Amity Point, Queensland
Encyclopedia
Amity Point is a small close knit township located on the north western point of North Stradbroke Island
, Queensland
, Australia
in Redland City. At the 2006 census
, Amity Point had a population of 408.
Directly north is the South Passage
and the southern tip of Moreton Island
. To the east lies the small town of Point Lookout
and to the south lies the main town of North Stradbroke Island, Dunwich
. Wallum Creek snakes along the southern border of the town. Rainbow Channel lies directly adjacent to Amity Point in Moreton Bay
.
named the point Amity after the ship he sailed in when establishing the Moreton Bay
penal colony. It had been given the name Cypress Point for which it was only known as for a brief period. The site was chosen as a pilot station by John Gray because of its location close to the South Passage into Moreton Bay. It was the first European settlement on Stradbroke Island
.
built by either the private or public sectors. Due to this the towns populace have to end up driving to either Dunwich
for health and schooling facilities.
, a library, a community hall and a post office. No schools or hospitals are found in the town. This, however, is not due to a lack of government investment for the town, but rather due to the very small size of the town. There are only eighteen roads in the town, with the majority of those very small. Claytons Road, often called Point Lookout Road by the locals, due to the road leading to Point Lookout, is the only road which gives access to Amity from the rest of the island.
The Amity Point Library is the smallest permanent library in Australia
being only 17.3 m² on the veranda of the local community hall and open only 9.5 hours each week.
and fauna
. This is despite the fact that North Stradbroke Island, along with Moreton Island to the north and South Stradbroke Island
to the south, are made up entirely of sand, a substance that only a few, mostly monocotyledon
plants have managed to survive in elsewhere in the world. The three islands also have species of ancient fern
s that have survived only on these islands. The flowering rate of these ferns are very slow, and the trees are protected by Australian law so that only the Aboriginals
, the original people of the island, may harvest them.
s, a small brown shark, all present.
Amity Point boasts some of the largest shark numbers in the world, though shark attack
s are rare, with only two recorded attacks. Despite the presence of shark drumlines, in places since 1997, a Brisbane woman was mauled to death by sharks while swimming in Rainbow Channel. The species of shark remains unknown, with bull shark
s suspected by an expert and tiger shark
s suggested by locals.
North Stradbroke Island
North Stradbroke Island is an Australian island in the state of Queensland, 30 km southeast of the capital Brisbane. Before 1896 the island was part of the Stradbroke Island. In that year a storm separated it from South Stradbroke Island, forming the Jumpinpin Channel. It is known...
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in Redland City. At the 2006 census
Census in Australia
The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...
, Amity Point had a population of 408.
Directly north is the South Passage
South Passage (Queensland)
South Passage is channel between the South Pacific Ocean and Moreton Bay. The other entrances to the bay are the North Passage and Jumpinpin Channel in the south.It was once the main entrance for ships entering the bay...
and the southern tip of Moreton Island
Moreton Island
Moreton Island is a large sand island on the eastern side of Moreton Bay, on the coast of south-east Queensland, Australia. Moreton Island lies 58 kilometres northeast of the Queensland capital, Brisbane. The island is 95% National Park and a popular destination for four wheel driving, camping,...
. To the east lies the small town of Point Lookout
Point Lookout, Queensland
Point Lookout is a headland and small coastal village located on the eastern coast of North Stradbroke Island. 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....
and to the south lies the main town of North Stradbroke Island, Dunwich
Dunwich, Queensland
Dunwich is a small town on the western side of North Stradbroke Island in the Australian state of Queensland. The town is part of the Redland City local government area, based on the mainland in the Brisbane bayside suburb of Cleveland. Dunwich is one of three towns on North Stradbroke Island -...
. Wallum Creek snakes along the southern border of the town. Rainbow Channel lies directly adjacent to Amity Point in Moreton Bay
Moreton Bay
Moreton Bay is a bay on the eastern coast of Australia 45 km from Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources...
.
History
John OxleyJohn Oxley
John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley was an explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of English colonisation.October 1802 he was engaged in coastal survey work including an expedition to Western Port in 1804-05...
named the point Amity after the ship he sailed in when establishing the Moreton Bay
Moreton Bay
Moreton Bay is a bay on the eastern coast of Australia 45 km from Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources...
penal colony. It had been given the name Cypress Point for which it was only known as for a brief period. The site was chosen as a pilot station by John Gray because of its location close to the South Passage into Moreton Bay. It was the first European settlement on Stradbroke Island
Stradbroke Island
Stradbroke Island, also known as Minjerribah, was a large sand island that formed much of the eastern side of Moreton Bay near Brisbane, Queensland until the late 19th century...
