left: Coombe Island from Wheeler In 1770 Captain Cook named a group of islands, close to the north Queensland mainland, the Family Islands. The family consists of two larger islands, Dunk and Bedarra (Richards), a set of smaller twins, Coombe and Wheeler, and a set of small triplets, Smith, Bowden and Hudson Islands, as well as numerous islets and rocks. The islands are all continental islands of granite, but have coral reefs offshore, and coral sand beaches, which are usually most evident on the island side most sheltered from the south east trade winds, that is, on the north west side of the islands. As island National Parks, camping is permitted on Dunk, Wheeler and Coombe. There are resorts on Dunk and Bedarra, and Bedarra and Thorpe are privately owned. Images: H j Preuss below: Purtaboi (Mound) Island
Access to the southern end of Rockingham Bay is possible from near Lucinda, by travelling the seaward side of Hinchinbrook Island, or by taking the Hinchinbrook Channel between the island and the mainland, or by leaving from Cardwell, with a 17km paddling leg to Goold Island. With the prevailing winds blowing (quite strongly at times!) from the south east, and the falling tide ebbing to the north, it can be appropriate to plan a trip to travel south to north. Given that the Family Islands are closely grouped, and access from the mainland is very close from Mission Beach, a southern point of departure is not a prerequisite for a successful trip. This guide explores the Family Islands from northern most Dunk Island, then south to Coombe and Wheeler, and Smith, Bowden and Hudson.. A separate guide to Goold Island, soon available, should help kayakers explore the southern bay. This is called a photo guide as it is intended to assist in sight recognition of Islands, and give general background information. It is not a substitute for the correct topographic maps or marine charts. Please comply with the National Parks regulation of camping, by permits, and respect closures of certain islands to access, during bird nesting seasons.
On the mainland opposite Dunk Island is the small town of Mission Beach, which is spread out along the shoreline. Mission Beach (consisting of South Mission Beach, Wongaling Beach, Mission Beach, and Bingil Bay) is 1590 km from Brisbane, 140 km south of Cairns, and 235 km north of Townsville. It is 20km off the Bruce Highway, a total of 22km distance from the highway town of Tully, noted for whitewater rafting on the Tully River nearby, and for the Golden Gumboot award for the highest annual rainfall in Australia. above: kayakers, early morning, Wongaling Beach left: Dunk Island seen from Mission Beach Dunk Island is 5.5 km offshore from Wongaling Beach, and 4 km from South Mission Beach, depending on which point of departure you prefer. The island is about 5.5 km long (lying roughly NW to SE) and about 1.5 km across. The last 1.5km southern part of the island narrows down, from 400m across the peninsula, to less than 200m. The Dunk Island resort is on the NW side of the island, serviced by a jetty on the long sand spit at the NW tip. A small island, Mound or Purtaboi Island, lies north west of Dunk, and is closed to access during the bird nesting season. left: Purtaboi (Mound) Island. images: Hj Preuss
Dunk is mostly National Park, some 730 ha of the 970ha, the remainder being resort owned land that includes an airstrip, originally cleared during WW II to service a radar installation on Mt Kootaloo, 271m. To the west of Dunk, halfway down, are two more smaller islands, Kumboola and Mung Um Gnackum, that are accessible by walkers, at very low tides, from Dunk Island. Keep that in mind if planning to paddle the west coast at low water, and aim to pass to seaward of these two. Take care where you go ashore on the south western side of the island, and look for close deepwater, to not face a long boat drag back to water on falling tides. On the subject of landing sites, take care, that when the strong south east winds are pushing up a sizeable wave, deep water close inshore can mean difficulty landing onto the steep coral beaches. There are few things more uncomfortable than capsizing at the waters edge, in a wave.
approaching Dunk Island from Mission Beach the rocky north east coast of Dunk Woln Garin Is, south east Dunk Island above images: H j Preuss south west coast, Dunk Island Dunk Island sees a lot of day visitors. The National Parks campground is near Pallon Beach, on the north west side of the island. A 3 hour return walk (7km) through rainforest to the top of Mt Kootaloo is easily accessible from near the resort and the campground. From the summit and the remains of the WWII radar station, it is possible to look at the line of the Family Islands stretching south down Rockingham Bay. Other walks include an island circuit track (return 4 hours, 10.8km), and a track down to Coconut Beach (return 2.5 hours, 7.6km) along the wesern side of the island. rainforest on the Mt Kootaloo trail images: G. Young WW II radar site, Mt Kootaloo
This view from Mt Kootaloo on Dunk Island shows Kumboola Island on the far right behind the trees, and, Thorpe Island next left, then Bedarra Island in the centre of the photograph. Wheeler Island, looking misted out, is barely visible on the left. Below is a view of Bedarra Island, right, and Wheeler Island, left, taken from just offshore near Coconut Beach on Dunk Island. Bedarra is 6 km away, the lofty peak of Goold Island, centre, is 21km distant, and Wheeler island is 7.7 km away. top image: G. Young. below image: Hj Preuss
images: Hj Preuss Above, and below, the privately owned resort island of Bedarra (Richards) Island, which is approximately 4.8 km south of mid Dunk Island.In the above photograph, taken from Wheeler Island, Thorpe Island (Timana) is visible as a low hummock to the right of Battleship Rock. Thorpe Island, (privately owned) has a residence next to the sandy beach on the north west coast. Dunk Island fills the horizon on the right. Bedarra Island has many small coves, with a total coastline of almost 6 km.. The photograph below shows rocky Pee-Rahm-Ah Island, known also as Battleship Rock, for its distinctive shape, to the right of Bedarra. Photograph taken by sea kayakers on route from Wheeler Island to Dunk Island, approaching Bedarra. Bedarra resort is not a large establishment, nor family resort, consisting of 14 private villas, beside the white sandy beaches on the western, or mainland, side of the island.. The island (north south 1.5 km x 1.0 km east west) has a rainforest covering.
above: campsite on Wheeler Island, with Goold Island to the south west. below: Coombe Island from campsite on Wheeler. Images: H j Preuss
above: left to right are the triplets of Smith, Bowden, and Hudson Islands (Kurrumbah, Budjoo and Coolah) seen from the granite foreshore of Coombe Island. above image: G. Young below: Smith Island and Bowden Island seen from Wheeler Island above image: C. Thompson
campsite on Coombe Island images: G. Young
images: J. Gibson Kayakers paddling north from Goold Island towards Coombe and Wheeler Islands took this photograph of. Smith, Bowden, and Hudson Islands off to starboard. Smith and Bowden Islands overlap on the left, with Hudson on the right. Below, Bedarra Island left, then Wheeler and Coombe Islands on the right. This view taken a little further north from the perspective in the photograph above, by kayakers paddling north from Goold Island towards Coombe and Wheeler Islands.
above: Wheeler Island campsite Image: C. Thompson left: Hudson Island Image: G. Young left: Hudson Island Image: G. Young. Wheeler Island top left, Coombe Island middle left, and right, Smith, Bowden (obscured) and Hudson Islands. The aerial images on the following three pages are copyright to, and courtesy of, Deliwala, Bhupendra H. (KSC)