Point Lookout is a headland, small coastal town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

on the eastern coast of

North Stradbroke Island North Stradbroke Island (Janday language, Jandai: ''Minjerribah''), colloquially ''Straddie'' or ''North Straddie'', is an island that lies within Moreton Bay in the Australian state of Queensland, southeast of the centre of Brisbane. Original ...

(Minjerribah),

Redland City Redland City, also known as the Redlands and formerly known as Redland Shire, is a Local government in Australia, local government area (LGA) and a part of Brisbane, Greater Brisbane in South East Queensland, Australia. With a population of 159 ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. In the , the locality of Point Lookout had a population of 785 people.

Geography

Point Lookout is Queensland's most easterly point. To the north lies

Cape Moreton Cape Moreton is a rocky headland at the north eastern tip of Moreton Island in South East Queensland, Australia. The surrounding area is part of the Moreton Island National Park. Flinders Reef is north-west of Cape Moreton. The outcrop is mos ...

and to the south the next major headland is Point Danger on the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

border. The other

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

s on the island are

Dunwich Dunwich () is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is in the Suffolk & Essex Coast & Heaths National Landscape around north-east of London, south of Southwold and north of Leiston, on the North Sea coast. In the Anglo-Saxon ...

and Amity Point. In the west near the caravan park is Rocky Point and Adder Rock. Cylinder Beach extends eastwards towards Cylinder Headland. Frenchmans Beach fronts Frenchmans Bay. At the eastern extremity is North Gorge and Whale Rock. Offshore are several rocky outcrops above sea level. The headland is an ideal location for land-based

seawatching Seawatching is a type of birdwatching where participants observe seabirds from a fixed point on the mainland. They may do this from a coastal location, usually a headland, looking out to sea, or from a boat or ship. Seawatching is commonly per ...

in Australia.

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 monotypic taxon, only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh u ...

s can also be seen from here as they migrate along the

east coast of Australia The eastern states of Australia are the states adjoining the east continental coastline of Australia. These are the mainland states of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, and the island state of Tasmania. The Australian Capital Territory ...

. The area is mostly residential houses and tourist apartments built close to the

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

and atop nearby ridges to take advantage of sweeping

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

views. There are a few shops and a caravan park at Point Lookout. There is no railway on the island, the nearest station being in Cleveland to the west. Dunwich airport is southwest.

Climate

Point Lookout has a warm

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

( Köppen: Cfa) with hot, wet summers and very mild, relatively dry winters. Precipitation is abundant, averaging annually, with an autumn maximum due to its exposed location.

History

The point was sighted and named by

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

HMS Endeavour HMS ''Endeavour'' was a British Royal Navy research vessel that Lieutenant James Cook commanded to Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia on his First voyage of James Cook, first voyage of discovery from 1768 to 1771. She was launched in 1764 as t ...

during his exploration of the

on 17 May 1770. In 1803

Matthew Flinders Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer, navigator and cartographer who led the first littoral zone, inshore circumnavigate, circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then ...

in the cutter ''Hope'' came ashore at Cylinder Beach (Hopewell) to find water as he was returning to

Port Jackson Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta ...

(

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

) after he was wrecked in HMS Porpoise on the

Wreck Reefs The Wreck Reefs are located in the southern part of the Coral Sea Islands approximately east-north-east of Gladstone, Queensland, Australia. Approximately east of the Swain Reefs complex they form a narrow chain of reefs with small cays that ...

off

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

. It is first recorded contact between the British and the Noonuccal people in this area. The Aboriginal people assisted Flinders in finding fresh water to fill his barrels. The Point Lookout Lighthouse was constructed in 1932, which is still in use today. On 14 May 1943, the single greatest loss of life resulting from a submarine attack in Australian waters occurred ENE off Point Lookout when the hospital ship AHS Centaur was sunk by a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

submarine. On 15 May 1994 Minister for Veterans Affairs, Con Sciacca, officially unveiled a memorial to the sinking of the Centaur on Cylinder Beach Headland. The Point Lookout Library opened in 2011.

Demographics

In the , the locality of Point Lookout had a population of 713 people, 47.1% female and 52.9% male. The median age of the Point Lookout population was 53 years, 15 years above the national median of 38. 72.1% of people living in Point Lookout were born in Australia. The other top responses for country of birth were England 4.7%, New Zealand 2.1%, South Africa 1.4%, United States of America 1% and Philippines 0.7%. 85.2% of people spoke only English at home; the next most common languages were French 0.6%, Croatian 0.4% and Japanese 0.4%. In the , the locality of Point Lookout had a population of 785 people, 47.6% female and 52.2% male. The median age of the Point Lookout population was 55 years. 71.5% of people living in Point Lookout were born in Australia. The other top responses for country of birth were England 5%, New Zealand 2%, United States of America 1.8%, South Africa 1%, and Thailand 0.9%. 83.2% of people spoke only English at home; the next most common languages were Italian 0.9%, Thai 0.8% and German 0.5%.

Heritage listings

Point Lookout has one heritage site, Point Lookout Foreshore along East Coast Road ().

Education

There are no schools in Point Lookout. The nearest government primary school is Dunwich State School in

to the south-west. The nearest government secondary school is Cleveland District State High School in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

on the mainland.

Amenities

The Redland City Council operates a public library at the Point Lookout Community Hall () at 74–84 Dickson Way (also known as East Coast Road).

Attractions

There is a monument commemorating the naming of Point Lookout by James Cook in 1770. It is opposite 19 Mooloomba Road, near the Gorge Walk (). There is a monument commemorating the assistance the Aboriginal people gave to Matthew Flinders in 1803. It is at Hopewell Street on the Cylinder Beach Headland (). There is a monument commemorating the Stradbroke Island Radar Site, which was part of Australia's air defence network during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It is on the Gorge Walk off Headland Park Access Road (). There is a monument commemorating the sinking of the AHS Centaur in Hopewell Street on Cylinder Beach Headland ().

References

External links

* * {{authority control Coastal towns in Queensland Suburbs of Redland City Headlands of Queensland Lookouts in Queensland Localities in Queensland