Hook Island (Hook Island)
Hook Island is one of the Whitsunday Islands off the coast of the Australian state of Queensland. The island is almost uninhabited, quite rugged and almost completely contained within a section of the Whitsunday Islands National Park. The island has two prominent geographical features on the southern side of Hook Island; the Nara and Macona inlets, two fjord-like recesses that are used as anchorages for the Whitsunday tourist fleet. The island's northern coast is noted for its colourful underwater coral growths, to which snorkelling and diving enthusiasts are attracted.
In 1964, photos were taken at the islands which circulated globally after what was believed to be some kind of sea monster was visible. The best known of the Hook Island Sea Monster photos is familiar to many (the two or three others are less familiar). It features a gigantic, tadpole-like monster, supposedly encountered in Stonehaven Bay, Hook Island, Queensland, by Robert Le Serrec and his family and a friend during December 1964.
On 12 February 2008 a yacht ran aground at Cape Cove. The yacht became wedged on dangerous rocks requiring the rescue of 37 people by helicopter. The incident was Australia's largest helicopter rescue operation from a vessel. At least two people have died from irukandji jellyfish stings while snorkeling off Hook Island.
Some of the oldest archaeological sites ever found in Eastern Australia are the caves and midden of the Ngaro People on Hook Island. A site at Nara Inlet is the oldest indication of Aboriginal occupation in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
The only habitation on Hook Island is the Hook Island Wilderness Resort which formerly offered the most affordable on-land accommodation in the Whitsunday group before its closure. The modest and now dilapidated buildings are only occupied by permanent caretaking and security staff and visitors are only permitted on the beach as far as the high water mark.
In 1964, photos were taken at the islands which circulated globally after what was believed to be some kind of sea monster was visible. The best known of the Hook Island Sea Monster photos is familiar to many (the two or three others are less familiar). It features a gigantic, tadpole-like monster, supposedly encountered in Stonehaven Bay, Hook Island, Queensland, by Robert Le Serrec and his family and a friend during December 1964.
On 12 February 2008 a yacht ran aground at Cape Cove. The yacht became wedged on dangerous rocks requiring the rescue of 37 people by helicopter. The incident was Australia's largest helicopter rescue operation from a vessel. At least two people have died from irukandji jellyfish stings while snorkeling off Hook Island.
Some of the oldest archaeological sites ever found in Eastern Australia are the caves and midden of the Ngaro People on Hook Island. A site at Nara Inlet is the oldest indication of Aboriginal occupation in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
The only habitation on Hook Island is the Hook Island Wilderness Resort which formerly offered the most affordable on-land accommodation in the Whitsunday group before its closure. The modest and now dilapidated buildings are only occupied by permanent caretaking and security staff and visitors are only permitted on the beach as far as the high water mark.
Map - Hook Island (Hook Island)
Map
Country - Australia
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The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south east Asia approximately 65,000 years ago, during the last ice age. Arriving by sea, they settled the continent and had formed approximately 250 distinct language groups by the time of European settlement, maintaining some of the longest known continuing artistic and religious traditions in the world. Australia's written history commenced with the European maritime exploration of Australia. The Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon was the first known European to reach Australia, in 1606. In 1770, the British explorer James Cook mapped and claimed the east coast of Australia for Great Britain, and the First Fleet of British ships arrived at Sydney in 1788 to establish the penal colony of New South Wales. The European population grew in subsequent decades, and by the end of the 1850s gold rush, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and an additional five self-governing British colonies established. Democratic parliaments were gradually established through the 19th century, culminating with a vote for the federation of the six colonies and foundation of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. Australia has since maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and wealthy market economy.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
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AUD | Australian dollar | $ | 2 |
ISO | Language |
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EN | English language |