Maʼalpiku Island National Park

Maʼalpiku Island National Park
Restoration Island, Cape York
Maʼalpiku Island National Park
LocationQueensland
Nearest cityLockhart River
Coordinates12°37′05″S 143°26′56″E / 12.618°S 143.449°E / -12.618; 143.449
Area26 ha (64 acres)
Established1989
Governing bodyQueensland Parks and Wildlife Service
WebsiteOfficial website

Maʼalpiku Island National Park is a national park at Iron Range in the Shire of Cook in Far North Queensland, Australia.[1] It lies 1,928 km (1,198 mi) northwest of Brisbane and a few hundred metres (yards) from Cape Weymouth and the Kutini-Payamu National Park. The park includes part of Maʼalpiku Island, also known as Restoration Island, and nearby Restoration Rock. The traditional owners of the park are the Kuuku Ya’u people.

Environment

The continental island rises to 116 m (380'). The landscape features granite boulders, closed scrub, open paperbark scrub and wind-sheared heath.[2]

History

On 29 May 1789, after the mutiny on the Bounty, Captain Bligh and the men who remained loyal to him arrived on the island in the ship's boat. This was the first Australian island they came to, and he named it Restoration Island because the food they found (oysters and native fruits) greatly restored their spirits[2][3] and because that date was Oak Apple Day, the anniversary of the restoration of King Charles II (in 1660).[4]

Bligh saw evidence of the local Aboriginal people using the island. He also saw kangaroo tracks and wondered if the Aboriginal people brought them from the mainland to breed, since they would be easier to catch later in the confined space of an island.

In 2024, the national park was one of a number of sites on Cape York Peninsula to be proposed to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage.[5]

David Glasheen

Until his death in 2025,[6] one third of Restoration Island was leased to David Glasheen, a former mining tycoon, who, after losing his fortune during the 1987 stock market crash, decided to live a solitary existence on the island.[7][8]

Glasheen lived in a renovated World War II outpost on Ma'alpiku Island with solar-powered internet access and a mobile phone. He also had a small boat for reaching the mainland whenever necessary and several times a year he made a trip to the mainland for groceries. He gathered bananas and coconuts from the island; caught crabs, fish, and oysters; and had a fruit and vegetable garden.[9][8]

In July 2019, Glasheen and Neil Bramwell released The Millionaire Castaway, published by Affirm Press, detailing Glasheen's experiences of being a castaway on Restoration Island for then 22 years.[10]

Traditional owners

The island contains places of cultural significance to the traditional owners. In 2009, formal native title was granted over the island to the Kuuku Ya’u people.[2] The park is now jointly managed between the Northern Kuuku Ya’u Kanthanampu Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC Land Trust and the Government of Queensland.[11]

Access

Access to the national park is provided by private boat only.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Ma'alpiku Island National Park – national park in the Shire of Cook (entry 50652)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  2. ^ a b c "Nature, culture and history". Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing. 20 February 2013. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  3. ^ Randall, Brian (6 November 2015). "Queensland Places - Restoration". State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  4. ^
  5. ^ Miles, Steve (20 June 2024). "World Heritage bid for Cape York Peninsula". Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 17 November 2025. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  6. ^ "Ben Fogle honours late ex-millionaire castaway". Archived from the original on 15 July 2025. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  7. ^ Russell, Kent (5 September 2013). "Dave Glasheen: The Lost Boy of Restoration Island". The New Republic. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  8. ^ a b "'I'm literally born again': The former millionaire who found 'heaven' on a desert island". ABC News. 23 July 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  9. ^ Crockett, Zachary (17 December 2022). "The millionaire who lost it all and became a castaway". The Hustle. Archived from the original on 24 May 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  10. ^ Em (4 June 2019). "The Millionaire Castaway". Affirm Press. Archived from the original on 20 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  11. ^ "Ma'alpiku Island National Park (CYPAL)". Parks and forests. Queensland Government. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
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