about us

Sunday Island is situated approximately 215 km South East of
Melbourne. By road, one travels along the South Gippsland Highway
and just short of Yarram you take the branch to Port Albert. Then
about 4km by sea, South West of the port, it lies tranquil in Corner
Inlet with the majestic Wilsons Promontory in the background. Directly
to the East is the start of the famous 90 mile beach, which heads
towards Lakes Entrance. To the south is Tasmania, some 320 kms
distant. The island itself is roughly 8 km long by 3 km wide, covering
an area of some 1620 hectares.
Sunday Island can only be reached by boat or aircraft. We own an ex
fishing boat, "The Yimbala", which can be chartered privately by
members for any trip not scheduled by the co-op. We have contructed
a light plane strip for use by members or for an emergency. The
airstrip also provides good grazing for the wildlife.

Ancient History
Sunday Island was formed by what is termed "dune succession".
Briefly this is sand derived from the sea floor, from eroded coast or
from material carried into the sea by wind and rivers. It is delivered to
the shoreline by wave action, built into parallel foredunes by the
combined efforts of wind and dune vegetation. The dunes that form
the island, rise to a maximum of fifteen metres above sea level,
running east to west. They form a complex pattern, indicating
several stages down the eons of time, of foredune formation
interupted by erosion of the shoreline.

It is probable that the evolution of Sunday Island post dates the general submergence of the coast by the worldwide, post glacial marine transgression,
and tectonic subsidence of the land has almost certainly occurred around Corner Inlet. The island is a compound barrier island, developed off the
estuaries of the Albert and Tara rivers.

Recent History
Sunday Island was used for grazing since at least 1860. A small pilot station was inhabited from 1900 to 1922 and a homestead was occupied from 1918 to
1938. It carried the grazing of some 350 head of cattle, but later it was to become a sheep run, with as many as 2200 animals at any one time. From 1938 to
1950 it was grazed mainly by wallabies, rabbits and goats. In 1950 intensive sheep farming took place. Most of the grazing was in the fresh water swamps on
the damp parts of terrace woodland and on the salt marshes.
The main vegetation is Manna Gum, Coastal Banksia, Wattle Manofore and extensive stands of teatree with tussock grass and bracken fern.

The Jetty- Then and Now
Early on in the Co-op's history not many people enjoyed leaving the comfort of a boat to wade ashore, which was how original members accessed the Island.
So some foresighted individuals thought this may be deterring the less adventurous members of society and so they decided a jetty was needed. For the jetty
to reach from the island to the channel, it would have to be 500 metres long, a massive undertaking. Especially when you consider it was built entirely by
volunteer labour, in what was meant to be their holiday time.
The jetty was barely finished when it was realised that teredo worms were eating away at the piles. A new jetty project began, replacing the mutilated posts
with concrete and later railway line piles.