By Air
Both Virgin Blue and Jetstar are operating direct flights into Hervey Bay from Sydney.
PLEASE NOTE THAT HERVEY BAY DOES NOT APPEAR AS A DESTINATION ON THE AIRLINE WEBSITES. PLEASE USE THE DESTINATION OF FRASER COAST, WHICH IS THE NAME OF THE HERVEY BAY AIRPORT.
For full details, please visit their websites at:
www.virginblue.com.au
www.jetstar.com.au
Quantas operate direct flights between Hervey Bay and Brisbane.
www.quantas.com.au
By Car
As Hervey Bay is only An easy 3½ hours drive north of Brisbane on the Bruce Highway, so many visitors come by car.
By Train
Tilt train services are available from Brisbane and Cairns to Hervey Bay. Please refer to the site: http://www.traveltrain.com.au/traveltrain_services/Coastal_Services/tilt_train/schedules_fares.asp for full details.
By Coach
Regular services are available to Maryborough and Hervey Bay with Greyhound-Pioneer-McCafferty's, Premier and Suncoast Pacific Coaches. There is also a Suntours weekly express bus service to Brisbane.
The first recorded sighting of the area was by Captain James Cook who discovered the Hervey Bay area in 1770. He rounded Sandy Cape, the most Northeren point of Fraser Island and initially believed Fraser Island was part of the mainland, Cook named the area “Herveys Bay” after Augustus Hervey, Lord of the Admiralty . After his visit the area was left alone again for more than 30 years. In 1802 Matthew Flinders landed at Sandy Cape, and in the following months proceeded to map much of the Bay.
Aboriginal people occupied the area including Fraser Island before European settlement in 1850, and many streets and landmarks in Hervey Bay have Aboriginal names. H. E. Aldridge acquired large tracts of land for cattle grazing between Booral and Burrum Heads in the 1850s. The first settler at Hervey Bay, in 1863, was Martin Boyle, who probably introduced sugar farming to the area where two sugar mills were established.
The region was rich in mineral resources including coal, limestone, bismuth, magnetite and mineral sands. Foreshore residential land was subdivided for holiday homes from the mid-1860s. In 1896 a railway line was constructed from Maryborough to Pialba,
boosting tourism. This line was extended to Urangan in 1913 and the Urangan pier was built in 1917 to facilitate the export of sugar and later coal.
By the 1920's the Hervey Bay area was rapidly expanding due to continuing growth in primary industries (sugar cane, citrus, pineapples, beef cattle, fishing) and investment in transport infrastructure.
Regular air services from Brisbane commenced in 1930. The 1930's saw the completion of a fully bituminised road connecting Maryborough and Urangan providing further impetus to local growth. As both population and development continued to increase into the 1950's and 1960's, the coastal townships of Pialba, Scarness, Torquay and Urangan slowly began to merge into a single urban area.
The main urban area of Hervey Bay now stretches from Gatakers Bay in the north to River Heads in the south including the suburbs of Point Vernon, Pialba, Scarness, Torquay and Urangan. One of the fastest growing cities in Australia, Hervey Bay is structured around a network of parks, walkways and cycle ways, and well on its way to becoming one of Australia's most accessible cities.
Currently approaching 50,000 residents, population predictions from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicate Hervey Bay will have 90,000 residents by the year 2021.
Current primary Industries include sugarcane, non-orchard fruit and citrus, livestock (mostly beef cattle) and fishing.
Secondary Industries include manufacturing (wood products, machinery and equipment, food and beverages and fabricated meal products), retailing and wholesaling, construction and transport and storage.
Tourism is a major industie in Hervey Bay, which also includes administration and finance, community services and education.
Hervey Bay is growing at a very rapid pace and developing in a major regional centre. Besides a public Hospital, 2006 marks the opening of a private hospital which will grow to a 60 bed facility. A number of first class resorts is being build or under development, schools are being expanded and the general level of services and retail is being expanded at a fast pace.
Projections indicate that by 2006 the expected population of Hervey Bay City will be between 50,400 and 52,700. By 2021 this is expected to increase to between 68,200 and 81,000 people.