North Stradbroke Island
It is amazing how many things are within easy reach of the Sunny Coast. Luckily for me Stradbroke Island is one of them!
From where we are on the Sunny Coast it will take you under 2 hours to get to the ferry crossing at Cleveland. From there you can jump on the car ferry (prices vary depending on time of day and year…) and 45 minutes later you will be enjoying your adventure on Straddie.
Ours was a spur of the moment camping trip and we wanted to get away from it all a bit so we chose Flinders Beach, right on the northern end of the island. To get to this section, you will need both a 4WD and a beach driving permit – these are just over $42 each but will last you a whole year.
These camp sites have no facilities but the benefits are that they are huge – so no close neighbours – and are right on the beach for the best way to wake up.
An added bonus for me is that you are allowed campfires here which is seriously one of the best parts of camping!
Another advantage of being away from any lights and not to close to any other campers is that after dark, the sky comes alive. You tend to forget how many stars are out there when you are in a built up are. You might even get a sore neck from admiring it.
If camping isn’t your thing, there are plenty of other options all over the island so you won’t miss out and you won’t have to lug all your belongings like we did.
Once we set up camp it was time to do some exploring!
Even without a 4WD, you can explore most of North Stradbroke. Some of the highlights are Point Lookout, North Gorge Walk and dolphin spotting at Amity Point.
Let’s start with Amity Point, mostly because I am OBSESSED with dolphins. About an hour to half an hour before sunset, you are pretty much guaranteed to see some dolphins in the calm waters off Amity Point. In my brief time there, I saw several pods playing further out and one bub just swimming around the jetty! This is because they are on their way north to Moreton Island for their regular feeding time at Tangalooma.
Along the North Gorge Walk – which is super easy and had a convenient raised path - look out for dolphins, whales, sea turtles, kangaroos, koalas, and manta rays. The Kangaroos we saw were not afraid of us and barely even moved despite their proximity to us.
On this visit we weren’t able to walk all the way down to Main Beach because the end was closed off for the filming of Aquaman. Can’t wait to see that footage.
The other thing about Straddie that just takes your breath away are the beaches! The island is pretty small so there is always a beach that will suit the conditions.
Cylinder Beach is fairly protected and offers up some surf and if you want to try some beach fishing Flinders has some gutters if you look for them.
We didn’t make it this time (just another reason to come back…) but the freshwater of Blue Lake sounds like an amazing spot to cool off at after a bit of a hike.
Of course there are many activities that you can do on the island; and a simple Internet search will enable you to view and book for example kayaking experiences, sand boarding or diving trips.
