Bowen, Queensland

Bowen Queensland
Bowen as seen from Flagstaff Hill
Bowen
Coordinates	20°01′S 148°14′E
Population	7,484
Postcode(s)	4805
Elevation	5 m (16 ft)
Location	1,159 km (720 mi) NW of Brisbane 189 km (117 mi) NW of Mackay 201 km (125 mi) SE of Townsville
LGA(s)	Whitsunday Regional Council
State electorate(s)	Burdekin
Federal division(s)	Dawson
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 28.6 °C 83 °F 19.6 °C 67 °F 820.9 mm 32.3 in

Bowen is a town on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Bowen had a population of 7,484.

Geography

Bowen is located on the north-east coast of Australia, at exactly twenty degrees south of the equator. In fact, the twentieth parallel crosses the main street. Bowen is halfway between Townsville and Mackay, and 1,130 kilometres by road from Brisbane.

Bowen sits on a square peninsula, with ocean to the north, east, and south. On the western side, where the peninsula connects with the mainland, the Don River's alluvial plain provides fertile soil that supports a prosperous farming industry.

Climate

Bowen is in the dry tropics. This means it has all the warm sunny weather of a tropical climate, but it is much dryer than one would expect for tropical beaches overlooking the Great Barrier Reef.

At Bowen's latitude, the Trade Winds provide a pleasant breeze. The warmest month is January, with an average maximum temperature of 31 degrees Celsius (88 degrees Fahrenheit). The coolest month is July, with an average maximum temperature of 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) and an average overnight minimum of 14 degrees Celsius (57 degrees Fahrenheit).

Economy

Bowen enjoys a diversified and prosperous economy based on agriculture, fishing, tourism, and mining. Bowen's unusually dry climate for a tropical location, plus its fertile alluvial soil, makes it the ideal place to grow a wide variety of small crops, including tomatoes, rockmelons (i.e., cantaloupes), and capsicums (i.e., green peppers). Outside the alluvial plain, much of the Bowen Shire is used for beef cattle.

Just north of Bowen is the Abbot Point coal loading port. Coal mined inland of Bowen in Collinsville and other towns in the Bowen Basin is brought by rail to a deepwater pier to be loaded on bulk carriers. Coal is exported mainly to China and India.

Government

In 1944 Bowen elected a Communist, Fred Paterson, to Queensland State Parliament. He was re-elected in 1947, but lost the seat in 1950 when the boundaries were changed to include Bowen in the seat of Whitsunday. In the recent Queensland council amalgamation elections, former Bowen Shire Mayor, Mike Brunker, was elected to lead the new Whitsunday Shire.

History

Captain James Cook named Cape Gloucester on his voyage of exploration up the Australian coast in 1770. This "cape" turned out to be an island, and Gloucester Island dominates the view from Bowen's eastern beaches. Behind the island is a bay that forms an excellent port, which the town came to be built around. This bay was eventually discovered in 1859 by Captain Henry Daniel Sinclair, in response to a reward offered by the colony of New South Wales for finding a port somewhere north of Rockhampton. Sinclair named Port Denison after the colonial governor of New South Wales.

Two years later, Sinclair led one group of settlers by sea, and George Elphinstone Dalrymple led another party overland from Rockhampton. They met on 11 April 1861 at Port Denison and founded the town of Bowen on the next day, 13 April 1861. By this time, the separate colony of Queensland had been established, and the town was named after Queensland's first colonial governor, Sir George Ferguson Bowen.

Two years later in 1863, the new settlers discovered a sailor, James Morril, who had been shipwrecked 17 years previously just to the north of Bowen. Morril made his home in the new town, and his grave is still to be seen in the Bowen cemetery.

The coral reefs around Bowen have several shipwrecks, including the SS Gothenburg which sank in 1875 with a loss of more than 100 lives. Numerous relics of Bowen's history, from the Aboriginal past onwards, are on display at the Bowen Historical Society's museum.

During World War 2 Bowen hosted an air force base, flying PBY Catalina flying boats to search for enemy ships and submarines.

Tourism

The Big Mango, Bowen, Queensland.

Bowen is on a peninsula, with ocean on three sides. This gives eight beaches surrounding the town, namely Kings Beach, Queens Beach, Horseshoe Bay, Murrays Bay, Greys Bay, Rose Bay, and the Front Beach. There is also the clothing-optional Coral Bay. Kings Beach offers views of nearby Gloucester Island. On the western half of Queens Beach and all of Kings Beach, it is permitted to walk a dog without a leash.

'Australia' film

In late 2006, it was announced that Australia, directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, will be filmed in Bowen. It is hoped that the production will provide a significant economic boost to the town and will employ many Bowen locals.

Entertainment

Bowen boasts a cinema, the Summergarden Twin Theatre, the Denison Hotel, the Queens Beach Hotel, the Central Hotel, the North Australian Hotel, the Commercial Hotel and the Grand View Hotel. It also offers four motels and seven caravan parks. There is also a golf course that overlooks Queens Beach.

Education

Bowen hosts the Barrier Reef Institute of TAFE.

Sister cities

Bowen has a sister city in Japan, Oseto-cho in Nagasaki Prefecture.

Long Distance services
Inbound	Service			Outbound
Proserpine	The Sunlander			Home Hill
Proserpine	Diesel Tilt Train			Home Hill

External links

• University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Bowen
• http://www.tourismbowen.com.au/
• http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/rlq/4791.html