Point Lookout

History

The point was sighted and named by James Cook on HMS Endeavour during his exploration of the east coast of Australia on 17 May 1770. In 1803 Matthew Flinders in the cutter Hope came ashore at Cylinder Beach (Hopewell) to find water as he was returning to Port Jackson (Sydney) after he was wrecked in HMS Porpoise on the Wreck Reefs off Gladstone. It is first recorded contact between the British and the Noonuccal people in this area. The Aboriginal people assisted Flinders in finding fresh water to fill his barrels. The Point Lookout Lighthouse was constructed in 1932, which is still in use today. On 14 May 1943, the single greatest loss of life resulting from a submarine attack in Australian waters occurred ENE off Point Lookout when the hospital ship AHS Centaur was sunk by a Japanese submarine. On 15 May 1994 Minister for Veterans Affairs, Con Sciacca, officially unveiled a memorial to the sinking of the Centaur on Cylinder Beach Headland. The Point Lookout Library opened in 2011.

Geography

Point Lookout is Queensland's most easterly point. To the north lies Cape Moreton and to the south the next major headland is Point Danger on the New South Wales/Queensland border. The other towns on the island are Dunwich and Amity Point. Humpback whales can also be seen from here as they migrate along the east coast of Australia. The area is mostly residential houses and tourist apartments built close to the beach and atop nearby ridges to take advantage of sweeping Pacific Ocean views. There are a few shops and a caravan park at Point Lookout. There is no railway on the island, the nearest station being in Cleveland to the west. Dunwich airport is southwest. Point Lookout has a warm humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa) with hot, wet summers and very mild, relatively dry winters. Precipitation is abundant, averaging annually, with an autumn maximum due to its exposed location.

Most-observed species

• Noisy Friarbird

  Philemon corniculatus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  897
• Masked Lapwing

  Vanellus miles (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  864
• Bush Thick-knee

  Burhinus grallarius (Latham, 1801) · Aves
  819
• Silver Gull

  Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae (Stephens, 1826) · Aves
  796
• Welcome Swallow

  Hirundo neoxena Gould, 1842 · Aves
  672
• koala

  Phascolarctos cinereus (Goldfuss, 1817) · Mammalia
  632
• Torresian Crow

  Corvus orru Bonaparte, 1850 · Aves
  625
• Pied Oystercatcher

  Haematopus longirostris Vieillot, 1817 · Aves
  607