Daydream Island

Daydream Island

Mermaid statues at Mermaids Beach
Geography
Location Queensland, Australia
Archipelago Molle Islands
Length 1 km (0.6 mi)
Width .4 km (0.25 mi)
Highest elevation 51 m (167 ft)
Administration
Australia
State Queensland
LGA Whitsunday Regional Council

Daydream Island is one of seven islands of the Molle Group, a sub-group of the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland, Australia. The island is small, measuring 1 km in length and 400 m at its widest point. The highest point on the island is 51 metres above sea level.

There are two tourist resorts on the island: the original resort at the southern end and a newer resort at the north-eastern end. The original resort caters to day visitors and the newer resort, which opened in 1990, caters to overnight guests. Tourists from the mainland port of Abel Point Marina regularly visit the island.

History

Christened West Molle Island in 1881,[1] the present name "Daydream" came into use during the 1930s when Lee (Paddy) and Connie Murray established the first tourist resort on the island. Day Dream was the name of a yacht owned by the Murrays. Ownership of the resort has transferred to a number of individuals or groups since the 1930s. Notable owners include Reg Ansett, who dismantled the resort in 1953 and shipped the buildings to his new resort on Hayman Island; and Bernie Elsey, whose massive redevelopment of the island in 1967 was destroyed by Cyclone Ada three years later. The resort is currently owned by Vaughan Bullivant.[2]

Attractions

Resort pool area by night, 2005

Daydream Island is a mecca for sailing enthusiasts. It has a unique outdoor aquarium, with exotic sea life from the Great Barrier Reef. The aquarium has about 80 different types of sea life and about 50 different corals. Wallabies roam around outside the resort by the beach. It is a short ferry ride from Great Barrier Reef airport on Hamilton Island to Daydream Island, and also just minutes away by boat to Airlie Beach. Activities like snorkeling, sail-boarding, jet-skiing, parasailing, coral viewing, scuba diving, volleyball, tennis, and badminton are popular.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Daydream Island (entry 9468)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  2. ↑ What a day for Daydream theage.com.au.

References

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