Hook Island - Hook Island

Hook Island is the second largest in the Whitsunday Islands archipelago. The first maps of the area were drawn incorrectly, and depicted Hook island in the shape of... yes, you guessed correctly! In fact, Hook is shaped something like the Peloponnese in Greece, looking like three downward pointing fingers. Hook is home to a sole small resort on the very tip of the third finger, as well as an underwater observatory, leaving 95% of the island as national park.

History

Before tourism could make money, the Whitsundays were used for logging. Aboriginal people had traditionally used the trees here for timber also, which might account for reference's in Captain Cook's diary about grasslands when he first came here. White settlers did the same, after the Aboriginal population had dwindled away through European diseases and bloodshed.

Now there is no visible trace of logging ever having happened in the Whitsundays, although on Hook there are two clues. One is that at the Nara Inlet there are Aboriginal cave paintings. This can be accessed by boat, so if you are taking a ferry around the islands, ask if they stop here. The second is that if you stay here (and on some other islands) you may hear some bleating. Goats were introduced by the colonialists, so that loggers could have something to hunt in the event that food ran out.

In 1969, a local businessman built an underwater coral viewing station here. Apparently, in order to build observatory's foundations, he exploded the coral bed and thousands of dead fish floated the top. Frustrated at what he had just done he exclaimed, "Struth, I wanted people to see the bloody coral, but I can't get to it without blowing the bastard up!" Today the observatory is distinctly unremarkable. The windows for your "observing" are 30 cm wide and fogged up. It does however serve as a pier to the island. Try not to be sold this as a reason to come, because snorkeling is a better option.

Get in

Hook Island Wilderness Resort has long been closed, so the only way to see what Hook Island has to offer for snorkelling is to go with a tour.

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