We try as hard as we can to keep that tradition alive for the fun race. Excellent event to judge that one.
Grazing of cattle and sheep took place on a few islands and Sth Molle was certainly one of them They were grazing on there and North Molle until the early 1920's. That was when the then owner Henry Lamond gazetted the state govt. to make this place a national park. Dent Island was also grazed upon.
There were no hooved animals placed by man for around 50 years until a young entrepreneur called Keith Williams decided Hamilton Island would be a great venison farm and put red deer on it. You still see them there in the bush. He was then going to turn Dent into a formula 1 track, that would have been interesting and probably preferable to what HI has done to it's island and what they are constructing on Dent. Anyway it is all progress apparently.
EAW there have been plenty of beautiful butterflies hanging around in recent weeks of all types and colours. They are nearly as spectacular as our fish. It is just a beautiful place. bb
Crocodiles and death adders, feral pigs and goats ... Adventures in Paradise!
One question: if it was "totally grassland" in 1815, how come it is thousands of years old, and not re-growth?
Not sure what you're asking there Ian.
Beautiful Island Long Island and some great history. When Capt Jeffries sailed the HMS Kangaroo around Port of Molle in 1815 checking depths an Able Seaman on board sketched Long Island. It was totally grassland as the Ngaro people used to burn off to hunt there. As you would know Tezza the island now is very densley wooded with no grassland at all. The densest forest that has been there for thousands of years.
As I said it is now the densest it has been for thousands of years not that the forest is thousands of years old.
Don't forget the tiger sharks and jellyfish along with stonefish, coneshells and stingrays.
Look at the upside whales, dugong, manta ray all kinds of fishlife and excellent coral all sheltered among beautiful islands with awesome scenery.
I'm glad they're all here it shows a healthy enviroment with excellent diversity and obviously a well educated tourism industry and local population. The lack of any incidence due to these creatures is a credit to the region. 2 irikandji stings last season was a great result for all concerned bar the 2 victims.
It is paradise and hopefully will remain that way for a while yet. bb
+The densest forest that has been there for thousands of years.+
Okay - I've interpreted that properly now ... so it is "re-growth" in the sense that Aboriginal people are no longer burning the under-storey but not secondary growth in the sense that it was all logged or cleared by whitefellas.
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