Daydream Island

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Daydream Island is one of seven islands of the Molle Group, a sub-group of the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland, Australia. The island is small, measuring 1km in length and 400m at its widest point. The highest point on the island is 51 metres above sea level. There are two tourist resorts on the island: the original resort at the southern end caters to day visitors, only overnights guests can visit the newer resort (opened in 1990) at the north-eastern end of the island. Tourist vessels from the mainland port of Shute Harbour regularly visit the island.

Christened West Molle Island in 1881,^[1] the present name "Daydream" came into use during the 1930s when Lee (Paddy) and Connie Murray established the first tourist resort on the island. Day Dream was the name of a yacht owned by the Murrays. Ownership of the resort has transferred to a number of individuals or groups since the 1930s. Notable owners include Reg Ansett, who dismantled the resort in 1953 and shipped the buildings to his new resort on Hayman Island; and Bernie Elsey, whose massive redevelopment of the island in 1967 was destroyed by Cyclone Ada three years later. The resort is currently owned by Vaughan Bullivant.^[2]

[edit] References

Wheeler, T. and Armstrong, M. (1994). Islands of Australia's Great Barrier Reef (2nd edition). Melbourne. Lonely Planet Publications. (pp. 138-141).