Bustard Bay

Bustard Bay lies between the Queensland mainland and the southern Coral Sea, framed by Round Hill Head and the sheltered waters behind a small peninsula. Round Hill Creek reaches the sea here, meeting tidal flats, sandy beaches and rocky headlands. Offshore reefs and islands divide the open water into channels, while southerly swells break against the exposed points. Aboriginal communities of the surrounding coastal country knew these waters through fishing, travel and seasonal use.

James Cook entered the bay in May 1770 and made the Endeavour’s second Australian landing nearby, the first on the coast of what later became Queensland. He named Bustard Bay after seeing a large bird, and named Round Hill for its form. Cook’s party searched for water and encountered the traces of Aboriginal occupation, showing that the landing place lay inside a long-used landscape rather than at an empty frontier.

The landing became a remembered event, but the bay’s working geography remained maritime. Fishing grounds, creek channels and reef passages supported small settlements along the shore. The rocky headland, shallow inshore water and clear access to the reef made Bustard Bay both a shelter and a point of departure for voyages into the broader coastal sea.