Lizard-Island-Nationalpark

The Lizard Iceland National Park (English: Lizard Iceland National Park ) is a national park in northeastern Australian state of Queensland.

Location

It is located 1624 km northwest of Brisbane and 70 kilometers north of Cooktown.

The island belongs to the Lizard Iceland Group. The island group includes the World Heritage Great Barrier Reef.

In the neighborhood of the National Park Turtle Group, Three Islands Group, MountWebb and Starcke lie.

Provincial nature

Lizard Iceland is a granite island, with an area of ​​9.91 square kilometers, which rises to 359 meters above the sea. South of the main island, there are four smaller islands, Osprey Iceland, Palfrey Iceland, South Iceland and Seabird Islets. Located just west of this group lies Eagle Iceland. Your reefs surrounding a ten meter deep blue lagoon.

Flora and Fauna

More than half of Lizard Iceland is covered with grassland. In addition there are eucalyptus and acacia woodland, heathland and Myrtenheiden and mangrove swamps.

The most famous animal of the island is the Arguswaran. The surrounding islands are important breeding grounds, especially for terns.

Facilities and access

There is a campground in the Watsons Bay, which is equipped with toilets, picnic tables, grills and a fountain. Several trails lead across the island.

The islands are accessible by private aircraft from Cairns or Cooktown and with boats from Cairns, Cooktown and Port Douglas. Lizard Iceland has a small airfield.

History

Before the arrival of Europeans

Check with local Aboriginal people from the tribe of Dingaal the island Dyiigurra was called and was considered a sacred site. The natives used it for initiation of young men and to shellfish, turtles, dugongs and fish to catch. The Dingaal believed that the Lizard Iceland Group was created in the Dreamtime. They saw the archipelago as Stingray, Lizard Iceland itself with the body and three other islands form the tail. The root of the Dingiil calls the island Jiigurru.

After the arrival of Europeans

From Captain Cook, the island got its current name when he happened on 12 August 1770. He reported:

"The only country Animals we saw here were Lizards, and synthesis seem'd to be pretty Plenty, Which occasioned my naming the Lizard Iceland Iceland. "

" The only land animals that we saw were lizards, and it seemed quite a few to be, so I called the Lizard Island Iceland "

Cook climbed the mountain on Lizard Iceland to find a way through the confusing network of reefs out into the open sea. The mountain has since been Cook 's Look.

In the 1860s, the island of Trepangfischern was used as a base, the island found large quantities of Asia esteemed as a delicacy animal in the waters.

Built in 1879 Captain Robert Watson with his wife and small son and two servants to a left by the crew of the Julia Percy hut for their purposes. The ruins of this cottage can still be seen today. Captain Watson was Trepangfischer. When he was once on haul, murdered the Aborigines from the mainland one of his servants. His wife Mary Watson was only 21 years old when they arrived on the island, and became famous for their courage and their perseverance. After the attack, the Aborigines they tried to escape in an iron cooking kettle on the mainland, together with her son and the other Chinese servant. This large, rectangular pan to cook trepang can be seen today in the Queensland Museum. However, the boiler drove away from the mainland and all three died of thirst nine days later on the waterless Howick Island No. 5 Their bodies were discovered three months later along with Mary Watson's diary.

In the State Library of Queensland two days books by Mary Watson are kept. One describes her last nine months on Lizard Iceland. The other documented their last days on the run. In retaliation for the attack a punitive expedition against groups of Aborigines was equipped, but most likely got the wrong groups. Photos of Mary Watson, the unveiling of their monument in Cookstown and other documents to their person are kept in the State Library of Queensland and were digitized.

1939 all the islands of the group have been declared a National Park, today managed by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service. For investigations on the Lizard Iceland Group and the surrounding maritime areas requires a permit.

Current usage

On Lizard Iceland there are a number of facilities:

On the western tip of the island, there is a research station of the Australian Museum. There examinations and courses of studies on coral reefs are performed are interested. Since the station was opened in 1973, Australian and international scientists published over 1000 research reports.

On the northwest side of the island there was a small luxury resort, which was operated until November 2009 by Voyages Hotels & Resorts and was subsequently taken over by Delaware North. The resort with 40 bungalows focuses on the remoteness of the area and water sports activities, where one profits from its location on the Great Barrier Reef. Also dives to the nearby Cod Hole are offered.