Dunk Island (part three)

The resort offered a number of guided walks explaining aspects of the island. On the first morning we went on a walk looking at the birds and butterflies near the resort while in the afternoon we went on another walk looking specifically at the different types of island vegetation. Most of Dunk Island is a National Park and when we went on longer walks during the following days we found the information provided by Holly during these introductory talks useful in helping us appreciate the environment. I also went on a walk where the Holly outlined the history of the island

Muggy Muggy Beach is around the corner from Brammo Bay and we walked there on a number of occasions at different times of the day.

During our stay the tide was out during the middle of the day so the beaches looked very different towards evening compared with around lunchtime.

The beaches on this side of the island had yellow sand and some rocks, unlike some of the beaches we had visited recently on the mainland which consisted mainly of stones.

On another occasion we walked along Brammo Beach to the jetty and then around The Spit and along Pallon Beach, returning via the airstrip.

Views of Pallon Beach at Low Tide.

Beach near the airstrip.

The walk to Coonanglebah Farm took us through green paddocks and on to the farm lookout providing views of the nearby water.

Edmund Banfield became interested in the reef near Dunk Island and set up a holiday camp on the island. He and his wife, Bertha, established a holiday house on the island before moving there permanently where they cultivated four acres of land for growing vegetables and fruit and for keeping a few cows, goats and chickens.

In later years 160 acres were cleared for a dairy farm but the land is now used to graze a few cattle, keep some chickens and ducks and a pig and to provide accommodation for the horses used for riding tours of part of the island.

Edmund Banfield wanted a national park established on the island and recommended that steps should be taken to protect the reef near Dunk Island and surrounding islands for the future. He corresponded with Australian scientists on this topic until his death in 1923.

Banfield Memorial Reserve and Grave on Dunk Island.