Redcliffe Peninsula

We are thinking that we would like to live on the Redcliffe Peninsula in retirement as the ocean is always within walking distance and it is only 30 minutes from Brisbane airport and it is more laid back and relaxed than the Brisbane suburbs.

Redcliffe jetty.  You will normally find people fishing on the piers.

Woody Point Pier.  Note how clear the water is.

Highly recommend the Fishermans Basket at the Belvedere Hotel, Woody Point

Shorncliffe Pier windsurfers

Redcliffe is a great place to take our dog for a walk and have a picnic.

Although it is on the east coast of Australia, you can see the sun set over the water at Scarborough as it is on a peninsula and looks to the west.

Houghton Highway is a 2.74 km bridge to the Redcliffe Peninsula

Bramble Bay from Clontarff

Amity Point

Amity Point was the starting point for a 12-kilometre walk along the beautiful squeaky clean beach to Point Lookout.

Amity Point is a small sleepy town on the North West tip of North Stradbroke Island, where fishing and water sports are popular.

Explorer and Surveyor, John Oxley named it Amity Point after the brig Amity, which he sailed on at the time of establishing the Moreton Bay penal colony.

Amity Point is home to the Quandamooka People
(meaning People of the Sand and Seas)

To get to North Stradbroke Island, it is necessary to get the ferry from Victoria Point.   Once you arrive at North Stradbroke Island, there is a bus service available from the ferry at Dunwich to Amity Point and also Point Lookout.  The day pass costs about $10.00 (make sure that you have cash).

We prefer to take the car, which is a higher ferry cost but gives the freedom to visit other places, such as Brown Lake or Blue Lake.

Alex relaxing with a coffee and enjoying the serenity at Amity Point.
We take a picnic and a thermos of coffee on our day trips.

We started walking along the beach at Amity Point, not realising that there were limited access points to get back to the road.  Many Four-Wheel Drive Vehicles drove towards us and we met several people camping and fishing on the beach.

We had the beach to ourselves most of the time.

It was an easy walk along the beach and I love the feeling of waves rushing in and splashing around my ankles and then the sand moving under my bare feet as the waves disappear out to sea.

The ocean was so clear that we saw fish in the breaking waves.

A very relaxing afternoon if you enjoy walking and the ocean.  Don't forget to take drinking water, a snack and sunscreen.

Sharon xo

St Helena Island

When I was at school, I hated history! It was boring!  Why learn about the past?  I felt that the present and future were more important, so I didn't want to concentrate on history!

However, over time,  I have become more and more interested in history.  Now, I feel that it is very important to know where we came from and how we got to where we are.  Everything that happened in the past has shaped where we are now.

Blacksmith

There are no convicts in my family history, but I still enjoy learning more about penal settlements and such.  It amazes me how much we have changed in such a relatively short period of time.

This is what prompted our visit today to St Helena Island.   The island, in Moreton Bay,  is now a National Park but was a Penal Establishment from 1867 - 1932.   Not much remains of the original establishment.  The guides (dressed as prisoners and a warder) kept us entertained with their stories and antics.

You can find out more about St Helena Island,  here and here.

We boarded the ferry at Manly marina and about 20 minutes later we were on St Helena Island.  We were provided with a guided tour of the historical sites on the island and lunch; about 5.5 hours in total.

Cat O' Nine Tails at Manly Marina

My tips;

• There is not much shade or shelter so make sure that you are wearing sunscreen and a hat.  
• Take some water and snacks (the provided lunch was not very satisfying).

Limestone Kiln

Prisoners Cemetery

Shark proof swimming pool

Museum

Can you see the Kangaroo?
They roam St Helena Island

Coochiemudlo Island

Norfolk Beach - Coochiemudlo Island
Click on the pictures for larger view

We would like to explore all the nearby islands while we are living in Queensland.  Coochiemudlo Island is a small island close to Victoria Point.  Very Close.  The passenger ferry leaves every 30 minutes at a cost of $10.00 per adult return (at time of writing).  Alternatively,  you can take your car over for $55.00 return (includes passengers) but the vehicle ferries are less frequent and we were told that coming back can be difficult if you have not booked as everyone waits for the last ferry!

Amity Traders Ferry from Victoria Point to Coochiemudlo
and return
Note:  Cash only

"Coochie" is only a small island (about 5 square kilometers) so we didn't take our car. We were on the island in under 10 minutes!  It is a good thing that my daughter had cash on her as credit cards are not accepted and the purchase of tickets is completed on the ferry (about 1/2 way across)!

Map of Coochiemudlo Island  - Click to enlarge
Note the number of facilities around the Island

 As everyone embarked from the ferry, the majority of people made their way to the nearby "Main Beach", where there were many boats and water activities for hire.  As all the picnic tables and barbeques along the foreshore were being used, we decided to go for a walk to the other side of the island (just over 1 km) to Morwong Beach.   Our kids (young adults) were not impressed as there was more mud and mangroves than sand.  This is not what they expected from Queensland beaches, so we were soon walking again and made our way to Norfolk Beach.

