Great Barrier Reef - Fitzroy Island

Fitzroy Island is a continental island that was connected to the mainland until sea levels rose at the end of the last Ice Age. It is covered in lush tropical rainforests, granite outcrops, mangroves, and coral beaches.

The island can be explored on four walking tracks. They range from a short 25-minute hike on a rocky track through rainforests to a longer walk to the summit offering views of Green Island, the ocean, and migrating humpback whales in winter.

A variety of reptiles make Fitzroy Island their home. Due to the island's isolation, reptiles such as the yellow-spotted monitor are the apex predators, hunting for small mammals, birds, eggs, and lizards. Another common reptile on the island is the major skink, often found sunning on large boulders or scurrying across logs. Less appealing is knowing that there are several species of snakes, such as carpet python, spotted python, slaty-grey snake, and a couple of species of tree snake. The upside to this knowledge is that they are not dangerous to humans, but I would still give them a wide berth.

Many types of birds can be spotted on the island. There’s the solitary emerald dove rummaging on the forest floor or the snow-white pied imperial pigeon migrating from New Guinea to nest. An osprey may glide gracefully in the sky when it suddenly swoops into the ocean to catch fish in its sharp talons. But what would be even better is catching a glimpse of a Ulysses butterfly with its striking electric blue wings.

A visit to the Turtle Rehabilitation Centre is a lovely end to exploring the island. There, injured or sick turtles are cared for and helped to recover before being released back into the ocean.

The Centre also supports the Reef Restoration Project, which focuses on creating offshore coral nurseries on the island. Small amounts of healthy coral are collected and placed in the nursery, where they can grow and multiply faster than on the reef. The propagating process is very similar to taking cuttings from healthy plants and growing new plants. The Restoration Project has successfully planted more than 300 coral trees onto the reef. A fantastic effort considering they began in 2017 with only six coral trees.

Eager to get underwater again, I look forward to my next stop on Norman Reef.



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