Mission Beach (Queensland)

Mission Beach is a small village on the Coral Sea in Queensland, Australia. It is four kilometers away from the popular resort island of Dunk Iceland.

Tourism

The offshore islands of Dunk, Bedarra and Bowen and the famous Great Barrier Reef can be visited from here. Are just as interesting excursions, such as a fruit plantations in the hinterland, or boating on one of the rivers or Tully Hull. In Hull even night drives are offered in which the nocturnal saltwater crocodiles can be observed with some luck.

Are the Djiru and Clump Mountain National Park in the vicinity.

History

Mission Beach was founded in 1914 as a mission station for Aborigines, who was destroyed after two years by a cyclone. The region was known by the landing of explorer Edmund Kennedy in 1848, the Cape York expedition began here.

At the beginning of the 20th century Chinese farmers employed Aborigines as workers in the Tully River region. Due to problems with European settlers, the government founded on the site of today's mission Beaches a kind of penal colony for Aborigines. On March 10, 1918, the small village was devastated by a hurricane. The head of the village and his daughter were killed. The entire structure of the village was destroyed in the process and built up until years later.

Today, Mission Beach is on the coast of Queensland is one of many small towns where money is mainly earned tourism.

On the night of 2nd and 3rd February 2011, the storm center of the cyclone Yasi hit Mission Beach with his eye on the land and the village and its environment devastated so strong that Australian media spoke of a Ground Zero. Also, the nearby village of Tully and Cardwell further south, were destroyed in large parts.