North Stradbroke, known locally as
Straddie is the biggest of the 3 major islands around Moreton Bay. The other two are: Moreton and Bribie.
To get there you can catch a
ferry from Cleveland, a suburb of Brisbane, to Dunwich, a port in North Straddie. A return ticket for a passenger car costs $140 - that includes passengers. The trip lasts 45 minutes one way.
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| The Big Red Cat ferry approaching the Cleveland terminal. Stradbroke Ferries could tidy the place up. |
On the island you can get an unpowered
camping site for 3 nights for about $200 for a family of 5. We stayed in Adder Rock in Point Lookout. In our area we found: a kitchen area with 4 electric grills, 2 sinks with hot water, 4 double 240V power points, toilets, showers, and two small playgrounds. There were outdoor showers near the beach. We had almost no mozzies during our stay.
I tried to make pancakes on the grill - not easy. I ended up covering the hole in the middle of the grill with dough, then pouring oil there, then the mix, then spreading the mix outside. Still without being able to control the temperature - the grill just turns on at full power for a few minutes at a time - it's hard to use. The pancakes did not look good, but the kids devoured them.
Fried tomatoes did not go well either. They turned out burned (the oil flows down to the drain hole in the centre) and not cooked thoroughly. We ate them anyway. That's camping life.
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| Rocky Point near Adder Rock Camping Area, looking east. |
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| Colourful rocks. |
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| Same beach, looking west. If you have a 4WD and $38 for a yearly permit, you can drive on most Straddie beaches. |
A few pictures from the Blue Lake (Karboora) National Park:
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| Karboora walking track close to the lake. |
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| For me it looked like an alien forest. |
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| A pink tree. |
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| Are these zig zags made by worms? |
Point Lookout is a city on the east side of the island. It is a home to spectacular views and beaches:
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| North Gorge |
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| South Gorge |
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| A view of the Main Beach from the Headland Park walk. |
