QLD - Brisbane: Stradbroke Island

So, the day after the Ashes, we were up fairly early as we had to pack and prepare for our weekend away on Stradbroke Island, which is a small island just off the coast of Bris. John was borrowing his brother Darren's 4x4 as the only way to get around Straddie is by driving along the beach. We just managed to load all the tents, bags, food and drink into the back of the truck, but as we weren't feeling the sharpest we decided their wasn't room for all 48 beers!! We dashed off to catch the ferry, and arrived with about 5mins to spare. Matty & Caroline, and kids Lawson (7) & Ella (5), were the last to arrive, and turned up literally as the ferry was about to depart. On the ferry, we saw loads of jellyfish in the water, and heard horror stories about the latest shark attacks on the island - great ;) There have been none in the last year though!!

Once on the island, we had to get the tide timetable, to check when the low tide is as this is the best time to drive along the beach. At low tide the sand is harder and lower down the beach, rather than the soft sand at the top, and more beach means a bigger run up to get over the sand dunes!! So, we found out that we had a couple of hours before we could go for our beach drive and find our camp spot, so we grabbed some fish & chips - Marc had the flake (shark) and Ev the whitebate. We then made our way down to the beach, dropping the tyre pressure in prep for sand driving

Driving along the beach was pretty cool, windows down, with the wind blowing, and just cruising at about 60ks across the sand next to the ocean. Matt & co have been here loads of times, so led the way with John & us following. Matt stopped the 4x4 about half way along the beach and got out... we then found out that with the fishing that the boys were going to do they needed some bait. So we all went to the shallowes and did the "twist", by doing this we came across pippies (mollusks) in the sand by our feet - this was so cool to do & we soon filled the bucket! Although this was in vein as the boys didn't catch a thing ;)

Boys twisting for pippies

Then Matt picked a spot to drive up the dunes to a camp spot, and after giving it a couple of tries we gave up. He then remember that there was a better place to camp further up the beach ;) So we carried on to the next spot, and after Matt made it up, John gave it a go. We didn't make it 1st, 2nd or 3rd time, but it's John's first time beach driving so we'll let him off, and at least we didn't get stuck...

We didn't have to wait too long for that though, as on the top of the dunes, the sand is a lot softer, and the track is pretty narrow. At one stage, the left side of the track went up a bank, and driving at 35 degree angle was a bit tough, and we came to a standstill, with the lower tyres buried in the sand;) Matty leading way, didn't see us, and despite Johns verbal outburst and hooting of the horn, Matt didn't hear us and disappeared around the corner! So out we got, dug out the wheels, rocked the car slowly back and forth, but couldn't make any progress. Also, we should mention that there was a yucky burning smell coming form the direction of the clutch ;) Eventually Matt came back, and with all his 4x4 wisdom managed to get us out - we just dug the wheels out a bit more, had a bit of extra muscle for pushing, and a bit more juice on the pedal ;)

When we found a good place to pitch up, right next to the beach, and we got started. We were sharing a big 4 man tent with John & Sasha, and we had some fun and games putting this up, and none of us had ever put up this tent before and with the instructions not being very accurate, this proved a little difficult. By trial and error - putting the long poles on the outside, then inside, putting the canvas and poles on back to front - we got it up eventually. Meanwhile, Matty & Caroline had pitched their tent, the gazebo, and the lighting and the port-a-loo (for female use only;) They did have Lawson & Ella to help though ;)

Views from camp site

The rest of the day was spent just chilling around the tent and beach, with a few bevvies - though we didn't really feel like drinking after the cricket yesterday ;) Matt rumbled up a killer BBQ which was a mega meat fest with some mean t-bones - yummy.

The next day was Sasha's birthday, and was kicked off by a cooked brekkie. We then headed down to the beach with a few toys and a boogie board, and enjoyed the waves (though we didn't go out passed the surf due to the possibility of sharks!) for a couple of hours. In the arvo, at low tide, we headed back along the beach and Marc had a go at driving Matty's 4x4, which was pretty cool, and when coming off the beach Marc made it through the soft sand 1st time. If only the same could be said for John, who tried to follow Marcs tracks, but about 20mts from the end attempted a gear change only to lose power and get a bit stuck ;) Matty & I went back and helped push John out and were almost overcome by the smell of the burning clutch - the smell lingered in our clothes for days ;)

Once inland, we headed to a beautiful fresh water brown lake, which went from yellow to red to blue - rainbow style. The reason it's called brown lake is cause the water gets filtered through tea leaves and gets stain a brownish colour. It was a bit chilly but we all went in as it was the closest we would come to having a shower during our stay here ;) Once in, it was really nice and refreshing, and the ground was sandy/stoney rather than muddy, which was good. John maintained his hold as favourite uncle by continuously picking up the kids and launching them through the air for a big splash at the end ;)

We then headed over to the cliffs for a bit of a walk, and got some great views of the wildlife below - we saw the shadows of turtles, manta rays and sharks, and also watched some dolphins swim passed and jump around in the surf :D

Finally, we headed to Amity Point, where the shark attack was, and it was pretty eerie - it is like something out of jaws, where the ocean is still and quiet. Since the attack, a netted swimming enclosure has been built, not that any kids used it - they thought it was more fun to jump off the jetty into the open water!! I think the parents should have been paying more attention, especially as it was coming to the end of the day, and there were loads of fishing boats around, which would have attracted the sharks main course!!

Sunday was Matt & Caroline's last day, and as most of the camping stuff was theirs, we decided to head home as well. We're not sure if we'd have survived the night without the luxuries that they had. Besides, after the Ashes and a few days of camping, we were all ready to head home for a good nights sleep ;) As part of the packing up ritual, John & Matt had the lovely job of emptying the port-a-loo. John being the younger brother, did the bulk of the work, and when they came back, looked a bit green and said that was the worst smell he had ever had to endure!! They had both been dry retching and had tears in their eyes!! Marc is glad he wasn't called in to help ;)

Despite not being booked on the ferry home, we were allowed on, though the ticket inspector made us sweat until the last minute before letting us on!! Straddie is a really nice place to come, and whilst we had originally hoped to go to Fraser Island, we cant see what would be on Fraser and not on Straddie. Nice beaches, lovely lake, great walks along the cliffs and camping with nature. Fantastic!!