Mission Beach, Queensland
Encyclopedia
Mission Beach is a small village along the Coral Sea
in Queensland
, Australia
. The popular tourist destination of Dunk Island lies 4 km offshore.
farmers employed Aborigines as labourers in the Tully
River region. Opium
addiction and conflict with European settlers was resolved by the Queensland
government creating an Aboriginal settlement at the present Mission Beach. Superintendent John Martin Kenny started the necessary work on 1 September 1914. There was no mission in the religious sense. The settlement had characteristics of a penal settlement.
The Mission Beach structures were destroyed in the cyclone of 10 March 1918 and were not rebuilt. Superintendent Kenny and his daughter were killed by the storm. The Aborigines were subsequently moved to Palm Island, Queensland
.
The first white settlers, the Cutten brothers, came to Mission Beach area in 1882 and settled at Bingil Bay, where they farmed mango
es, bananas, pineapple
s, coffee
, citrus fruit and coconut
s. They also manufactured their own coffee. Produce was shipped south on cargo-boats. Before this the only white people to enter this area were the timber-getters who sometimes camped on the beach and retrieved timber from the adjacent rain forests. They employed local Aborigines for their assistance in their timber hauling, paying the Aboriginal labourers with tobacco and tools. The natives were generally friendly, although in 1872 the captain and some of the crew of the Maria which was wrecked at Tam O'Shanter were killed by the natives.
After the Cutten brothers, the Unsworths settled at Narragon Beach, the Garners came and settled at Garners Beach, and the Porter brothers settled at what the locals refer to as Porter's Creek (also called Wongaling Creek) at the south end of North Mission Beach.
Rugby League
plays a big part in the town with Tully Tigers the main club.
The beach is flanked by green mountains rising just a short distance inland, and provides views out to the Family Islands
. Close to shore at Mission Beach lies a shallow reef which runs from the mouth of Porter's Creek at the south end of North Mission Beach almost to Clump Point
, the rocky point at the north end of Mission Beach. During very low tides portions of this reef are exposed.
Surrounded by World Heritage rainforest
on one side and the World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef
on the other, Mission Beach is home to many wildlife species, most notable is the cassowary
. This large flightless bird can be found in the rainforest
surrounding the area but is facing extinction
due to land clearing, traffic and predators such as wild dogs and feral pigs.
Mission Beach is also the mainland gateway to Dunk Island, with water taxis and ferries shuttling guests and day-trippers out to the island and its resort.
Like many other small Australian towns, Mission Beach has built a monument to its most famous characteristic. The big
cassowary
, standing 5 metres high, can be found at the Wongaling Beach shopping complex.
crossed the coast in between Mission Beach and Innisfail
. In addition to structural damage to property, Cyclone Larry
also had a tremendous impact on the rainforest
and animals of the region, and it will take many years to recover. A shortage of rainforest fruit saw cassowaries
seeking food in built up areas and, unfortunately, a number were hit and killed by cars.
crossed the coast near Mission Beach. Wind gusts estimated up to 290 km/h (180.2 mph), leaving behind significant damage. A storm surge
estimated to have reached 7 m (23 ft) destroyed several structures along the coast and pushed up to 300 m (984.3 ft) inland. In the hours after the storm's passage, police were unable to venture beyond their station grounds as the situation had yet to be declared safe. Most of the beach had lost its sand and every structure was damaged to some degree. Near sunrise
on 3 February, there were no reports of fatalities or injuries in Mission Beach.
Coral Sea
The Coral Sea is a marginal sea off the northeast coast of Australia. It is bounded in the west by the east coast of Queensland, thereby including the Great Barrier Reef, in the east by Vanuatu and by New Caledonia, and in the north approximately by the southern extremity of the Solomon Islands...
in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The popular tourist destination of Dunk Island lies 4 km offshore.
History
In the early 20th century Chinese bananaBanana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
farmers employed Aborigines as labourers in the Tully
Tully, Queensland
Tully is a small town in Queensland, Australia, adjacent to the Bruce Highway approximately south of Cairns by road and north of Townsville. At the 2006 census, Tully had a population of 2,457....
