Hervey Bay () is a city on the coast of the Fraser Coast Region of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. The city is situated approximately or 3½ hours' highway drive north of the state capital,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

. It is located on the bay of the same name open to the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the Fre ...

between the Queensland mainland and nearby

Fraser Island Fraser Island ( Butchulla: ) is a World Heritage-listed island along the south-eastern coast in the Wide Bay–Burnett region, Queensland, Australia. The island is approximately north of the state capital, Brisbane, and is within the Fras ...

(also known as K'Gari and Gari). The local economy relies on tourism which is based primarily around

whale watching Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity (cf. birdwatching), but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes.Hoyt, E. 2 ...

in Platypus Bay to the north,

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...

access to

, accessible recreational fishing and boating and the natural north facing, calm beaches with wide undeveloped foreshore zones. In October 2019, Hervey Bay was named the First Whale Heritage Site in the world by the World Cetacean Alliance, for its commitment to and practices of sustainable whale and dolphin watching. A 2010 study by Deakin University showed that people on the Fraser Coast area including Hervey Bay, were the happiest in Australia. At June 2018, there were an estimated 54,674 people in Hervey Bay, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. having grown by an annual average of 1.31% year-on-year over the preceding five years.

History

Aerial photograph of Hervey Bay looking north, 12 July 1967

Butchulla (also known as Batjala, Badtjala, Badjela, and Badjala) is the language of the Fraser Coast region, including K’gari. Butchulla language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the

Fraser Coast Regional Council The Fraser Coast Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is centred on the twin cities of Hervey Bay and Maryborough and also contains Fraser ...

, particularly the towns of Maryborough and Hervey Bay extending south towards

Noosa The Shire of Noosa is a local government area about north of Brisbane in the Sunshine Coast district of South East Queensland, Australia. The shire covers an area of . It existed as a local government entity from 1910 until 2008, when it wa ...

and north to

Caboolture Caboolture () is a town and suburb in Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Caboolture had a population of 26,433 people. It is located on the north side of the Caboolture River, which separates the town from Morayfi ...

. The indigenous

Batjala The Butchulla, also written Butchella, Badjala, Badjula, Badjela, Bajellah, Badtjala and Budjilla are an Aboriginal Australian people of K'gari, Queensland, and a small area of the nearby mainland of southern Queensland. Language The Butchulla ...

people including the

Kabi Kabi The Gubbi Gubbi people also known as Kabi Kabi are an Aboriginal Australian people native to south-eastern Queensland. They are now classified as one of several Murri language groups in Queensland. Naming As is often the case, ethnonyms dist ...

are the traditional residents of Hervey Bay. (Batjala means Bat-No and Jala-tongu. This would mean they were shy people who did not communicate with people outside of their family group.) The first recorded European sighting of Hervey Bay was made by

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...

while carrying out his running survey of the east coast of Australia, on 22 May 1770. By noon Cook's ship was in a position a little over half-way across the opening of Hervey Bay heading for

Bundaberg Bundaberg is a city in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia, and is the tenth largest city in the state. Bundaberg's regional area has a population of 70,921, and is a major centre of the Wide Bay–Burnett geographical region. The B ...

. When Cook first discovered Hervey Bay, he did not realize that Fraser Island was separated from mainland Australia; Cook did not travel far enough south due to the shallow depths of the waters in the Bay.History of Hervey Bay
. Retrieved 31 July 2014. Cook named the bay "Hervey's Bay" after Augustus John Hervey (1724–1779), later Third Earl of Bristol, a naval officer who became a

Lord of the Admiralty This is a list of Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty (incomplete before the Restoration, 1660). The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of The Board of Admiralty, which exercised the office of Lord High Admiral when it was ...

the year Endeavour returned. Until around the mid-1980s the area was serviced by a rail link from the main North Coast line that diverted from

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...

and went through

Takura Takura Tendayi is a Zimbabwean singer and songwriter. He is well known for his frequent collaborations with Chase & Status and Sub Focus, as well as many other dubstep and drum and bass artists. His guest appearances have accumulated over 17 m ...

, Walligan, Nikenbah, then on to

Pialba Pialba is a coastal town and suburb of Hervey Bay in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It is the central business district of Hervey Bay. In the , Pialba had a population of 3,678 people. Geography Pialba is a located north ...

and Urangan. The line was a major freight point for the

Port of Maryborough The Port of Maryborough, Queensland, was opened in 1847 and in 1859 it was declared a port of entry, meaning that overseas and intercolonial vessels could arrive and depart direct, although there appears to have been considerable uncertainty ...

and for the sugar cane industry until road transport assumed the role. In 1984, Hervey Bay was officially known as the "City of Hervey Bay". It was known as a city because of its large growth in business, population, tourism, and industry. Although it was now being known as a city, it still remained a small seaside village to most of the local residents. The Hervey Bay Library opened in 1997 and had a major refurbishment in 2014. In the , Hervey Bay had a population of 52,073 people. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 4.0% of the population. The median age of people was 48 years, ten years older than the national median age. 74.6% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 5.9%, New Zealand 3.5%, Germany 0.8%, Scotland 0.6%, and Philippines 0.6%. 88.4% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included German 0.5%, French 0.2%, Mandarin 0.2%, Dutch 0.2%, and Italian 0.2%. The most common responses for religion were no religion 28.0%, Anglican 20.5%, and Catholic 18.9%.

