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Magnetic Island with Townsville suburbs in the foreground

Magnetic Island is the southernmost island in this map, Ingham & Townsville are marked on the mainland (click to zoom)

Magnetic Island, just offshore from the city of Townsville, Queensland, Australia in Cleveland Bay is a 52 km² mountainous island which has effectively become a suburb of Townsville having 2,107 permanent residents.^[1] It is accessible from Townsville to Nelly Bay by ferry operated by Sunferries. There is a large 27 km² national park and bird sanctuary and excellent walking tracks can be taken between the populated bays and to a number of tourist destinations such as the World War II Forts.

The island has long become established as a holiday destination with many hotels and several resorts in operation to cater for all levels of service.

The Island is a haven for wildlife and is 54% National Park which is mostly located on the steep hilly interior and rugged north western side.

One of the most distinctive features of Magnetic Island is the native Bush Stone-curlews - a bird with a piercing cry which has awakened many a visitor in the night when they are most active.

Koalas are relatively common on the Island and can easily be found on the famous Forts Walk.

The pressure of coastal development has, in recent years, begun to make a significant impact on this Island that lies in the World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. At present many millons of dollars in development are planned for the Island and the impact of these has led to considerable opposition from some residents who fear the effects this development will have on the environmental values of Magnetic's lowlands which are not protected by the national park, these areas represent only 20 percent of the whole Island, and of this 20 percent, most is freehold land and is already developed.

The name of the island came about because of the apparent "magnetic" effect it had on the ship's compass of Captain Cook as he passed the island when sailing up the east coast of Australia in 1770. People have since explored the general area of Magnetic Island with various instruments to discover whatever it was magnetic like Cook experienced, but nothing has been discovered.

The Public facilities and Infrastructure on the island are managed by the Townsville City Council. The Island is part of the Electoral district of Townsville (represented by Mike Reynolds) in the Queensland Legislative Assembly. The Island is also part of the Federal seat of Herbert which is represented by Peter Lindsay.

Picnic bay was named after its popularity as a picnic spot for European tourists from the mainland during the 1800's, before Magnetic Island was first inhabited by Europeans. In the mid-1800s the island became a popular location for the collection of hoop pine, stone and coral needed for development on the mainland. In 1875 the island was set-aside as a quarantine station although it took another 10 years for the proper facilities to be set up at West Point.

By 1890 a resort had been started in Picnic Bay. In 1898 Robert Hayles Sn. so impressed by the potential of Magnetic Island he sold his other interests to build a resort on the island. Hayles was responsible for much of the development of Magnetic Island through Tourism. In 1901 he started a regular ferry service to the Island with his ship the Bee. Twelve months later this ship was wrecked on the rocks at Nobby Head, Picnic Bay and the Phoenix was built by Hayles' sons to replace the vessel. The Hayles company remained operating services with a large number of different vessels until the 1970's.

In 1942 Townsville became an important base in Australia for troops from Australia and the United States and Cleveland Bay, Between Magnetic Island and Townsville became an important assembly point for supplies and military boats alike. To ensure the assembling fleets were safe from enemy attack a large military facility, The Forts as the remaining remnants are now known by, was built on Magnetic Island. It included two Sperry 3,000,000 candle power searchlights located at Horseshoe and Florence Bays, a radar screen in the hills above Arthur Bay operated by the 13th Australian Radar Unit and Two Gun Emplacements overlooking the Souther Entrance to Cleveland Bay (the Northern entrance is too shallow for large ships to navigate) as well as the facilities to support these and the detachments assigned to look after these facilities.

The two guns located at Magnetic Island were promptly removed following the war but are one of the most controversial issues surrounding the history of The Forts. It is often contested whether either of the guns ever fired as shot. It is well known that the guns never fired on an enemy vessel however, it is believed, although not confirmed that the gun facing the harbour entrance did fire on a boat which was not flying any colours. It is also sometimes considered that fours guns were deployed for emplacement at Magnetic Island during the war. However, in Early 1999 a letter to the Townsville Bulletin from a Eric Hall claimed that his father, being the tug master of Townsville Port at the time, towed only two guns aboard a barge to Rollingstone Bay at the Northeastern End of Magnetic Island.

The Forts is now a popular attraction for Tourists to Magnetic Island. Located high in the Hinterland of Horseshoe, Arthur, Florence and Radical Bays the walk to the remains of the facility is a popular place to spot Koalas and includes a number of views over the surrounding bays and ocean. The gun emplacements, Command Post and Observation post are all open to public access. The Command Post, still operational as a radio tower, provides an exceptional 360 degree view of the surrounding bays out to the ocean.

The island slowly expanded following the end of the Second World War. In Late December 1971 Cyclone Althea hit the North Queensland coast directly crossing Magnetic Island. The island, along with much of the mainland was devastated with 90% of the islands houses damaged or destroyed, some simply lifted off their foundations and tossed into trees. The island, along with the mainland soon recovered.

Horseshoe Bay

• Picnic Bay, Queensland
• Nelly Bay, Queensland
• Arcadia, Queensland
• Horseshoe Bay, Queensland

• Picnic Bay
• Radical Bay
• Florence Bay
• Horseshoe Bay
• Geoffrey Bay
• Alma Bay

• Acheron Island
• Brisk Island
• Fly Island
• Havannah Island
• Herald Island
• Rattlesnake Island
• Palm Island

• Great Tropical Jazz Party (October)
• Schoolies (November)

• Magnetic Island Community News (print, weekly)
• The Magnetic Times (Internet, daily)

• The Magnetic Times Community Newspaper
• Great Tropical Jazz Party
• Magnetic Island Townsville Swim
• Sunferries Magnetic Island - Townsville Ferry Service
• Wikitravel page for Magnetic Island

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