River region. Opium
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
addiction and conflict with European settlers was resolved by the Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
government creating an Aboriginal settlement at the present Mission Beach. Superintendent John Martin Kenny started the necessary work on 1 September 1914. There was no mission in the religious sense. The settlement had characteristics of a penal settlement.
The Mission Beach structures were destroyed in the cyclone of 10 March 1918 and were not rebuilt. Superintendent Kenny and his daughter were killed by the storm. The Aborigines were subsequently moved to Palm Island, Queensland
Palm Island, Queensland
Palm Island is an Aboriginal community located on Great Palm Island, also called by the Aboriginal name "Bwgcolman", an island on the Great Barrier Reef in North Queensland, Australia The settlement is also known by a variety of other names including "the Mission", Palm Island Settlement or Palm...
.
The first white settlers, the Cutten brothers, came to Mission Beach area in 1882 and settled at Bingil Bay, where they farmed mango
Mango
The mango is a fleshy stone fruit belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is native to India from where it spread all over the world. It is also the most cultivated fruit of the tropical world. While...
es, bananas, pineapple
Pineapple
Pineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae...
s, coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
, citrus fruit and coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
s. They also manufactured their own coffee. Produce was shipped south on cargo-boats. Before this the only white people to enter this area were the timber-getters who sometimes camped on the beach and retrieved timber from the adjacent rain forests. They employed local Aborigines for their assistance in their timber hauling, paying the Aboriginal labourers with tobacco and tools. The natives were generally friendly, although in 1872 the captain and some of the crew of the Maria which was wrecked at Tam O'Shanter were killed by the natives.
After the Cutten brothers, the Unsworths settled at Narragon Beach, the Garners came and settled at Garners Beach, and the Porter brothers settled at what the locals refer to as Porter's Creek (also called Wongaling Creek) at the south end of North Mission Beach.
The town
Today, what were once separate villages have now grown such that they are considered one town, Mission Beach. The villages are, from south to north, South Mission Beach, Wongaling Beach, Mission Beach and Bingil Bay. Development has also begun at Brooks Beach and Garners Beach to the north.Sports
Stephen Cairns, the son of Robert and Rosemary Cairns of Bingil Bay, was the most popular sports person to come out of Mission Beach. Stephen played for North QLD , QLD and Agrade Rugby League on the Goldcoast and Sydney.Rugby League
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
plays a big part in the town with Tully Tigers the main club.
Tourism
Mission Beach is now a thriving tourist town that has been able to maintain its small town feel. One reason for this is that the town is spread out along a thin strip of land between the ocean and the hills and farmland behind. This has spread out a large tourism market, and the village doesn't feel as busy as one might expect.The beach is flanked by green mountains rising just a short distance inland, and provides views out to the Family Islands
Family Islands National Park
The Family Islands are a group of continental islands lying a short distance off the coast, about mid-way between Cairns and Townsville, in Queensland, Australia. Most of the area has been designated as a national park...
. Close to shore at Mission Beach lies a shallow reef which runs from the mouth of Porter's Creek at the south end of North Mission Beach almost to Clump Point
Clump Point
Clump Point in Mission Beach, Queensland, Australia is the main departure and arrival point for the Dunk Island Ferry and is also a popular fishing spot....
, the rocky point at the north end of Mission Beach. During very low tides portions of this reef are exposed.
Surrounded by World Heritage rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
on one side and the World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world'slargest reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres over an area of approximately...
on the other, Mission Beach is home to many wildlife species, most notable is the cassowary
Cassowary
The cassowaries are ratites, very large flightless birds in the genus Casuarius native to the tropical forests of New Guinea, nearby islands and northeastern Australia. There are three extant species recognized today...
. This large flightless bird can be found in the rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
surrounding the area but is facing extinction
Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
due to land clearing, traffic and predators such as wild dogs and feral pigs.
Mission Beach is also the mainland gateway to Dunk Island, with water taxis and ferries shuttling guests and day-trippers out to the island and its resort.