Heritage listings

Hervey Bay has a number of

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many i ...

sites. K'gari is listed on the

World Heritage List A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

. The Woody Island Lighthouses are listed on the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. ...

Transport

Hervey Bay is situated approximately 3½ hours' drive north of

, via the

Bruce Highway The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast on its way to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is part of the Australian Nat ...

and 30 minutes' drive north-east of Maryborough. The city is also served by the high-speed Tilt Train, which has connections from

Maryborough West Maryborough West or West Maryborough () is a barony in County Laois (formerly called ''Queen's County'' or ''County Leix''), Ireland. Etymology Maryborough is the former name of the town of Portlaoise, established in 1548 and named after Que ...

or nearby

Howard Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

. The city is served by the

Hervey Bay Airport Hervey Bay Airport is the main airport for the city of Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia and the Fraser Coast region which incorporates the nearby city of Maryborough. The airport, which is located southeast of Pialba, re-opened in mid-20 ...

, with direct flights from Brisbane (

QantasLink QantasLink is a regional brand of Australian airline Qantas and is an affiliate member of the Oneworld airline alliance. It is a major competitor to Regional Express Airlines and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines. As of September 2010 Qant ...

) and Sydney (

Virgin Australia Virgin Australia, the trading name of Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd, is an Australian-based airline. It is the largest airline by fleet size to use the Virgin brand. It commenced services on 31 August 2000 as ''Virgin Blue'', with two ...

). The

City of Hervey Bay The City of Hervey Bay was a local government area located in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, containing the urban centre of Hervey Bay as well as the northern half of Fraser Island. The City covered an area of , and exis ...

(now the Fraser Coast Region) has released an airport master plan which includes future provision of a taxiway parallel to the main runway, additional car parking and a larger terminal. The city is also served by passenger ferry to Fraser Island, as well as both scheduled and unscheduled vehicular ferries.

Railway

Despite Hervey Bay's growing popularity, no plans have been made for a new railway line to the city. The previous passenger and freight line branched off the North Coast main line at Colton, just north of Maryborough. Trains stopped at many stations along the line, but the main stations were Pialba and Urangan. The railway then extended along the

Urangan Pier Urangan Pier is a historic pier in Urangan, Queensland, Urangan, Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia. It is a former deep-water, cargo-handling facility originally built to facilitate the export of sugar, timber and coal. The pier, served by the ...

. The line carried out pineapples and local goods from the city. The line was closed in 1993. The tracks from Nikenbah to Urangan were removed and the Pialba – Urangan line was converted into a

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetc ...

. Traces of the railway line are still visible in Urangan. There are two semi-removed crossings (Everything but the tracks was removed) near the end of Pier Street and the track's

ballast Ballast is material that is used to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within a boat, ship ...

is still slightly visible from where the mobility corridor ends.

Governance

Hervey Bay is the largest population centre within the Fraser Coast Region. The current mayor of the Fraser Coast Regional Council is George Seymour first elected in a by-election held in May 2018 and re-elected in the 2020 quadrennial local government elections in March 2020. A total of ten Councillors are elected every four years. The

Electoral district of Hervey Bay Hervey Bay is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland. The electorate is centred on the city of Hervey Bay and also includes Fraser Island (K'gari, Gari). Members for Hervey Bay Election resul ...

has Queensland's second highest share of residents aged over 60. Hervey Bay is represented in the

Parliament of Queensland The Parliament of Queensland is the legislature of Queensland, Australia. As provided under the Constitution of Queensland, the Parliament consists of the Monarch of Australia and the Legislative Assembly. It has been the only unicameral s ...

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

member

Adrian Tantari Adrian Tantari (; born 15 March 1961) is an Australian politician, a member of the Labor Party, and was elected as the representative of Hervey Bay, Queensland, during the 2020 Queensland state election. The seat of Hervey Bay has had two Aust ...

, and in the

Commonwealth Parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-g ...

by the Nationals member for Hinkler,

Keith Pitt Keith John Pitt (born 31 August 1969) is an Australian politician. He is a member of the National Party and has represented the Division of Hinkler in Queensland since the 2013 federal election. He was a member of cabinet in the Morrison Gov ...

Climate

Hervey Bay has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

with an average high temperature of around in summer and in winter. The coast is predominantly affected by the south east

trade wind The trade winds or easterlies are the permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisph ...

s throughout the summer with occasional strong northerly winds and storm swells. These winds keep the temperatures down in summer and up in winter, preventing temperature extremes. As a result, Hervey Bay rarely experiences temperatures over in summer or under in winter.

Tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Dep ...

s are a threat at times with Cyclone Hamish threatening in 2009 as a Category 5. The land mass of Fraser Island significantly affects the pattern of weather in Hervey Bay and protects the immediate marine environment from open ocean storm effects. Cyclone Oswald in 2013 caused significant damage in the area, mainly as a result of

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, alt ...

es spawned by the system. The average rainfall for the year is around . December to March is the main rainy period, with a secondary peak in May and June. The months of April and from July to November are generally dry and sunny.

Localities

Hervey Bay began as a dispersed community spread over numerous small, seaside villages. As the area grew, these communities amalgamated and became suburbs . The current urban area includes the following settlements: * Booral * Bunya Creek *

Craignish Craignish (Scottish Gaelic, ''Creiginis'') is a peninsula in Argyll, on the west coast of Scotland. It lies around south of Oban, and north-west of Lochgilphead. The peninsula is around long, and is aligned along a north-east to south-west orie ...

* Dundowran * Dundowran Beach * Eli Waters * Kawungan * Nikenbah *

* Point Vernon * Scarness * Sunshine Acres * Susan River *

* Toogoom *

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paig ...

* Urangan * Urraween * Walligan * Wondunna

Education

Hervey Bay has 14

schools A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

. Hervey Bay also has two Higher Education institutes, a campus of the

University of the Sunshine Coast The University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) is a public university based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. After opening with 524 students in 1996 as the Sunshine Coast University College, it was later renamed the University of the ...

and the

Wide Bay Institute of TAFE WIDE or Wide may refer to: * Wide (cricket) *Wide and narrow data, terms used to describe two different presentations for tabular data *WIDE Project, Widely Integrated Distributed Environment *Wide-angle Infinity Display Equipment *WIDE-LP, a radi ...

. and a State Government Special School.

Amenities

The

operate the Hervey Bay Library at 161 Old Maryborough Road,

. LifeChurch Hervey Bay meets at the Community Centre at 22 Charles Street in

. It is part of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia.

Media

Along with a number of other regional Australian newspapers owned by NewsCorp, the ''Hervey Bay Independent'' newspaper ceased publication in June 2020. In April 2022, the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owne ...

opened a bureau at Hervey Bay to improve its coverage of the Fraser Coast. Staffed by two locally-based journalists, the new bureau on Boat Harbour Drive was opened as part of the ABC's regional expansion.

Commerce

Hervey Bay and the Fraser Coast region's largest shopping centre is Stockland Hervey Bay. It is a regional shopping center located in the suburb of Urraween. Stockland Acquired the centre in April 2011, at the time it had a floor area of 15,600 square meters, and 48 stores. In 2013 Stockland begun construction of a $115 million redevelopment that would double the floor area to over 35,000 square metres. The development would include an additional 70 specialty stores and a 500-seat food court, taking the total number of stores to 110.

Sports

Hervey Bay has an active sporting community with the geography and climate encouraging a diverse range of activities. The natural foreshore area of Hervey Bay has a long bike and pedestrian path that visibly integrates recreational fitness into the environment and community. Competition sports are generally regional and played against nearby cities,

, Maryborough and

Gympie Gympie ( ) is a city and a locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the Wide Bay-Burnett District, Gympie is about north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city lies on the Mary River, which floods Gympie occasionally. The ...

. The calm waters and gently sloped beaches make recreational and competitive water sports popular and accessible. These include sailing, kite boarding, water skiing, wake boarding, kayaking, out-rigging, snorkelling, scuba diving, and ocean swimming. The Hervey Bay Triathlon started in 1988 and has been raced annually since. The local rugby league team, Hervey Bay Seagulls, are the cornerstone of rugby league in the Hervey Bay area. Buckelwale humpback whale Frazer Island (23792293570)

Buckelwale humpback whale Frazer Island (23792293570)

Whale watching

Hervey Bay is the

capital of Australia, with

humpback whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hu ...

s migrating along the coast between April and October every year. Researchers at The Oceania Project conducted a 25-year study which found the bay was an important social hub for humpback whales. Whale number have increased from about 2,000 in 1992, to around 33,000 in 2018. Hervey Bay is a stopover for mature female humpback whales. Mature females visit Hervey Bay during August in company with the cohort of immature males and females. During September and October Hervey Bay is dominated by Mature females with new calves. The humpback whales are known to be very relaxed in the company of th
whale watching vessels

Southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20 ...

s have also been recorded with increasing sighting rates.

Sister cities

According to the Australian Sister Cities Association, Hervey Bay has two sister cities: * Otsuki, Japan *

Leshan Leshan, formerly known as Jiading or Jiazhou, is a prefecture-level city located at the confluence of the Dadu and Min rivers in Sichuan Province, China. Leshan is located on the southwestern fringe of the Sichuan Basin in southern Sichuan, abo ...

, China.

References

External links

* * * Town maps
Sheet 1Sheet 2Sheet 3Sheet 4

Hervey Bay

Old Hervey Bay City Council Website
{{Authority control Coastal cities in Australia Bays of Queensland