Sandy Cape (also known by the Indigenous name of Woakoh) is the most northern point on

Fraser Island Fraser Island ( Butchulla: ) is a World Heritage-listed island along the south-eastern coast in the Wide Bay–Burnett region, Queensland, Australia. The island is approximately north of the state capital, Brisbane, and is within the Fras ...

(also known as K'gari and Gari) off the coast of

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 , establishe ...

, 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 (the latter was also named by Cook noting "...on which a number of Natives were assembled..." and is also known as ''Tukkee'' in the

Badtjala language Kabi Kabi, also spelt Gabi-Gabi/Gubbi Gubbi, is a language of Queensland in Australia, formerly spoken by the Kabi Kabi people of South-east Queensland. The main dialect, Kabi Kabi, is extinct, but there are still 24 people with knowledge of t ...

, meaning ''stone'' or ''stone knife''). The cape is protected within the K'gari 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 fore ...

. BreakSea Spit extends about north of Sandy Cape. Nesting loggerhead and

green turtle The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exten ...

s use the remote, sandy location as a

rookery A rookery is a colony of breeding animals, generally gregarious birds. Coming from the nesting habits of rooks, the term is used for corvids and the breeding grounds of colony-forming seabirds, marine mammals ( true seals and sea lions), and ...

. Nighttime driving along the beach at Sandy Cape is banned during the nesting season. The vegetation at the cape is stunted and windswept. The foredunes are lightly covered by

spinifex grass Spinifex grass is a name which has been applied to two genera of grasses: * ''Spinifex'' (coastal grass), a genus of grass which is indigenous to the coastal areas of Australasia and Indonesia * ''Triodia'' (plant), a hummock grass of arid Austra ...

. Vehicle access to Sandy Cape is only available by the eastern beach at low tide. Camping is permitted in the area and it is a popular location with anglers.

History

Matthew Flinders, traveling aboard the '' Investigator'', landed at Sandy Cape in 1802 and noted the desolate landscape. In August 1803, the ships '' Cato'' and '' Porpoise'' were both sunk off the cape in bad weather. In late December 1842, HMS ''Fly'' anchored behind Sandy Cape where some crewmen and naturalists went ashore and commented on the poor sparse surroundings. The Fly returned in April 1845 and took water from an abundant supply behind the beach and about 7 miles within the Cape. The ''Seabelle'' was wrecked in 1857, the American Bark "Panama" in 1864, and the ''Chang Chow'' in 1884 in waters closer to the cape which may contain hidden sandbars. Because of the number of shipwrecks in the vicinity the Sandy Cape Light was constructed in 1870. This marked the first permanent European settlement on Fraser Islnd. The '' SS Marloo'' was wrecked in September 1914.

Clement Lindley Wragge Clement Lindley Wragge (18 September 185210 December 1922) was a meteorologist born in Stourbridge, Worcestershire, England, but moved to Oakamoor, Staffordshire as a child. He set up the Wragge Museum in Stafford following a trip around the wor ...

set up an extensive network of weather stations around Queensland, including one at Sandy Cape in 1891. The cape is still used as a reference point for weather observations; however from May 2015, it has been downgraded to a daily observation, compared with the half-hourly observations at some other weather stations.

References

{{coord, 24, 41, 59.84, S, 153, 15, 35.37, E, type:landmark_region:AU, display=title Headlands of Queensland Fraser Island

History

See also

References