Moreton Island lies in the blue waters of Moreton Bay just 40 km off Brisbane and a close neighbour to North Straddie. It is 38km long and consists of around 17000 hectares of diverse ecosystems and is now 95% national park.
Moreton Island boasts the highest coastal sand dune in the world! Named Mount Tempest, it stands 280m high.
The island is home to over 180 species of birds including birds of prey, gulls and wading birds, and is a favourite stopover for many migratory birds on their journeys around the globe. The diverse plant communities on the island consist of mangroves, stunted heathlands and eucalypt forests. The waters off the island are home to sea grass beds on which dugongs feed and offer an abundance of fish, crabs, mussels and locally farmed oysters.
  
There are four main settlements on the island - Bulwer, Cowan Cowan, Kooringal and Tangalooma. Tangalooma is perhaps best known for being Queensland's only whaling station that operated from 1952 to 1962. The original flensing deck is still intact, but the station has been transformed into a resort complex that now attracts visitors from all over who now come to see, and participate in, the popular dolphin feeding program.
Bulwer was settled in 1848 when it was selected as a pilot station. Cowan Cowan was established as a military camp in 1938, and at the time, it housed around one thousand soldiers during the military occupation in WW2. Moreton Island was one of Australia's major coastal defence bases and the remains of military buildings, gun enforcements and fortifications can still be seen on the island.
The township of Kooringal is the closest point to North Stradbroke Island and can be accessed by vehicle and passenger barge departing from the boat ramp at Amity Point.
*PLEASE NOTE: THE KOORINGAL TRADER WILL BE OUT OF SERVICE FROM MONDAY 19/10/09 - 30/10/09 DUE TO SLIPPING SERVICE*
The island is predominantly sand with only one rocky headland at Cape Moreton on which the famous Cape Moreton lighthouse is built. The lighthouse was constructed from locally quarried sandstone and was the first lighthouse to be built in Queensland. The entrance to Moreton Bay is littered with the shipwrecks that necessitated its construction, and for a long time it was the only light on 3236 miles of coast.
HISTORY:
The first inhabitants of Moreton Island were members of the Ngugi tribe and there are middens on the island that hold the remains of bleached shells and bones from their many feasts and campsites. The middens contain a mixture of oysters, whelks, periwinkles and cockles. They have been dated to be over 6000 years old.
The Ngugi (pronounced Nooghie) developed their own language and culture separate from their neighbours on North Stradbroke Island and wandered the length of the island hunting and gathering from an abundant source of seafood and plants. Their diet consisted of oysters, mussels, fish, pandanus fruit and wild honey, and they hunted for dugong and goannas and turtles.
There is evidence that long before Captain James Cook sailed by, the Ngugi had established trade with nearby islands and travelled regularly by canoe to hunt, fish and barter.
They may have come to North Stradbroke to hunt for larger mammals as there are none native to Moreton Island.
The actual number of Ngugi that inhabited Moreton when the Europeans arrived in Moreton Bay is unrecorded, and sadly many of them contracted smallpox brought in by the sailors, They also suffered a massacre in 1833 at their hands too, and their number was severely depleted. By 1950 the last survivors had moved to North Stradbroke.
On May 17 1770, James Cook named Cape Moreton in honour of James Douglas, the Earl of Morton. The name 'Morton' was recorded in Cook's voyage as 'Moreton' and later in 1799, Matthew Flinders followed suit and named it Moreton Island in July of that year.
CLIMATE:
Moreton Island enjoys a moderate sub-tropical climate with temperatures averaging 22-30 degrees Celsius by day in the summer and between 12-22 degrees in winter.
WHAT TO BRING:
First aid kit and prescribed medicines - there is no pharmacy or doctor on the island.
Fuel stove - open fires are not permitted
Vehicle & boat fuel - there is no fuel available for purchase on Moreton.
Camping and 4WD permits - 4WD Access Permits cost $37.10 for a monthly permit or $185.80 for an annual permit.
For information go to http://www.qld.gov.au/camping
SHOPS:
There are shops for general grocery items at Kooringal, Bulwer and Tangalooma.
MOBILE PHONE RECEPTION
Very Limited: standard telstra phone reception in some areas, next g coverage in most areas. There is a public phone located at Kooringal.
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