Bedarra Island

Bedarra Island
Nearest town/city	Mission Beach
Coordinates	18°00′14″S 146°08′56″E
Area	1 km

Bedarra Island.

Coastal view.

Swimming pool with granite rock at the base.

Villas on the coast.

Bedarra Island is a privately owned island in the middle of the Family Islands National Park, located off the Queensland coast in Australia. The island is made from granite and was part of the mainland before the last sea level rise began 8,000 years ago. This is one of only several Australian Islands that are privately owned to the Low Water Mark, including nearby Timana Island. Noel Wood, an Australian landscape artist, purchased East Bedarra in the late 1930s and over time it was developed into a popular luxury tourist destination.

Climate

Bedarra Island enjoys daytime temperatures ranging from 23 degrees Celsius in the June/July winter months to 30 degrees Celsius in the December/January months. High rainfall from December to March can be expected due to the tropical nature of the island.

Location

Bedarra Island is located approximately 7 kilometres off the Tropical North Queensland coast, midway between Townsville and Cairns. The nearest coastal town being Mission Beach. The island consists of pristine coral sandy beaches, with coves formed by giant granite boulders, and is fringed with lush green jungle. Bedarra is a continental type island made up of granite boulder formations that rise to moderately high rocky peaks, with steep granite escarpments on the northeasterly and southeasterly aspects.

The Sandspit

Bedarra Island has a northwest sandspit. All the islands in the Family Group have a shelving sandspit at their northwestern corner giving them a family "resemblance". These sandspits are one of the most attractive features of the group, offering ideal sheltered boat landings and deep water swimming at the lowest of tides. The sand is drawn out into a narrow spit by the wave action and sea currents from the prevailing sou'easters and nor'easters.

Fauna

The diversity in the wet tropical rainforest is great. Ulysses butterfly, Giant Birdwing butterfly, northern rainforest skink, Bush Turkey, Wompoo Fruit dove, Sun bird, tree frogs, Geckos, forest dragons, tree monitors, pythons and Echidna are just some of the animals that may be encountered. Sea turtles and dugongs can be observed around Bedarra Island and just recently, Migaloo the white humped back whale was spotted on his annual migration north (late june) from a lookout. The island has few mammals - The largest is the echidna and there is the fawn footed melomys, a small native rodent, named after EJ Banfield who first described it. This antive, fruit eating marsupial rat is called "Uromys banfieldi". Several species of bats and flying foxes are seen and heard at night. Unique to this area is the Little Bent Wing Bat "Miniopterus Australis". The tiny bat gets its name from its elongated finger bone that makes up its wing. They are usually colonial in their roost behaviour nesting in caves, crevices and sometimes roof ceilings of the open plan houses on the island. The most easily seen bird life in the rainforest, are the large mound builders - orange footed scrubfowl and black Australian brush turkeys. During the months of June and July you can see many butterflies flitting gaily through the rainforest, including the spectacular Ulysses with its vibrant blue colour.

Well known Artists

John Busst From 1941 to 1957 the artist John Busst and his wife Alison were in residence on Bedarra Island. He was attributed with having the Great Barrier Reef listed as World Heritage postumously. Harold and Zara Holt were good friends with the Bussts and visited them frequently on the island. The original Busst house on Bedarra included a big art studio built Spanish style facing an inner courtyard garden, colour washed mud brick walls, with wide shady verandahs running around the three outer sides of the U shaped dwelling, and high ceilings with cool bedrooms and a spacious dining room, gave the building a gracious air. Sadly, the house no longer stands as it was demolished during the 1980's. After they sold this section of the island, now known as Bedarra Bay, John and Alison moved to Bingil Bay circa 1960 naming their home "Ninney Rise" located on Bingil Bay Caravan Park Rd. Harold and Zara Holt built a home on nearby Brooks Beach. To this day the Bingil Bay area is known as the home of the "Greeny" or environmentalist and John Busst was considered the original "Greeny". There is a brass plaque at the northern end of Bingil Bay - a tribute from poet Judith Wright reads "John Busst" Artist and lover of beauty, who thought that man and nature might survive'.

Helen Wiltshire (1945 - 2011) Well known local artist to this area resided on Bedarra Island in 1986. She and her husband rebuilt the old studio which is located in a secluded valley amongst the old orchard trees. Helens' eulogy made mention of a footpath that she had worked on from her studio, past the spring towards the beach and that the residents on the island had nicknamed the pathway "Helens Highway".

Our colourful history

Captain James Cook first placed the ‘Family Isles’ on the map when exploring the coast of Australia in the Endeavour in June 1770. He named the larger “The Father Isle” or Dunk Island, after the First Lord of the Admiralty, Montagu Dunk, the Earl of Sandwich.

The next largest island he called “The Mother Isle” which became known as Bedarra Island. The other islands he referred to as “The Children”.

