Gladstone

Sister cities

• Saiki

History

Before European settlement, the Gladstone region was home of the Gooreng Gooreng, Toolooa (or Tulua), Meerooni and Baiali (or Byellee) Aboriginal tribes. In May 1770, , under the command of James Cook, sailed by the entrance to Gladstone Harbour under the cover of darkness. Matthew Flinders, during his 1801–1803 circumnavigation of Australia, became the first recorded European to sight the harbour in August 1802. He named the harbour Port Curtis, after Admiral Roger Curtis, a man who was of assistance to Flinders a year earlier at the Cape of Good Hope. John Oxley conducted further exploration of the harbour and surrounding countryside in November 1823. Oxley was dismissive of the region, noting the harbour was difficult to enter, the countryside was too dry, and the timber useless for construction purposes. Nevertheless, in 1847 the British attempted to establish the new colony of North Australia at Port Curtis. Colonel George Barney was chosen to lead this experiment in colonisation and his expedition was eventful. On 25 January 1847, the Lord Auckland, carrying 87 soldiers and convicts, arrived off the southern entrance of Port Curtis and promptly ran aground on shoals off the southern tip of Facing Island. The settlers spent seven weeks on the island before being rescued by the supply ship Thomas Lowry and delivered the intended site of settlement, the region now known as Barney Point. On 30 January at a proclamation ceremony at Settlement Point on Facing Island, Barney was sworn in as Lieutenant Governor of the (already revoked) colony of North Australia. The convict settlement lasted barely two months and cost the Imperial government £15,000. A change of government in Britain ordered the withdrawal of Barney and the settlers. By 1853, Francis MacCabe was…

Geography

Gladstone and Rockhampton are the two major cities in the Central Queensland region. * Gladstone Central* * Barney Point * Callemondah * Clinton * Glen Eden * Kin Kora * Kirkwood * New Auckland * O'Connell * South Gladstone * South Trees * Sun Valley * Telina * Toolooa * West Gladstone * – the historic centre of the city and major business district Gladstone experiences a tropical savannah climate (Koppen: Aw), with a wet season from October to March and a dry season from April to September. Moderated by Coral Sea, the town is one of the southernmost places in Australia to have this classification. The average annual rainfall is , with a summer maximum. Extreme temperatures in Gladstone have ranged from on 13 July 1960 to on 12 March 2007.

Most-observed species

• Rainbow Lorikeet

  Trichoglossus haematodus (Linnaeus, 1771) · Aves
  1,421
• Torresian Crow

  Corvus orru Bonaparte, 1850 · Aves
  1,307
• Brown Honeyeater

  Lichmera indistincta (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827) · Aves
  1,022
• Laughing Kookaburra

  Dacelo novaeguineae (Hermann, 1783) · Aves
  994
• Peaceful Dove

  Geopelia placida Gould, 1844 · Aves
  928
• Willie-wagtail

  Rhipidura leucophrys (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  854
• Double-barred Finch

  Taeniopygia bichenovii (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827) · Aves
  792
• Blue-faced Honeyeater

  Entomyzon cyanotis (Latham, 1801) · Aves
  788