Nature, culture and history
Natural environment
Nectar feeding insects are attracted to the impressive flower spikes of grass trees Photo:DERM
Many people come to Eurimbula and Joseph Banks parks to enjoy the beach and fishing in a quiet, unspoilt area, but there is more to this area than meets the eye. The sandy beaches, pristine waterways and windswept headlands adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef Coast Marine Park are only some of the this area's features. Take some time out to discover these interesting and picturesque coastal parks.
Plants and animals
Over the past 6000 years, parallel dunes have built up on the coastal edge of Eurimbula National Park. Now covered in heaths, these dunes support a myriad of habitats. Botanically, this is a key coastal area that preserves a complex mix of vegetation including some plants common in both southern and northern areas.
The area displays marked changes in plant communities. Visitors can observe mangrove-fringed estuaries, freshwater paperbark swamps, coastal lowland eucalypt forests with weeping cabbage palms to tall rainforest with towering hoop pines.
The mangrove-fringed estuaries are ideal for birds such as sacred kingfishers, which nest and feed in this habitat. Honeyeaters can be spotted feeding and calling in the paperbark swamps.
Preferring the coastal lowland swamps, glossy black-cockatoos feed exclusively on Allocasuarina species, making them one of the most highly specialised birds in the world. Gregarious family parties of this vulnerable bird can often be heard feeding on forest oak cones.
Described as the ultimate predatory bird or even as the 'Top Gun' of feathered hunters, peregrine falcons are a formidable aerial predator. Falcons launch their high-speed attack by either chasing their feathered prey or diving vertically with wings closed. The speed peregrine falcons reach in their impressive near-vertical dive has been estimated at more than 180 km/hr.
Feeding on nectar, pollen, insects and the sap of specific eucalypts, such as scribbly gum, sugar gum, blue gum and grey gum, rare yellow-bellied gliders are only seen during the first half of the night—their most active time of the evening. The V-shaped scar made by the glider's sharp incisors easily identifies food trees. These gliders prefer productive, tall open sclerophyll forests where mature trees provide shelter and nesting hollows, and year-round food resources are available from a mixture of eucalypt species.
Powerful owls are Australia's largest and strongest owls. They are capable hunters and include greater gliders, ringtail possums and brush-tail possums in their diet. Unseen and unheard, these winged hunters swoop onto their unwary prey, grasping them with their claws and breaking their prey’s neck. Like all hunters, powerful owls require large areas to hunt and because of their size, they need large hollows to breed. Clearing and habitat fragmentation have led to this majestic bird being listed as vulnerable.
Foraging on the intertidal mudflats, sandflats and sandbanks exposed by low tide, beach stone-curlews thrive on a diet of crabs and other marine invertebrates. Beach stone-curlews are susceptible to human disturbance such as beach-combing, boating, 4WD vehicle activities and to predation from raptors, cats and dogs. Listed as vulnerable, beach stone-curlews manage to raise their one chick each year from a nest among mangroves or in the sand surrounded by short grass and scattered Allocasuarina species.
Eurimbula Creek and its tributaries provide valuable freshwater and marine habitat. Species such as water mice find shelter in the sedgelands adjacent to the creek. Water mice live near shallow water close to the coast. They forage among the mangroves at night, when the tide is low, for small crabs, shellfish and worms, and when the tide rises, they return to the adjacent sedgelands for shelter.
The ocean beaches of Rodds Peninsula section and Bustard Beach are important feeding grounds for migratory waders such as sooty oystercatchers and little terns. From mid-November to February these beaches become crucial nesting sites for adult loggerhead, flatback and green turtles. If you visit in January you might be lucky enough to see both adults and hatchlings. By mid-January until late March, hatchlings begin to leave their nests and start their journey to the sea. Hatchling emergence is a fascinating sight but please watch quietly and don't handle them. These endangered marine animals are struggling to survive, and handling the hatchlings may cause them to die. Avoid standing on the nest as you may push onto hatchlings still below the surface and suffocate them.
Turtles are easily disturbed when nesting. Visitors are urged to follow turtle watching guidelines, such as:
- Do not approach turtles leaving the sea or moving up the beach.
- Keep artificial light (such as torches, gas lamps) to a minimum and do not shine lights directly at turtles leaving or moving up the beach.
- Avoid sudden movement.
For more information read watching turtles in Queensland.
The western part of Eurimbula National Park is rugged and inaccessible.
The rocky headland of Joseph Banks Conservation Park is bounded by ocean on the east and the still waters of Round Hill Creek to the west and is home to ospreys and white-bellied sea-eagles. White-bellied sea-eagles are the second largest bird of prey found in Australia. In flight, their black flight feathers on their wings are easily seen when viewed from below. They are skilled hunters and feed mainly on aquatic animals, such as fish, turtles and sea snakes, but are known to take birds and mammals as well seizing prey up to the size of a swan.
Culture and history
The parks are rich in cultural history and are part of the Gooreng Gooreng Aboriginal people's traditional country. Captain James Cook first landed on this picturesque stretch of coast with its broad, sandy beaches in May 1770. Captain Cook's ship HMB Endeavour anchored in the sheltered inlet that was named Bustard Bay after a bustard or plains turkey was shot in the vicinity. While the crew renewed their water supplies, naturalist Sir Joseph Banks collected 33 plant species from behind the curving beach of Bustard Bay (near the area which is now Eurimbula National Park) and noted the presence of palms, which indicated that the expedition had arrived in the tropics.
During the day, Daniel Solander, a naturalist and a friend and assistant of Sir Banks, wrote the first technical report of a native land animal in Queensland by describing the Australian bustard.
Originally called Round Hill by Captain Cook, Seventeen Seventy was renamed in honour of his first landing in Queensland. A rock cairn was built on the road leading to the headland to commemorate the first landing of HMB Endeavour in Queensland. The cairn was dedicated in 1926 and stands on the site where one of Captain Cook's crew carved the date on a tree, close to where they came ashore.
Eurimbula National Park was gazetted in 1986, protecting 7830 ha of coastal vegetation. Over the following years more land was added to the national park and it currently protects over 23 000 hectares.
Originally known as Round Hill Head, Joseph Banks Environmental Park was gazetted in 1986 and covered 114 ha of the coastal headland. The park became a conservation park in 1994 and by 1995 the park had expanded to 123 ha.
Last updated 14 February 2012