Ma’alpiku-Island-Nationalpark

Restoration Island is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 1928 km northwest of Brisbane and a few hundred metres from Cape Weymouth and the Iron Range National Park.

On 29 May 1789, after the mutiny on the Bounty, Captain Bligh and the men who remained loyal to him arrived on the island in the ship's boat. This was the first island they came to, and he named it Restoration Island because the food they found (oysters and native fruits) greatly restored their spirits and because that date was the anniversary of the restoration of King Charles II (in 1660).

Bligh saw evidence of the local aborigines using the island (rough huts and places fires had been made). He also saw kangaroo tracks and wondered if the aborigines brought them from the mainland to breed, since they'd be easier to catch later in the confined space of an island. (When leaving the following day he saw aborigines on an opposite shore, but didn't communicate with them.)

Today Restoration Island is not just a National Park, one third of the island is leased to David Glasheen, a former businessman who moved to the island in 1993[1]. Visitors who want to see the island and live there for a while firstly have to go to Lockhart River and try to get in contact with friends of the caretaker to arrange a meeting. In December 2008, Mr Glasheen advertised on an internet dating site for a female companion to join him and his dog living on the island. [2]

See also

• Protected areas of Queensland

External links

• Article featuring Restoration Island resident David Glasheen

[3] More about Restoration Island and David Glasheen