Hervey Bay

Hervey Bay is a city in the state of Queensland, Australia. The city is situated approximately 290km or 3½ hours' highway drive north of the state capital, Brisbane. It is a natural bay between the Queensland mainland and nearby Fraser Island. The local economy relies on tourism which is based primarily around whale watching in Platypus Bay to the north, access to Fraser Island, accessible recreational fishing and boating and the natural north facing, calm beaches with wide undeveloped foreshore zones.At June 2015, Hervey Bay had an estimated urban population of 52,288. At 1.2 percent, the 5-year average annual population growth is modest compared to 1.5 percent nationally. It has a median age of 45, significantly higher than the national average of 37.HistoryThe indigenous Butchulla people are the traditional residents of Hervey Bay. The first recorded European sighting of Hervey Bay was made by James Cook while carrying out his running survey of the east coast of Australia, on the 22 May 1770. "By noon Cook's ship was in a position a little over half-way across the opening of Hervey Bay heading for Bundaberg. When Cook first discovered Hervey Bay, he did not realize that Fraser Island was separated from mainland Australia; Cook did not travel far enough south due to the shallow depths of the waters in the Bay. Cook named the bay "Hervey's Bay" after Augustus John Hervey (1724–1779), later Third Earl of Bristol, a naval officer who became a Lord of the Admiralty the year Endeavour returned".