Gregory River is a coastal rural

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

in the

Whitsunday Region The Whitsunday Region is a Local government areas of Queensland, local government area located in North Queensland, North Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by two previous local government areas with a history extending ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. In the , Gregory River had a population of 427 people.

Geography

The locality is bounded to the north by

Edgecumbe Bay Edgecumbe Bay is a bay in the Whitsunday Region, Queensland, Australia. Geography It is part of the Coral Sea. It is between the headlands of Cape Edgecumbe (at its western extent, ) and Cape Gloucester (at its eastern extent, ). From west ...

, a bay of the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down t ...

(). Greta Creek flows into the bay and forms the north-western boundary of the locality (), while the Gregory River (the watercourse) also flows into the bay and forms the north-eastern boundary of the locality (). The locality is bounded to the west by the North Coast railway line. Most of the locality is low flat land above sea level, but the south-east of the locality where the Gregory River rises is mountainous terrain rising to above sea level. Mount Dryander is on the locality's eastern boundary with Cape Gloucester (), rising to above sea level. It was named in July 1820 by Lieutenant

Phillip Parker King Phillip Parker King (13 December 1791 – 26 February 1856) was an early explorer of the Australian and Patagonian coasts. Early life and education King was born on Norfolk Island, to Philip Gidley King and Anna Josepha King ''née'' Coo ...

of HM Colonial Cutter Mermaid, after the Swedish botanist Jonas Carllson Dryander who was librarian for Sir

Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English Natural history, naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the European and American voyages of scientific exploration, 1766 natural-history ...

. The

Bruce Highway The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast on its way to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is part of the Australian Natio ...

enters the locality from the south ( Myrtlevale) and exits the locality to the north-west ( Bowen). The North Coast railway line follows the western boundary of the locality, entering the locality from the south (

Foxdale Foxdale (; ; – 'waterfall dale or valley'), also called Balley'n Eas (meaning "waterfall-town in Manx"), is a village consisting of the on the A3 Castletown to Ramsey Road with the junction of the A24 Foxdale to Braaid road and the A40 ''T ...

/ Myrtlevale) and exiting to the north-west (Bowen). There are a number of railway stations within the locality, from north to south: * Debella railway station, now abandoned () * Bubialo railway station () * Koolachu railway station, now abandoned () The mountainous terrain in the south-east of the locality is within the

Dryander National Park Dryander is a national park in Queensland (Australia), 938 km northwest of Brisbane, and north of Proserpine. The most prominent mountain in the park is Mount Drylander and rises to 765 metres above sea level. Wildlife The endangered Pr ...

and the Dryander State Forest. Apart from these protected areas, the predominant land use is

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...

on native vegetation. The land in the south of the locality near the Gregory River is mostly used to grow

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

. In the north of the locality near the bay, there is coastal marshland and

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...

(mostly prawn farming). There is also

rural residential A hobby farm (also called a lifestyle block, acreage living, or rural residential) is a smallholding or small farm that is maintained without expectation of being a primary source of income. Some are held simply to bring homeowners closer to n ...

housing in the south-east of the locality. There is a small network of

cane tramways The rail network in Queensland, Australia, was the first in the world to adopt narrow gauge for a main line. In 2013, it claimed to be the second largest narrow gauge network in the world. The network consists of the following lines: *the N ...

in the south to the locality to transport the harvested sugarcane to the

Proserpine Sugar Mill Proserpine () is a rural town and locality in the Whitsunday Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Proserpine had a population of 3,614 people. Geography Proserpine is situated on the Bruce Highway. Proserpine i ...

Demographics

In the , Gregory River had a population of 307 people. In the , Gregory River had a population of 427 people.

Economy

Proserpine Prawn Farm operated by

Tassal Tassal is a Tasmanian-based Australian salmon farming company founded in 1986. It was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) from 2003 until 2022. Tassal is the largest producer of Tasmanian grown Atlantic salmon, supplying salmon t ...

is Australia's largest prawn farm ().

Education

There are no schools in Gregory River. The nearest government primary and secondary schools are Proserpine State School and

Proserpine State High School Proserpine State High School (established in 1963) is a public high school in the town of Proserpine in Queensland, Australia. History Campus The school was established in 1963. Since then, several buildings have been refurbished and a num ...

, both in Proserpine to the south, There is also a Catholic primary-and-secondary school in Proserpine.

References

{{Whitsunday Region Whitsunday Region Localities in Queensland Coastline of Queensland