Initially marine charts referred to Bedarra island as Richards Island then Allason Island after the first European settler, Captain Henry Allason. Early in the 20th century author Edmund James Banfield (E.J Banfield) who lived as a beachcomber on Dunk Island began using the name Bedarra, a misspelling of the Aboriginal term Biagurra which roughly translates to “the place of endless water”.

English barrister Captain Henry Allason, inspired by Banfields book ‘Confessions of A Beachcomber’, applied to purchase Bedarra and nearby Timana Island from the Queensland Lands Department in 1913 for the paltry sum of 20 pounds. The lease was granted on 15 April 1913 over the whole island apart from a 150 chain esplanade around the entire island. Allason objected strenuously to the Lands Department regarding the esplanade reserve around the island as it allowed the public to access the island, thereby compromising his privacy. After a number of letters between the Lands Department and Allason between 1913 and 1915, the Land Court upheld his objection to the esplanade reserve and granted Allason title to the island to the Low Water Mark. He and his wife settled there until he was forced to return to Europe when World War 1 broke out. The Land Departed converted Allason's title from Leasehold to Freehold in 1921.

When Allason on-sold the property to the Harris syndicate of London in 1934 it looked for a time like it might become a home for underprivileged boys.

Noel Wood

However, Australian artist Noel Wood (1912-2001) visited the island in 1936 and negotiated the purchase of a site near the mangroves on one side of the peninsula.

Wood a colourful modernist, landscape artist and early conservationist, who often hosted 'Bohemian parties' managed the property and painted at East Bedarra for close to 60-years.

He named many of its picturesque locations including Melaleuca Beach, The Mangroves, Calophyllum Beach, Casurina Beach, Valley Beach, Orchid Beach, Tiki Beach and Hernandia Bay. This is confirmed by author James Porter and Wood's direct descendants.

Wood also named the Coral Gardens as a reference to Banfield’s memories of Dunk Island in Confessions of a Beachcomber.

Public collections of Wood's works are held throughout Australia and form part of private collections in the UK and US. Although he worked in Ireland, Britain and Europe in the late 1940s and was in the US in the 1950s he always returned to his East Bedarra studio and gardens. He was a permanent resident from 1936-1947 and from 1957-2001.

Wood lived on the island until 1993 when his parcel of land was subdivided. Eight privately owned houses are located on this section of Bedarra Island.

Ownership changes

In 1938 after artist Noel Wood was established in his island paradise, Frank Coleman and his family from the Atherton Tableland, arrived after negotiating a purchase price for the rest of the island.

In 1940, artist John Busst leased the south-eastern corner for ten shillings a week before the Coleman’s sold to former island guests Dick Greatrix and Pierre Huret who had fallen in love with the place.

The two men lived on the island for seven years creating an area of landscaped gardens and introducing exotic plants to the rainforest before selling to long time tenant John Busst and his sister Phyllis.

Portions of the island were sub-divided and sold off over the years until in 1857 Ken and Cynthia Druitt took over and developed a small tourist resort. That year John Busst sold his remaining holding at Bedarra Bay, to Colin Scott, a grazier from Victoria. who ran the property as a private retreat. In 1979, Tor Hulten, from Sweden converted the property into the Toranna Plantation tourist resort.

In 1980, Australian Airlines, owners of neighbouring Dunk Island Resort, purchased Ken and Cynthia Druitt’s holding, ultimately creating Bedarra Hideaway Resort and running day trips for Dunk Island guests.

The airline also acquired Toranna Plantation which in 1988 was transformed into the exclusive Bedarra Bay Resort. Bedarra Hideaway Resort was closed in October 1991 after Qantas took over Australian Airlines.

P&O Australian Resorts purchased the properties in March 1998 and after extensive refurbishment over several years sold to Voyages Hotels & Resorts in August 2004. An affiliate of the McCall MacBain Foundation took over portions of Bedarra and neighbouring Dunk Island in September 2009.

In 2011, post cyclone Yasi, Bedarra Island Resort has been purchased by the Charlton Hotel group who are intending on rebuilding.

See also

• Dunk Island
• Great Barrier Reef

References

3 A Family of Islands by James G. Porter 2000 4 Last Leaves from Dunk Island by Edmund James Banfield 5 www.daao.org.au/noelwood 6 www.jcu.edu.au/archives/johnbusst 7 www.missionbeachtourism.com/history 8 C4Resource Guide - presenting Mission Beach conservationists 9 Womens Weekly index - Flinders University 23/11/1966 10 Bingil Bay Bulletin - July 2006 11 www.bedarrabeachhouse.com.au/location/placenames/Bedarra Placenames/climate

External links

• Bedarra Island resources from the National Library of Australia
• Bedarra Placenames
• Dictionary of Australian Artists:
• Sydney Morning Herald Traveller section http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-factsheet/bedarra-island-20081113-5z3o.html
• Daily Telegraph, Drunken Drongos and Suntanned Soap Stars (March 27, 2004)
• ‘Confessions of A Beachcomber’, Banfield, Project Guttenberg: