We have spent the last few days at the lovely Straddie (North Stradbroke Island), anchored at Dunwich towards the northern end. Matey discovered why it was associated with tourism in the dimmest recesses of her mind. With options for land transport limited to legs, a bike and a pair of rollerblades, we splurged on a 4WD ‘eco’ tour on Saturday. This enabled us to visit the creatively named Brown Lake where the water is actually brown from the tannin that leaches out from the surrounding ti trees – supposedly beneficial for bathing in. Unfortunately every tourist on Straddie was there at the same time so we quickly moved on. Looks like a walk there on a week day is in order.
On the east side of the island a wetland runs along the coast acting as a rain catchment and water filter (supplying water to the mainland and nearby islands). We crossed to the ocean beach – it was great to walk along a real beach as the ones in the bay are often muddy. Apart from the 4WD tracks along it (there is no road going north on the east side) the beach was pristine, and fortunately high tide washes the tracks away. We were treated to our guide’s ‘lovely wife’s’ damper – pretty good actually so we took note of the complex recipe.
Views from Point Lookout at the north eastern tip of the island are reminiscent of those from the lighthouse at Byron Bay (ahhh), and we spotted some manta rays and turtles in the distance.
Lunch was a BBQ on the north-east facing beach, then we visited Amity – also pretty and with the usual $million+ views and houses. No surprises there.
Lunch was a BBQ on the north-east facing beach, then we visited Amity – also pretty and with the usual $million+ views and houses. No surprises there.
Sand mining is big at Straddie (the many benefits to our daily lives sourced from sand rolled off our ‘eco’ guide’s, tongue). The mining lease runs out in a few years — hopefully there’ll still be some of Straddie left by then. Apart from the mining — which has an obvious destructive impact — Straddie is relatively untouched and only sparsely populated. There are three towns and ‘development’ is restricted to those areas. Otherwise it’s lovely bush.
Dinghy crisis
A new crisis has emerged as one of the oar locks on the dinghy is fractured and needs to be replaced. This is after only two months of Matey’s rowing (apparently it’s Matey’s fault for rowing too hard – lucky she’s not a big bloke). Fortunately it's under warranty.
Crawlies
We have invested in a prawn net and a cray/crab ‘pot’ so Matey is trying to be optimistic about future menu items (and her ability to become a hunter/gatherer rather than a should-be vegetarian). Will the squeamish Matey morph into to a ruthless killer?
2 comments:
Such a cute koala (also looked bigger than the ones we get here at Tower Hill!) Bring on the garlic prawns and let the hunting and gathering begin. Thanks for the update as it is great to see what is happening along the coast. You both look the part of the sea faring community now; nice and relaxed. Keep the posts going! We will be in Brunswick Heads from Dec. 24th until Jan 7th then will be off to visit The Aunt at Maroochydoe for another week. We might catch you somewhere then and you might be ready for a land visit! Take care!
Hey Mid Cuz - would be great to catch up - will be in touch :)
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