Green Island, Queensland
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Green Island (originally ''Dabuukji'') is a marine island and locality in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the Green Island had a population of 25 people.


Geography

Green Island is coral cay offshore from Cairns, Queensland,
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 ...
located within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park World Heritage Area in the Coral Sea. The island is surrounded by coral reef and protected in the
Green Island National Park Green Island National Park is a protected area declared over a small (12 ha) cay, coral cay of Green Island (Queensland), Green Island, Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. It is known to the local Gungganyji Aboriginal peoples as Green Island, ...
. Most visitors come for the day. A luxury resort with 46 rooms is situated on the island. The island supports a range of vegetation, including dry coastal/beach plants and a vine thicket rain forest. There are no natural freshwater springs on the island so all vegetation relies on rainwater and a small
freshwater lens In hydrology, a lens, also called freshwater lens or Ghyben-Herzberg lens, is a convex-shaped layer of fresh groundwater that floats above the denser saltwater and is usually found on small coral or limestone islands and atolls. This aquifer of f ...
located under the island.


History

The island was formed approximately 6,000 years ago by waves depositing sand, coral and other debris onto its coral foundations. Local Aboriginal language speakers (Roy Banning, Robert Patterson, and Henry Fourmile) advised and confirmed the Gungganyji language group are especially connected with the island. To them it is named ''Dabuukji''.Martyn, Julie (1993) ''The History of Green Island: The Place of Spirits'' Cairns: Bolton Inprint, ''Dabuukji'', as a name, may refer to the island having been within local Aboriginal mythology and history a larger island with a freshwater marsh or 'hole' (later a well) at its centre. Alternatively it may be a reference to the story of the turtle which first obtained holes in its nose (nostrils) on this coral cay. It may also be a reference to some aspect of young Gungganyji male initiation rituals reported to have been conducted on this coral cay in times past. The local
Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...
people (particularly Dick Moses, speaking Yidinyji) say that in the Dreamtime ''Dabuukji'' (Green Island) was approximately four times the size it is now, and that the present coral cay is only the north-east portion of the whole, original island. Local Aboriginal people have grown up with the understanding the coral cay was a place to be generally avoided, being ''wunjami'', that is, "a place haunted by spirits". The Queensland Government has gazetted ''Green Island'' as the cay's official name, this being the name given it by Lieutenant
James 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 ...
on 10 June 1770, either because of the appearance of the coral cay's vegetation, or possibly after Charles Green, who was an astronomer aboard the
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at the time. The first known non Aboriginal person to reside on the island was fisherman James Seton Veitch Mein in 1857 who established a
beche-de-mer Sea cucumbers are marine animals of the class Holothuroidea. They can be used as food, in fresh or dried form, in various cuisines. In some cultural contexts the sea cucumber is thought to have medicinal value. The creature and the food product ...
smoking station. Coconut palms were planted on the island in 1899 to provide food for shipwrecked sailors. In April 1873, the ''Goodwill'' vessel arrived at Green Island with 3 European crew and 5
Manbarra The Manbarra, otherwise known as the Wulgurukaba, are Aboriginal Australian people, and the traditional custodians of the Palm Islands, Magnetic Island, and an area of mainland Queensland to the west of Townsville. The Manbarra people were forci ...
people
press-ganged Impressment, colloquially "the press" or the "press gang", is the taking of men into a military or naval force by compulsion, with or without notice. European navies of several nations used forced recruitment by various means. The large size of ...
from Palm Island to collect and process beche de mer. The Aboriginals, including 3 men and 2 women, resented their treatment and killed two of the whites and stole the "Goodwill". The third, Daniel Kelly, escaped to nearby Oyster Quay Island to report the killings to another beche-de-mer fisherman named Philip Garland. The incident was reported to authorities in
