{"id":609051,"date":"2026-04-27T10:20:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T10:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/609051\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T10:20:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T10:20:24","slug":"queenslands-remote-national-park-islands-where-you-can-volunteer-and-holiday-for-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/609051\/","title":{"rendered":"Queensland’s remote national park islands where you can volunteer and holiday for free"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once a year, Brett and Lisa George leave their home on the mid north coast of New South Wales destined for a remote coral cay island in the southern Great Barrier Reef.<\/p>\n

North West Island lies 75 kilometres off the coast of Gladstone in central Queensland and is one of five national parks in the state where you can holiday for free in exchange for duties as a campground host.<\/p>\n

The retired couple take their tinnie across from the mainland via barge with a month’s worth of supplies to visit the pristine paradise.<\/p>\n

“It’s surrounded by a reef, and the reef is huge, it’s natural and just beautiful,” Brett George said.<\/p>\n

“We swim, we dive, we fish, we relax \u2026 you can get the boat out and explore.”\"A<\/p>\n

Lisa George helps manage and tidy the 150-person campground at North West Island. (Supplied: Lisa George)<\/p>\n

The Georges have volunteered as campground hosts for the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) for the past four years, after decades of family holidays on the island.<\/p>\n

The QPWS runs hosting opportunities in the national parks of Girraween, Bunya Mountains, Carnarvon Gorge, and North West and Lady Musgrave islands due to their popularity.<\/p>\n

“[It] is a little bit of our way of giving back but there’s a lot in it for us, we enjoy that sort of thing, it’s nice to meet new people and it’s a great place to be,” Mr George said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Brett and Lisa George volunteer at North West Island once a year for about one month. (Supplied: Brett George)<\/p>\n

Lisa George said the work in exchange for their holiday wasn’t strenuous and there was plenty of down time to enjoy their surroundings.<\/p>\n

“I get up, go and sit on the beach and look out and have my cuppa and then go around and talk to campers and check how they’re going,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I sweep the pathways \u2026 have a break, go for a swim, try and do laps with the tide going out \u2026 if the tide is up, we’ll go out for a fish and a snorkel on the high tide.<\/p>\n

“I’ll clean the toilets every day and resupply everything.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Campground hosts say there’s plenty of downtime to enjoy the Great Barrier Reef. (Supplied: Lisa George)<\/p>\n

Campground hosting on the islands began in the 1990s and on the mainland national parks in 2014.<\/p>\n

Senior ranger on the Capricorn Coast Damon Shearer said the two islands were very popular destinations for both volunteers and visitors.<\/p>\n

North West has a 150-person campground, while Lady Musgrave \u2014 off Seventeen Seventy \u2014 can cater for 40 campers.<\/p>\n

“They are quite unique and very remote, you need large vessels to get out there and when you’re there, there’s limited communication,” Mr Shearer said.<\/p>\n

“That’s one of the main appeals of it, you’re camping right on the Great Barrier Reef.<\/p>\n

“We get turtles, seabirds, manta rays, whales, the fish life is incredible, the coral is in immaculate condition.”<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Rangers say one of the appeals of North West Island is the remoteness.\u00a0 (Supplied: Gladstone Area Promotion and Development Limited)<\/p>\n

He said hosts were an invaluable source of information for campers, explaining rules and regulations, checking permits and reporting back to rangers.<\/p>\n

The volunteers share knowledge with visitors about bird and turtle nesting seasons, fire bans, safety advice, weather warnings and fishing limitations.<\/p>\n

“They are amazing value to us, being remote, we can’t be everywhere all the time, so we have these people who are our eyes and ears and let us know what’s happening on the islands,” Mr Shearer said.\"A<\/p>\n

Rangers say hosts are an invaluable source of information for campers, explaining rules and regulations. (Supplied: Gladstone Area Promotion and Development Limited)<\/p>\n

Transport and almost everything volunteers need while managing the campgrounds are provided.<\/p>\n

“You are stationed out there for two weeks (minimum) and we provide a place to camp, camping gear, cooking gear, chairs, tables, a tent so basically you turn up with your bedding and your food and your clothes,” Mr Shearer said.<\/p>\n

Lisa George said she enjoyed educating campers and fishers to help protect the environment.<\/p>\n

“We make friends with the fishermen and let them know what the rules are regarding the fishing limits, bag limits and sizes \u2026 we encourage them to fish responsibly.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Hosts share knowledge about bird and turtle nesting seasons and safety advice. (ABC News: Kylie Bartholomew)<\/p>\n

Damon Shearer said he has noticed a shift with more young people and families now offering to volunteer.<\/p>\n

“They want to be involved in conservation \u2026 we’re getting enquiries now from people further abroad and new people into the program,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We did mainly rely on a lot of retirees but now there’s that younger cohort coming through.<\/p>\n

“It’s pretty rare someone will go and host and won’t come back and do it again, so I think that speaks volumes to the success of the program.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Once a year, Brett and Lisa George leave their home on the mid north coast of New South…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[264710,82195,192,61521,31061,264709,1680,264708,10750,50255,79,43732],"class_list":{"0":"post-609051","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-campground-hosts","9":"tag-camping","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-great-barrier-reef","12":"tag-island","13":"tag-lady-musgrave-island","14":"tag-national-parks","15":"tag-north-west-island","16":"tag-queensland","17":"tag-remote","18":"tag-science","19":"tag-volunteer"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}