Double Island Point

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**Double Island Point Lighthouse**
Location:	Queensland, Australia
Construction:	Rolled galvanised iron on timber frame
Year first lit:	1885
Height:	12 Metres
Elevation:	96 Metres
Intensity:	1,000,000 cd
Range:	26 Nautical Miles

Double Island Point is a coastal headland in Queensland, Australia. It's the next headland north of Noosa and is within the Cooloola section of the Great Sandy National Park, at the southern end of Wide Bay.

The point was named by Captain Cook when he passed it on 18 May 1770, "on account of its figure" (ie. shape). In the original of his journal he had written Fiddle head, but crossed that out. ^[1]

In 1884 a lighthouse was built on the point. It's a timber with metal cladding construction, like many lighthouses in Queensland, made that way both because it's cheaper than masonry, but also better suited for soft sandy soils. It was planned for only half way up the point, but it was realized it wouldn't be visible to the north and so was built on top of the point. It was initially oil burning, then in 1923 vaporized kerosene, then later converted to electric. In 1992 it was converted to solar power and demanned. ^[2]

There is no road access to the point, but four-wheel drive vehicles can go along the beach, either from the township of Rainbow Beach in Wide Bay, or the longer way up from Noosa (after taking a ferry across the Noosa River). ^[3]

The northern side of the point is a surfing location. On a good swell a right-hander breaks over sand, and for perhaps as much as 300 metres in ideal conditions. ^[4] This is the last (ie. most northerly) recognised break on the east coast mainland. (The remaining breaks being on Fraser Island.)