Cardwell Cardwell may refer to: Places Australia *Cardwell, Queensland United States *Cardwell, Missouri *Cardwell, Montana * Cardwell Hall, Kansas State University Canada *Cardwell Parish, New Brunswick People *Alvin B. Cardwell (1902–1992), America ...
and the Queensland Police Commissioner
Seymour Seymour may refer to: Places Australia *Seymour, Victoria, a township *Electoral district of Seymour, a former electoral district in Victoria *Rural City of Seymour, a former local government area in Victoria *Seymour, Tasmania, a locality ...
ordered Native Police officer Robert Arthur Johnstone to organise a punitive mission. Johnstone and his troopers sailed to the area in their police boat and found the "Goodwill" abandoned and burnt on a beach in Trinity Bay where the modern-day community of Yarrabah is now located. "The blacks were given a proper warm reception" when Johnstone arrived and after proceeding inland for 3 miles his troopers dispersed another group of local Yidinji people first by firing on them from a distance and then charging amongst them. Johnstone's section then sailed to the mouth of what is now called the Mulgrave River and dispersed "a large mob of blacks" with gunfire. They then sailed further south to the Gladys Inlet (which is now known as the Johnstone River) where a large group of Aboriginals led by a very tall man decorated with pipeclay resisted the troopers' approach. Johnstone punished their "insolence" with gunfire and this leader was one of those killed in the shooting. In July 1873, four workers, including the owner James Mercer, at another beche-de-mer fishing station on Green Island were killed by press-ganged
Manbarra The Manbarra, otherwise known as the Wulgurukaba, are Aboriginal Australian people, and the traditional custodians of the Palm Islands, Magnetic Island, and an area of mainland Queensland to the west of Townsville. The Manbarra people were forci ...
labourers. These Palm Island natives were denied food rations for their work and subsequently killed their overseers in revenge. The record is unclear on whether another punitive mission was organised but the regional newspapers at the time were strong in their contempt for the
Manbarra The Manbarra, otherwise known as the Wulgurukaba, are Aboriginal Australian people, and the traditional custodians of the Palm Islands, Magnetic Island, and an area of mainland Queensland to the west of Townsville. The Manbarra people were forci ...
people and hoped for their "final extermination" whether it be by bullets or by rum. Since the early 20th century, tourism has been the main activity on the island. A guest house was originally built in the 1930s and an underwater observatory was installed in 1954. In 1970 Queen Elizabeth II, The Duke of Edinburgh and Her Royal Highness Princess Anne toured Australia including Queensland. The Queensland tour began on Sunday 12 April when the royal yacht ''Britannia'' entered Moreton Bay at Caloundra, sailing into Newstead Wharf. After visiting Brisbane, Longreach and Mount Isa the Royal Family travelled to Mackay. The royal party had a leisurely cruise to Townsville. According to the formal schedule, the Royal Yacht ''Britannia'' arrived off Green Island on the morning of 21 April, after leaving Townsville the day before. The scheduled visit to Green Island was dependent on the weather. All three members of the Royal family were taken by Royal Barge to the Green Island jetty. The visit only lasted 30mins, before ''Britannia'' left for Cooktown by 10:15am the same day. The current resort, Green Island Reef Resort, was opened in 1994. A seawater desalination plant was commissioned to supply water to the resort in 2001. The plant supplies 55 kL/d of potable water, and returns waste brine to the sea.Referral detail - Green Island Desalination Plant
''Government of Australia, Department of Environment. ''Retrieved 7 January 2014.


Education

There are no schools on Green Island. The nearest schools are in Cairns. Distance education and boarding schools are other options.


Transport

Commercial charter boats, helicopter and seaplane services all provide transport to the island. The island is reachable by a 45-minute
catamaran A Formula 16 beachable catamaran Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stab ...
ride from the mainland city of
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 ...
.


See also

* List of islands of Australia


References


Further reading

*


External links

*
Green Island Resort
- Queensland Holidays. {{1stVoyageCookAus Islands of Queensland Islands of Far North Queensland Great Barrier Reef Australian Aboriginal mythology Cultural landscapes of North-East Queensland Suburbs of Cairns Localities in Queensland