Like many other small Australian towns, Mission Beach has built a monument to its most famous characteristic. The big
Australia's Big Things
The Big Things of Australia are a loosely related set of large structures or sculptures. There are estimated to be over 150 such objects around the country, the first being the Big Scotsman in Medindie, Adelaide, which was built in 1963....
cassowary
Cassowary
The cassowaries are ratites, very large flightless birds in the genus Casuarius native to the tropical forests of New Guinea, nearby islands and northeastern Australia. There are three extant species recognized today...
, standing 5 metres high, can be found at the Wongaling Beach shopping complex.
Cyclone Larry
On 20 March 2006, Cyclone LarryCyclone Larry
Severe Tropical Cyclone Larry was a tropical cyclone that made landfall in Australia during the 2005-06 Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone season. Larry originated as a low pressure system over the eastern Coral Sea on 16 March and was monitored by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology in...
crossed the coast in between Mission Beach and Innisfail
Innisfail, Queensland
Innisfail is a town located in the far north of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is the major township of the Cassowary Coast and is well renowned for its sugar and banana industries, as well as for being one of Australia's wettest towns...
. In addition to structural damage to property, Cyclone Larry
Cyclone Larry
Severe Tropical Cyclone Larry was a tropical cyclone that made landfall in Australia during the 2005-06 Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone season. Larry originated as a low pressure system over the eastern Coral Sea on 16 March and was monitored by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology in...
also had a tremendous impact on the rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
and animals of the region, and it will take many years to recover. A shortage of rainforest fruit saw cassowaries
Southern Cassowary
The Southern Cassowary, Casuarius casuarius, also known as Double-wattled Cassowary, Australian Cassowary or Two-wattled Cassowary, is a large flightless black bird...
seeking food in built up areas and, unfortunately, a number were hit and killed by cars.
Cyclone Yasi
On 3 February 2011, Severe Tropical Cyclone YasiCyclone Yasi
Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi was a tropical cyclone that made landfall in northern Queensland, Australia in the early hours of Thursday, 3 February 2011. Yasi originated from a tropical low near Fiji. The system intensified to a Category 3 cyclone at about 5pm AEST on 31 January 2011...
crossed the coast near Mission Beach. Wind gusts estimated up to 290 km/h (180.2 mph), leaving behind significant damage. A storm surge
Storm surge
A storm surge is an offshore rise of water associated with a low pressure weather system, typically tropical cyclones and strong extratropical cyclones. Storm surges are caused primarily by high winds pushing on the ocean's surface. The wind causes the water to pile up higher than the ordinary sea...
estimated to have reached 7 m (23 ft) destroyed several structures along the coast and pushed up to 300 m (984.3 ft) inland. In the hours after the storm's passage, police were unable to venture beyond their station grounds as the situation had yet to be declared safe. Most of the beach had lost its sand and every structure was damaged to some degree. Near sunrise
Sunrise
Sunrise is the instant at which the upper edge of the Sun appears above the horizon in the east. Sunrise should not be confused with dawn, which is the point at which the sky begins to lighten, some time before the sun itself appears, ending twilight...
on 3 February, there were no reports of fatalities or injuries in Mission Beach.
Agriculture
The Mission Beach area also supports a sizeable agricultural industry, particularly the cultivation of sugar and bananas. Boutique wineries specialising in tropical fruit wines can also be found in Mission Beach and nearby Kurrimine Beach.Mission Beach in the media
- Series 2 and 3 of Escape from Scorpion IslandEscape from Scorpion IslandEscape from Scorpion Island is a BAFTA-nominated BBC children's TV adventure game show in which contestants try to 'escape from an exotic island with a mind of its own' by doing various challenges to improve their chances of escaping. Series 1 was made by RDF Television for CBBC...
was filmed at Mission Beach. - The Australian television series Sea PatrolSea PatrolSea Patrol may refer to:*Sea Patrol, an Australian television series from 2007-2011**Sea Patrol **Sea Patrol , known as Sea Patrol II: The Coup**Sea Patrol , known as Sea Patrol: Red Gold...
has filmed two of its series in the waters off the Mission Beach area.