Located some 300 km from the Queensland capital, Brisbane, and
37 km from historic Maryborough, Hervey Bay is a popular tourist
destination for both Australian and international visitors.
Discovered in 1770 by Captain James Cook, Hervey Bay was
named after Lord Augustus Hervey, an English Admiral with a
somewhat dubious reputation! Settlement first occurred during the
1850's, with greater expansion in the 1870's with a large number
of Scandinavian settlers.
Things hummed along quietly with the building of the railway between
Hervey Bay and Maryborough and the completion of the Urangan
Pier. In the 1950's the five villages that make up Hervey Bay were
discovered by Australians from the southern states. Attracted by
the warm climate, Hervey Bay's villages grew rapidly and merged
together. Finally, in 1984 Hervey Bay was proclaimed a city.
For those new to the Bay, or those just visiting, it's still a little
hard to get used to the idea that Hervey Bay has no distinct town
centre. Rather the five villages of the Bay, Urangan, Torquay,
Scarness, Pialba and Point Vernon, each have their own shopping
centre and community hub
Hardly a "party town" Hervey Bay is a great place to chill out and
launch your Fraser Island adventure, or during August to October
get up close and personal with one of the magnificent humpback
whales. Been whale watching before? "Well if you haven't done it
in HB, you haven't done it right!" |