.
Infrastructure
Amity Point has little infrastructureInfrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
built by either the private or public sectors. Due to this the towns populace have to end up driving to either Dunwich
Dunwich, Queensland
Dunwich is a small town on the western side of North Stradbroke Island in the Australian state of Queensland. The town is part of the Redland City local government area, based on the mainland in the Brisbane bayside suburb of Cleveland. Dunwich is one of three towns on North Stradbroke Island -...
for health and schooling facilities.
Public sector
The only government infrastructure for the town is a single jettyJetty
A jetty is any of a variety of structures used in river, dock, and maritime works that are generally carried out in pairs from river banks, or in continuation of river channels at their outlets into deep water; or out into docks, and outside their entrances; or for forming basins along the...
, a library, a community hall and a post office. No schools or hospitals are found in the town. This, however, is not due to a lack of government investment for the town, but rather due to the very small size of the town. There are only eighteen roads in the town, with the majority of those very small. Claytons Road, often called Point Lookout Road by the locals, due to the road leading to Point Lookout, is the only road which gives access to Amity from the rest of the island.
The Amity Point Library is the smallest permanent library in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
being only 17.3 m² on the veranda of the local community hall and open only 9.5 hours each week.
Private sector
Private sector investments on the town only cater for the large number of tourists which come to the island every holiday season to make use of the town's beaches. There is a caravan park that caters for the budget traveller in the town. The cricket club at Amity is the only investment by the private sector that is catered for the local populace of the town, though it still receives much business from tourists.Environment
Amity Point is surrounded by virgin forests to the south east and pristine beaches elsewhere.Forests
The forests surrounding Amity Point are tropical rainforests with a significant amount of diversity in both floraFlora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
and fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
. This is despite the fact that North Stradbroke Island, along with Moreton Island to the north and South Stradbroke Island
South Stradbroke Island
South Stradbroke Island is an Australian island in the state of Queensland, south of Brisbane and forms the northern end of Gold Coast. The 21 km by 2.5 km sized island is the smaller one of the two Stradbroke Islands and lies very close to the mainland. The island has hundreds of wild...
to the south, are made up entirely of sand, a substance that only a few, mostly monocotyledon
Monocotyledon
Monocotyledons, also known as monocots, are one of two major groups of flowering plants that are traditionally recognized, the other being dicotyledons, or dicots. Monocot seedlings typically have one cotyledon , in contrast to the two cotyledons typical of dicots...
plants have managed to survive in elsewhere in the world. The three islands also have species of ancient fern
Fern
A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...
s that have survived only on these islands. The flowering rate of these ferns are very slow, and the trees are protected by Australian law so that only the Aboriginals
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
, the original people of the island, may harvest them.
Beaches
The beaches which Amity Point township is located on have been eroded heavily by human interference, but Flinders Beach, 2–3 km (1¼–2 mi) to the east, and the Wanga Wallen Bank approximately 500 m (1,640.4 ft) to the south are in pristine condition, with a range of wildlife from U-Tube worms to WobbegongWobbegong
Wobbegong is the common name given to the 12 species of carpet sharks in the family Orectolobidae. They are found in shallow temperate and tropical waters of the western Pacific Ocean and eastern Indian Ocean, chiefly around Australia and Indonesia, although one species occurs as far north as Japan...
s, a small brown shark, all present.
Amity Point boasts some of the largest shark numbers in the world, though shark attack
Shark attack
A shark attack is an attack on a human by a shark. Every year around 60 shark attacks are reported worldwide, although death is quite unusual. Despite the relative rarity of shark attacks, the fear of sharks is a common phenomenon, having been fueled by the occasional instances of serial attacks,...
s are rare, with only two recorded attacks. Despite the presence of shark drumlines, in places since 1997, a Brisbane woman was mauled to death by sharks while swimming in Rainbow Channel. The species of shark remains unknown, with bull shark
Bull shark
The bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas, also known as Zambezi shark or unofficially known as Zambi in Africa and Nicaragua shark in Nicaragua, is a shark common worldwide in warm, shallow waters along coasts and in rivers...
s suspected by an expert and tiger shark
Tiger shark
The tiger sharks, Galeocerdo cuvier, is a species of requiem shark and the only member of the genus Galeocerdo. Commonly known as sea tigers, tiger sharks are relatively large macropredators, capable of attaining a length of over . It is found in many tropical and temperate waters, and is...
s suggested by locals.