At the beginning of this year Jake and I made (yet another) list of things we
wanted to do before we left Brisbane. For me visiting Stradbroke Island
had been something I wanted to do since I moved to Brisbane.
North Stradbroke is the second largest sand island in the world (after
Fraser Island – also in Queensland) and because of this it has been extensively mined for its sand with the local population relying on this for their mainstay. However where we were located you couldn’t tell as it is well vegetated and although we didn’t visit any of the southern end of the Island owing to not having a 4WD, I do believe that the rehabilitation of old mining sites is pretty well done on Straddie.
wanted to do before we left Brisbane. For me visiting Stradbroke Island
had been something I wanted to do since I moved to Brisbane.
North Stradbroke is the second largest sand island in the world (after
Fraser Island – also in Queensland) and because of this it has been extensively mined for its sand with the local population relying on this for their mainstay. However where we were located you couldn’t tell as it is well vegetated and although we didn’t visit any of the southern end of the Island owing to not having a 4WD, I do believe that the rehabilitation of old mining sites is pretty well done on Straddie.
Last year when my folks came and visited we thought about going but ended up visiting another of the Bay Islands, Moreton Island and stayed at Tangalooma, mainly so we could do some snorkelling around the wrecks there. Although Tangalooma was beautiful, the resort is a bit run down and in hindsight I wish we had taken my parents over to Straddie as I reckon they would have loved it.
With Jake back home on his R&R and a 4 day weekend for me (thank you public holidays and flex days!) we got a deal on an apartment at Point Lookout. We vetoed the $150 return car ferry and caught the quicker and cheaper passenger ferry and bus to Point Lookout although the bus drivers are a bit crazy. They have to be in time for the ferry’s and so speeding and tailgating seemed to be common. On our bus ride back home the bus driver was so stressed about getting her passengers to their departing ferry that she hopped out of the bus to get peoples luggage out and forgot to put the brake on so the bus started slowly creeping forward with us still on it into a crown of passengers waiting to hop onto the bus. Luckily she managed to quickly hop back on just in time to pull it up short of the waiting passengers.
There are a few shops at Point Lookout and we popped in to grab an ice cream from a great gelato shop while we walked the Gorge Walk. A very short 5 minutes later we were at the gorge and although small it is pretty impressive and quite pretty and we even managed to spot a few turtles hanging out in the gorge. Finishing of our icecreams and the walk we came to another view point looking over Main beach where several surfers were having a blast catching some serious waves. We realised it had been ages since we had seen a sunrise and decided to have an early night and try catch it the next day.
After a hard start to the morning at 5.30am (we are supposed to be on holiday) we managed to find a perfect spot watching the sun rise up over the Pacific Ocean at the North Gorge and practiced some of our photography skills with Jakes new camera. We had the place to ourselves minus a lone crazed fishermen below us on the rocks and it was a beautiful slow
sunrise.
There are a few shops at Point Lookout and we popped in to grab an ice cream from a great gelato shop while we walked the Gorge Walk. A very short 5 minutes later we were at the gorge and although small it is pretty impressive and quite pretty and we even managed to spot a few turtles hanging out in the gorge. Finishing of our icecreams and the walk we came to another view point looking over Main beach where several surfers were having a blast catching some serious waves. We realised it had been ages since we had seen a sunrise and decided to have an early night and try catch it the next day.
After a hard start to the morning at 5.30am (we are supposed to be on holiday) we managed to find a perfect spot watching the sun rise up over the Pacific Ocean at the North Gorge and practiced some of our photography skills with Jakes new camera. We had the place to ourselves minus a lone crazed fishermen below us on the rocks and it was a beautiful slow
sunrise.
That afternoon we walked down to one of the beaches for a swim. It was a perfect calm beach for families and there seemed to be a lot of them also taking advantage of the long weekend and no one was too fussed that there were several dark clouds heading our way. Walking around the coastline we found a great beach for paddleboards. Further around we found some large rock pools full of kids and adults with buckets searching. We asked one older man what he was up to and he replied saying that he was after some species for his aquarium. The pool he was looking in was tiny and pretty empty, whilst further along we went the pools were full of life with some little girls even screaming about a baby octopus.
The final beach we walked around to was yet again a completely different beach with several surfers and fishermen out doing their thing. Interestingly a group of guys were down at the shore with bags of fish sweeping them around. Curious we went a bit closer and talked to an elder gentlemen who explained they were catching worms which they then use as bait. I had never seen this before and was pretty amazed to watch them pull out these massive meter long worms from the sand. The smell from the fish attracts the worms to the surface and you then need to have something else like a prawn which you hold close to the surface and the worms pop up and if they hook onto the prawn you can pull them up out of the sand. They made it look really easy but they said it was pretty difficult. I was more surprised and a wee bit freaked out that there were these worms in the sand as I had never seen or heard of them before.
The final beach we walked around to was yet again a completely different beach with several surfers and fishermen out doing their thing. Interestingly a group of guys were down at the shore with bags of fish sweeping them around. Curious we went a bit closer and talked to an elder gentlemen who explained they were catching worms which they then use as bait. I had never seen this before and was pretty amazed to watch them pull out these massive meter long worms from the sand. The smell from the fish attracts the worms to the surface and you then need to have something else like a prawn which you hold close to the surface and the worms pop up and if they hook onto the prawn you can pull them up out of the sand. They made it look really easy but they said it was pretty difficult. I was more surprised and a wee bit freaked out that there were these worms in the sand as I had never seen or heard of them before.
Some friends came and visited us with their gorgeous wee girls on the last night we were in Straddy. We hadn’t seen them in a while and it was amazing how much their kids had grown since then. We had a lovely afternoon catching up followed by a few beers over a loooooong game of 500. Still not a 100% sure on how to play, when I really should after that mammoth 4 hours game but it was a fun way to spend our last night on this little piece of paradise so close to home.
Our last day while waiting for the bus, we popped down to the Southern Gorge and it was a bit of a sad reminder of how much ocean pollution there is. Although there are few people (aprox 2000 permanent) on the Island and we had not seen any other rubbish the beach tide line was littered with small bits of plastic washed in from the waves. Minus that the water was crystal clear and had some fun waves to cool ourselves off in before our short trip back home. I am glad we got to finally visit Straddie and would definitely recommend it even if you only go over for a day trip. Next time we come back we are thinking about camping it at one of the many campgrounds on the Island.
Our last day while waiting for the bus, we popped down to the Southern Gorge and it was a bit of a sad reminder of how much ocean pollution there is. Although there are few people (aprox 2000 permanent) on the Island and we had not seen any other rubbish the beach tide line was littered with small bits of plastic washed in from the waves. Minus that the water was crystal clear and had some fun waves to cool ourselves off in before our short trip back home. I am glad we got to finally visit Straddie and would definitely recommend it even if you only go over for a day trip. Next time we come back we are thinking about camping it at one of the many campgrounds on the Island.