record Wind Gust

On 16 December 2006, the

Bureau of Meteorology The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM or BoM) is an executive agency of the Australian Government responsible for providing weather services to Australia and surrounding areas. It was established in 1906 under the Meteorology Act, and brought together ...

-operated weather station located at the Double Island Point Lighthouse recorded a wind gust of , which accompanied a severe supercell thunderstorm. It was the highest non-tornadic wind gust ever recorded from a thunderstorm in Australia, and was equivalent to winds in a category 3

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

Heritage listings

Double Island Point has a number of

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...

sites, including: * Double Island Point: Double Island Point Light

Lighthouse

In 1884 a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

was built on the point. It is a timber with metal cladding construction, like many lighthouses in Queensland, made that way because it is cheaper than masonry, but also better suited for soft sandy soils. It was planned for only halfway up the point, but then it was realized the light wouldn't be visible to the north and so the tower was built on top of the point. The lantern was initially burning oil, then in 1923 vaporized

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

was introduced. Later it was converted to electric power. In 1992 it was converted to solar power and demanned. The

light characteristic A light characteristic is all of the properties that make a particular navigational light identifiable. Graphical and textual descriptions of navigational light sequences and colours are displayed on nautical charts and in Light Lists with the cha ...

is a single flash every 7.5 seconds, the

focal plane In Gaussian optics, the cardinal points consist of three pairs of points located on the optical axis of a rotationally symmetric, focal, optical system. These are the '' focal points'', the principal points, and the nodal points. For ''ideal'' ...

is located 96 metres above sea level.

References