Palm Island no not the one in the Middle East.

[marki]

I am travelling very soon to Palm Island a tropical paradise but with a troubled history. T's off the coast of Townsville. Magnetic Island is touristy but not Palm. Any advice would be welcome as spending at least a few weeks there. (work)

What should I take, is it dangerous at night, is it expensive? Are the facilities really that poor.

Thank you

marki

 

[Deleted member]

I was there many years ago, but only for the day .
Since then there have been some ups and downs.
It is a beautiful spot (or at least I recall it was).

PS. It's not touristy because it's an aboriginal settlement and not a tourist destination.
(Unless something has changed recently)

 

[incumbent]

Difficult to understand how someone could go somewhere like that with so little background knowledge.

Yes, it's dangerous at night. Presumably you will have a support network once you get there and I would just go with whatever they advise you.

 

[marki]

incumbent I am I to understand wherever you go somewhere you have a lot of back ground history? OMG maybe you do. The line of work one has, does not afford me the luxury-- most of it is last minute. I sort of gathered the support network will be important but the support network on AFF is an underestimated resource too

Difficult to understand how someone could go somewhere like that with so little background knowledge.

Yes, it's dangerous at night. Presumably you will have a support network once you get there and I would just go with whatever they advise you.

 

[incumbent]

So, my advice: dangerous. But you presumably know that going in.

Expensive: not really. But that's mostly because you'll need to sit in your room most of the time, and there's not much to buy.

The infrastructure is bad.

What you should take is basically up to you, I'm sure you can work out what the weather will be like.

 

[drron]

I have not been to Palm Island but have worked in places with large indigenous populations and do know 2 Palm Island men who now live in Tasmania.One of whom contrary to generalisations of indigenous people runs 2 businesses he set up,was captain of his local cricket team and won preselection as a candidate in the Tasmanian elections.He is full blooded indigenous and born on Palm Island.
I have also been involved in the care of a few from Palm Island whilst working in Townsville.

Palm Island has it's problems because most of the people there are descended from people forcefully resettled there or those from jails or troublemakers sent there to be out of sight.Although it has a very high crime rate in many of the incidents both perpetrator and victim are drunk.Mostly it is also intra family violence.As said you almost certainly should not go out at night especially alone.

During the day things should be OK.My simple rule is to say hello to all the indigenous people even when passing in the street.Amazing how such a simple thing can bring benefits.

 

[marki]

I have not been to Palm Island but have worked in places with large indigenous populations and do know 2 Palm Island men who now live in Tasmania.One of whom contrary to generalisations of indigenous people runs 2 businesses he set up,was captain of his local cricket team and won preselection as a candidate in the Tasmanian elections.He is full blooded indigenous and born on Palm Island.
I have also been involved in the care of a few from Palm Island whilst working in Townsville.

Palm Island has it's problems because most of the people there are descended from people forcefully resettled there or those from jails or troublemakers sent there to be out of sight.Although it has a very high crime rate in many of the incidents both perpetrator and victim are drunk.Mostly it is also intra family violence.As said you almost certainly should not go out at night especially alone.

During the day things should be OK.My simple rule is to say hello to all the indigenous people even when passing in the street.Amazing how such a simple thing can bring benefits.

drron we sometimes forget the simple things in life like saying hello can be underestimated in it's effectiveness. Thanks for your insights

 

[marki]

Obviously not such a popular destination judging by the amount of replies, however thanks to everyone that replied some feedback is better then no feed !back.

 

[UP4014]

Was sometime ago, but last time I was in the area was on a plane with around 30 Qld police offices 'visiting' Palm Island.

Good luck, spend the weekends back at Townsville.

 

[marki]

sights here are very beautiful and underestimated

 

[Tassieoptom]

Hi Marki, How did you go? I worked on Palm Island for a number of years, in a FIFO way, staying for 2 nights at a time on average. Accommodation provided for me was in the nurses quarters but i often had dinner out in the community. Certainly was advised to be careful at night, more so if you were female. I had no trouble but did have stories told to me by the hospital staff of sexual assault and violence from time to time. I was always made to feel welcome by locals as well as staff on rotation from Q health. Hope all went smoothly for you.