Address & Contact
159 Mon Repos Rd Mon Repos QLD 4670
Phone: (07) 4159 2340
Email: N/A
Web: N/A
Located 14km northeast of
Bundaberg.
Turtles of Mon Repos
Mon Repos is Australia’s principal mainland and best known sea
turtle rookery, supporting the largest concentration of nesting marine turtles on the east Australian coast. loggerhead, flatback, and green turtles nest at Mon Repos from November to February each year. Nesting turtles are best viewed after dark. Guided walks operate nightly from the Mon Repos
Turtle Rookery Visitor’s Centre which is situated immediately adjacent to
Turtle Sands. A beautiful bushwalk connects
Turtle Sands to the Centre. For more information on the turtles of Mon Repos, please visit the ‘Attractions’ page.
History of Mon Repos
Mon Repos is French for ‘My Rest’ or ‘My Retreat’. In 1893, the site where
Turtle Sands now stands was established as a cable station which linked Australia with the rest of the world. An undersea cable was laid from the site to New Caledonia, that cable being the first leg in a series of cables which provided Australia with telecommunication with the rest of the world.
The creek at the southern end of
the beach still bears the name of Cable House Creek. A few remnants of the cable housekeeper’s cottage can be seen here today at
Turtle Sands.
Bert Hinkler, the world famous aviator, was born in
Bundaberg and it was at Mon Repos that he first flew, his primitive glider being launched from the sand hills at
the beach of Mon Repos. This was the beginning of a career that was to thrill the world with his daring exploits.
There is a 3km long
rock wall near the northern boundary of
Turtle Sands was built by kanaka labor. In the late 1800's, thousands of south sea islanders known as Kanakas were brought to Queensland to work in the cane plantations. This wall is one of the very few remaining Kanaka walls in the area and is in remarkably good condition.