Wongaling Beach is a tropical beachside coastal town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

in the

Cassowary Coast Region The Cassowary Coast Region is a local government area in the Far North Queensland region of Queensland, Australia, south of Cairns and centred on the towns of Innisfail, Cardwell and Tully. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shire ...

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. In the , the locality of Wongaling Beach had a population of 1,245 people.

Geography

The locality takes its name from the beach Wongaling Beach () which extends the length of the locality's coastline, and is part of a continuous sandy coastline which links the three adjacent coastal localities (from north to south): Mission Beach (sometimes called North Mission Beach), Wongaling Beach, and

South Mission Beach South Mission Beach is a coastal town and locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , South Mission Beach had a population of 932 people. Geography As the name suggests, South Mission Beach is south of Mission Beac ...

. Most of the residential development is along the eastern coastal strip of the locality with the town centre on the coast in the south-east of the locality. The western part of the locality is undeveloped tropical forests.

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 Missi ...

lies off the southern coast of Wongaling Beach.

History

The suburb takes its name from its beach where the town allotments were surveyed in 1973. ''Wongaling'' is an Aboriginal word meaning ''

pigeon Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

''. Mission Beach State School opened on 27 January 1953 in the "tropical jungle" of Mission Beach to the north. On 1 February 1993, the school re-opened at a new site in Wongaling Beach. Wongaling Beach Library facility was given a major refurbishment in 2002. In the , the locality of Wongaling Beach had a population of 1,245 people.

Education

Despite its name, Mission Beach State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at Webb Road (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 310 students with 21 teachers (20 full-time equivalent) and 19 non-teaching staff (11 full-time equivalent). There is no secondary school in Wongaling Beach. The nearest government secondary school is

Tully State High School Tully is a town and locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It is adjacent to the Bruce Highway, approximately south of Cairns by road and north of Townsville. At the , the population was 2,390. Tully is perhaps best kno ...

in Tully to the south-west.

Facilities

Mission Beach Police Station is at 2 Webb Street (). Mission Beach

SES SES, S.E.S., Ses and similar variants can refere to: Business and economics * Socioeconomic status * Scottish Economic Society, a learned society in Scotland * SES, callsign of the TV station SES/RTS (Mount Gambier, South Australia) * SES S.A., ...

Facility is at the rear of the police station (). Mission Beach Fire Station is at 4 Webb Street (). Mission Beach Ambulance Station is at 6 Webb Street (). Mission Beach Community Health Centre is at 26 Wongaling Beach Road (). It operates three days a week. At other times, the nearest health services are in Tully.

Amenities

Cassowary Coast Regional Council The Cassowary Coast Region is a local government area in the Far North Queensland region of Queensland, Australia, south of Cairns and centred on the towns of Innisfail, Cardwell and Tully. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Sh ...

operates Wongaling Beach Library at 2018 Tully Mission Beach Drive (). Holy Spirit Catholic Church is at 12 Webb Road (). It is within the Tully Parish of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns is a diocese of the Catholic Church located in the state of Queensland, Australia. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Brisbane. The diocese was erected as a vicariate apostolic in 1877 and was ...

. Wongaling Beach contains a Woolworths supermarket, the largest supermarket within a 42 km radius. The suburb also features a town pool and skate park. A community funded 'Splash Pad' was also opened in August of 2018.

Events

Cassowary Coast Multisports Club organise an annual 5 km, 10 km and 21 km run along the beach, beginning and ending in Wongaling Beach.

Attractions

The Big Cassowary is one of

Australia's big things The big things of Australia are large structures, some of which are novelty architecture and some are sculptures. There are estimated to be over 230 such objects around the country. There are big things in every state and territory in Australi ...

. It is a statue of a

cassowary Cassowaries ( tpi, muruk, id, kasuari) are flightless birds of the genus ''Casuarius'' in the order Casuariiformes. They are classified as ratites (flightless birds without a keel on their sternum bones) and are native to the tropical fore ...

on the south-east corner of Tully Mission Beach Road and Wongaling Beach Road ().

Climate

Wongaling Beach has a tropical climate. The nearest Bureau station with monthly weather statistics is in

South Johnstone South Johnstone is a rural town and locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , South Johnstone had a population of 413 people. Geography South Johnstone is in North Queensland, approximately south-west of Innisfai ...

which is located 35.4 km from Wongaling Beach.

References

External links

* {{authority control Towns in Queensland Cassowary Coast Region Coastline of Queensland Localities in Queensland