When was fraser island created

This formed a string of islands along the Queensland coast, with Fraser Island being the largest. Developing as sand sediment was slowly pushed from the southeast coast of Australia all the way to the outter ocean by the wind and current. These sediments slowly created sand dunes, which progress across the island, although only the dunes behind the eastern beaches remain today.

Leading to the widespread of ancient plantlife. What to do on the Fraser Island The island is bursting with interesting activities for any kind of traveller. Take a day, a weekend, or even a couple weeks to discover the sandy island. The pre-eminence of the timber industry prevented this option being pursued for another half century.

Balarrgan has been the site of the first mission station, quarantine station, Forestry headquarters and sawmill. It was the site of the first land rights conflict between Aborigines and Europeans in A number of relics from their training are still preserved there. Because of poor access and communication, and a lack of appreciation of the aesthetic qualities and wilderness values, tourism on Fraser Island developed very slowly. Since then there has been little further urban subdivision.

About this time a number of squatters shacks at Teewah Village at Cooloola were legitimized and some subdivision also occurred there. Rainbow Beach which was only developed as a township in , when it became the temporary base for the sandmining industry.

It grew rapidly following the release of land and the development of the Fraser Island ferry service from Inskip Point in It is now one of the four major service centres for the Great Sandy Region but all of which are outside the defined area of this nomination. There are other smaller urban areas adjoining the region. In , it was estimated that there were about visits to Fraser Island.

This figure is continuing to grow. In , a study by the Institute of Applied Social Research showed that , camper nights were spent in Cooloola while , bed nights were spent in hotels and motels in the Noosa Shire. This did not include day trippers to Cooloola.

The employment generated by the Cooloola National Park was estimated at persons, almost all of whom live outside the region. There are about permanent residents within the nominated region. Of these about half live on Fraser Island. Most of the rest live in the Teewah area and settlement adjacent to the Noosa River. The tourist industry is the main source of employment. In , extensive scout drilling established the existence of commercial rutile and zircon deposits, and mining operations commenced at Teewah Beach in the southern part of Cooloola.

Mining commenced at Inskip Point in , and on Fraser Island in As the Fraser Island operations expanded, mining ceased at Inskip Point about A small beach mining operation began in the Freshwater Camp area during and ended in As a result of a recommendation of the Fraser Island Environmental Inquiry, the Commonwealth Government restricted export licences for mineral sands from Fraser Island to only sand mined from beach leases.

It is the only place on Earth where tall rainforest grows in sand. The island contains the largest extent of wallum heath remnants in Queensland. In Pile Valley , 1, year old rough-barked satinays are found. Despite being logged the kauri pines dominate in some areas. Scribbly gums, red gums, piccabeen palms, Blue Quandong, brush box and pandanus all grow on Fraser Island. Along the coast, the foredunes are dominated by salt-tolerant species which includes pigface, goats foot vine and beach spinifix.

Spinifix sericeus is an important foundation species. Decayed matter from this dune grass breaks down in the sand, providing vital nutrients for other plant species, such as the Beach Oak. The rare Angiopteris evecta, a species of fern that has the largest fronds in the world, grows on Fraser Island.

The southwest coast is dominated by mangroves. As one travels from east to west across the island, the dune age increases. These leads to the progressive maturing of vegetation in the same direction, except for some areas along the western coast where soil leaching has decreased the nutrient soil layer to a depth beyond the reach of plant roots.

Each lake on Fraser Island is surrounded by concentric vegetation zones. Typically these zones range from rushes in the shallows, then a mix of pioneer species on the beaches, through to sedges, heath, paperbarks, shrubs and finally eucalypt or banksia woodlands. The earliest known name of the island is ' K'gari ' in the Butchulla people's language pronounced 'Gurri'. It means paradise. Captain James Fraser and his wife, Eliza Fraser, were shipwrecked on the island in Their ship, the Stirling Castle, set sail from Sydney to Singapore with 18 crew and passengers.

The ship was holed on coral while travelling through the Great Barrier Reef north of the island. Transferring to two lifeboats, the crew set a course south, attempting to reach the settlement at Moreton now Brisbane.

During this trip in the lifeboats, Captain Fraser's pregnant wife gave birth in the leaking lifeboat. The infant died soon after birth. The Captain's lifeboat was becoming more and more unseaworthy and was soon left behind by the other lifeboat which continued on.

The sinking boat and its crew was beached on what was then known as the Great Sandy Island. Whether the survivors died due to disease, hunger, exhaustion or battles with the native population will never be known for sure; most likely a little of all of the above. Captain Fraser died leaving Eliza living among the local peoples. She was rescued 6 weeks after being shipwrecked by a convict, John Graham, who had lived in the bush as an escapee, and who spoke the Aboriginal language.

He was sent from the settlement at Moreton by the authorities there who had heard about Eliza' plight, and negotiated her return. Within 6 months, Eliza had married another sea captain. She moved to England and became a sideshow attraction in Hyde Park telling ever more lurid tales about her experiences with white slavery, cannibalism, torture and murder.

As she is known to have told several versions of the story, it is unknown which version is the most accurate. She was killed in a carriage accident in Melbourne in during a visit. Archaeological research and evidence shows that Aboriginal Australians occupied Fraser Island K'Gari at least years ago. There was a permanent population of that grew to in the winter months due to abundant seafood resources.

The arrival of European settlers in the area was an overwhelming disaster for the Butchulla people. European settlement in the s overwhelmed the Aboriginal lifestyle with weapons, disease and lack of food. By the year , Aboriginal numbers had been reduced to only people. Most of the remaining Aborigines, the Butchulla tribe, left the island in as they were relocated to missions in Yarrabah and Durundur, Queensland.

Over time, changes would begin to happen and logging would take place in the mids , much to the dislike of the traditional owners of the land. This would change the way in which they had grown to live on the island as trees were logged and taken back to the mainlands and the natural habitat that they had grown use to, was now shifting and they had to take on new ways of survival on their land.

Slightly before the logging would commence, another landmark moment in history would take place to such a magnitude, that this island would be re-named, yet again. Captain James Fraser would sail his great ship and become ship-wrecked near this island in the s , his wife becoming the captive of the aboriginal people. From here, they would become captured by the natives on the island and put to work.

It has long been understood that Captain Fraser died from starvation, or perhaps he was put to death. However, his wife, Eliza, would be rescued by a man named John Graham, an escaped convict. She would later return to her homeland of England and continue her life.