Melaleuca Wetlands

Morwong Beach
(and Mangroves and Mud)

The easiest way to get to Norfolk Beach is to follow the path to the right when you get off the ferry.  Go past the "Kiosk" and the "Redrocks Cafe" and the path will take you to Norfolk Beach, which was lovely.  There are limited places that dogs are allowed on Coochiemudlo Island so it was a good thing that we decided to leave Molly at home on this occasion!

There are easy walking tracks all over Coochiemudlo island

It continues to surprise me, the number of "tourist friendly" facilities that the QLD government have installed.  There are picnic tables, barbeques, taps and toilets all over the island (refer to the map).

Tip:  Although the BBQs are usually clean,
we take aluminium foil in our backpack

I am not much of swimmer but could soon be convinced to change my mind while in Queensland!  The water is very warm!  In Victoria,  it is never warm enough for me to go swimming as the water is so cold but the water in Queensland is a very comfortable temperature!

Norfolk Beach - On closer inspection, the 'rocks' were clumps
of oysters growing! 

We had a very enjoyable and relaxing day.  Alex and I will go back (without children) to walk around the entire island and explore some more.

Norfolk Beach

Norfolk Beach

In summary:

Pros:  
A small island that can be walked around if you are fit.  Quieter and less populated than many of the other beaches that we have visited.

Cons: 
You need to take all your own supplies as there is not much there. There are prettier beaches in Queensland.

Coochiemudlo Island...."had been known to generations of Aboriginal
 families as Kutchie Mudlo, the place where they obtained the red ochre
stones used as body decoration and as the pigment for shields and skins"
Jones EF 1993

Main Beach - East Foreshore

Main Beach - West Foreshore

I would like to know the story about the Thong Tree!
Were these left behind and washed up on a beach?

Bribie Island

One of the things that I like about the Brisbane area, is that you can drive 30 minutes in any direction and it feels like you are in the country.

Although we are thoroughly enjoying our city break, I really enjoy the country and regional feel of many areas within close vicinity of Brisbane.  As they say "You can take the girl out of the country, but you cant take the country out of the girl"!

Bribie Island Bridge

Bribie Island is one of these places. About an hour drive North of Brisbane, it is a large island at about 35 kilometres in length.  About 80% of the island is bush land (National Park).  It is only the Southern tip of the island that is habitated.  We were told that the population is about 18,000 and will be capped at 30,000.


We thought we would do a drive around the island but soon discovered that this would not be possible (maybe if you had a four wheel drive?).

I look forward to going back in summer as there are beautiful clean beaches surrounding the island and we can take our little dog for a walk on the Southern Beaches from Red Beach to near Woorim (but not at Woorim).

We had a lovely Fisherman's Basket for lunch at the Sylvan Beach Seafood cafe, overlooking the water.

Sylvan Beach Seafood Cafe

Bribie Island reportably has the "best fishing and boating in South East Queensland" as you have a safe inlet and no sand bar to get out to the ocean.

It is a beautiful place with a country vibe. But there were still too many people for my parents! Although there is a lot of tourist accommodation, there is not as much as I expected.  I find it hard to understand why it has not taken off before now?

Molly at Bribie Island Bridge

Deception Bay

Every weekend, it is the same question:  Where should we go today?

The objectives for today were:

• To walk 10,000 steps
• A Dog Friendly Walk
• A new place and
• A Beach, within 50 kilometres of Brisbane

Deception Bay was the answer.  

We arrived at low tide and were surprised to see that it was primarily a mud beach with mangroves.  It must look totally different (beautiful) when the tide is in.  Maybe this is why it is called Deception Bay?

As a child,  I enjoyed catching crabs, throwing jelly-fish at my sister, fishing and rowing at a similar beach in South East Victoria, so I felt immediately comfortable at Deception Bay.

We walked along the foreshore path, about 2.5 kilometres from Captain Cook Parade to the Esplanade (ie. 5km return).  Many people were walking along the beach (mud) with their dogs off leads.  I imagine on a hot summer's day that it would be a great place to take dogs for a swim as it appeared that it would be shallow.

There were not many people along the path, but those that we did meet seemed to be locals and were very friendly.

Molly was happy for a drink after the walk

I just love how the Brisbane City Council provides facilities to encourage people to get outside and enjoy the surroundings.  At Deception Bay there were;

A Children's Playground
Barbeque
Picnic Tables and Chairs
Several Boat Ramps
Toilets
Showers to clean your feet/shoes/dog (needed after venturing into the mud!)
Drinking Fountains
Dog Water Troughs
Doggy Doo Bags

As a family historian,  I also enjoyed reading the various plaques along the footpath, which provided history about the area and prior residents.

The size of Queensland Mangroves amazes me, when
compared to the Mangroves in Victoria!

So although this is not the sandy beach that we anticipated,  it was still a very enjoyable walk, which reminded me of my childhood adventures.  I loved it when a young girl, bare feet covered in mud, came up to me with pride, with her red bucket, to show me the "big crab" that her dad caught!