Dunk Island (Queensland, Australia)

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Overview

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Dunk Island is 3 mls off the Queensland coast, in the Coral Sea; Mission Beach and Tully are the nearest points on the mainland. It is 3 mls N of Bedarra Island, 20 mls W of the Great Barrier Reef, 88 mls S of Cairns and its international airport, 88 mls N of Townsville national airport.

Dunk is a sizeable island, roughly triangular in shape and 4 mls long. Most of it is a national park and its steep slopes, up to the highest point at Mount Kootaloo (890 ft), are covered in dense lush tropical rainforest. Rather incongruously, though, the area behind the resort is occupied by a farm and boasts rolling meadowland and well-spaced mature gum trees. The island has 8 mls of walking tracks, but take your waterproof boots (vast amounts of rain fall here). It is home to hundreds of species of birds, lots of butterflies and a fair few lizards. It has an artists' colony and is famous for being the former home of EJ Banfield, writer of the "Beachcomber" books about his life on Dunk. His grave is on the island.

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Middlemarket couples, families, honeymooners and rainforest fans prepared to accept the rain with the forest are best suited to this destination. It sits in Australia's wettest area: umbrellas are provided at every corner in the resort.

Accommodation consists of only 1 resort hotel offering 4 different types and qualities of stay.

Dunk offers several beaches of fine golden brown sand including Brammo Bay Beach right in front of the hotel and Pallon Beach just a few yards away, across a narrow spit of land by the water-sports centre. Muggy Muggy and Coconut Beaches are found off the hiking tracks. The water is very shallow and does have some weed.

Entertainment and activities on Dunk include: archery, 9-hole golf course, squash, tennis, volleyball and horse riding; on water, catamarans, paddle skis, windsurfing, fishing, snorkelling, scuba diving, jet-skis, parasailing, water-skiing, wake-boarding, speedboat-towed rides, motor dinghies and guided kayak tours; guided rainforest walks; mountain bike tours.

By night there is live entertainment most evenings which increases in peak season.

Eateries are limited to the hotel's main restaurant, which is a la carte except on Mediterranean and seafood buffet nights.

Getting to the island is dependent on daily flights from Cairns, water taxis from Mission Beach or Clump Point on the mainland. There is nothing to get around the island itself.

Excursions from Dunk include various boat trips: Brook Islands for a beach visit and snorkelling; outer reef for scuba diving or snorkelling; Family Islands; sunset sail; outer reef by glass-bottomed boat or semisubmersible; game and deep-sea fishing.

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Population: 20.090.400
Languages: English 79%, native and other languages
Currency: Australian dollar
Currency code: AUD
Local Times:
Australia - Australian Capital Territory - Canberra

Australia - New South Wales - Sydney

Australia - Tasmania - Hobart

Australia - Western Australia - Perth

Country Dialling Code: +61
Voltage: 240V 50Hz
Electrical plugs:
Flat prongs, inverted 'V' positioned with earth connector

Flat prongs, inverted 'V' positioned with earth connector

Australia, officially called the Commonweath of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the continental mainland (the smallest of the World\'s continents).

The continent of Australia, with the island state of Tasmania, is approximately equal in area to the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii). Mountain ranges run from north to south along the east coast, reaching their highest point in Mount Kosciusko (7,308 ft; 2,228 m). The western half of the continent is occupied by a desert plateau that rises into barren, rolling hills near the west coast. The Great Barrier Reef, extending about 1,245 mi (2,000 km), lies along the northeast coast. The island of Tasmania (26,178 sq mi; 67,800 sq km) is off the southeast coast.

It may be one of the world's most ancient lands with its mystical red centre and brooding rock formations, but Australia is also characterised by its youthful energy, its freshness and its \'no worries\' philosophy.

Most of the population lives within a few miles of the beach and with the working day beginning and ending early, it\'s not uncommon to see city slickers out of their suits and into the surf come 4.30pm.

In high summer many families will enjoy a simple backyard barbecue several times a week.

The 22-hour journey means most European people visit for at least a couple of weeks, allowing time for all that the country has to offer, including its chic cities, terracotta desert, lush bush and magical ocean reefs.

But the sheer size of Australia means that one visit is unlikely to be enough.

The most popular attractions are undoubtedly Uluru (Ayers Rock), the Great Barrier Reef and the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge, but there are now more subtle incentives for a visit.

The wonderful fusion cuisine, the café society, the burgeoning art, culture and fashion scene, and the very real possibility of being the only person for miles around all conspire to make it a wholly alluring experience.

Australia is politically divided into six states and two territories, each one offering a different experience for the traveller. There is the drama of the remote \'Outback\', the colourful spectacle of the Great Barrier Reef and its coral islands, the excitement of the cosmopolitan cities, the sun and surf at some of the best beaches in the world, and the tropical rainforests of Western Australia. The list is endless in this diverse land of adventure, which boasts 2,000 national parks and 14 World Heritage-listed areas, along with more than 7,000 beaches.

Australia is a land of character too, with its melting pot of cultures. For more than 50,000 years the Aboriginal people lived and thrived in the continent\'s unique environment. It is believed the Aboriginals are the world\'s oldest civilisation, and in recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in keeping the Aboriginal culture alive and flourishing.

The vast continent at the bottom of the world was the last landmass to be discovered by European explorers. Captain James Cook arrived in Botany Bay in 1770 and sparked off generations of emigration to Australia, which for some time served as a penal colony. It was not until 1860 that two explorers - Robert Burke and William Wills - became the first Europeans to cross Australia from south to north. The country remains a magnet for modern explorers and adventurers and has a great deal to offer tourists and holidaymakers.