SLOW DOWN ON STRADDIE

MINJERRIBAH (NORTH STRADBROKE ISLAND) IS THE CLOSEST TO ‘OVERSEAS’ A QUEENSLANDER CAN GET. AND YOU CAN EVEN DO IT IN A DAY

We’re only headed about 30km from the centre of Brisbane, but there’s something about this journey that instantly relaxes the soul. As soon as the ferry pulls away from Cleveland into the mangrove-spotted waters of Moreton Bay, real life falls away; adventure beckons on the horizon.

I could count the number of visits I’ve made to Straddie on two hands yet I feel a strong affinity with its beaches and backstreets, its pockets of civilisation and its paperbark forests. It feels like childhood, even though I didn’t travel here until I hit 30.

The second-largest sand island in the world (after World Heritage-listed K’gari – Fraser Island), Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) has been affectionately known as “Straddie” for as long as people have been catching ferries over to camp on its shores. A successful native title determination is finally seeing the transition back to the original name for the Quandamooka people, who run the island’s camping grounds and are employed as land and sea rangers.

We drive off the barge in turn and make tracks for Point Lookout on the other side of the island. It’s easy to find, there’s only one main road, after all. It always feels as though we’re parting a sea of wallum and coastal banksias, sprouting from the island’s sands, before the fibro fishing shacks appear, where time stood still decades before.

Minjerribah’s beauty has always been a bit of a local secret – 68 per cent of its 400,000 visitors come from no more than 50km away – but word is getting out. And I reckon with our travel horizons shrunk to our own backyards, this under-the-radar, no shoes, no worries island is going to experience an appeal boom.

Standing under the pandanus for a surf check over Main Beach, the day stretches ahead with possibilities as long as the 38km coastline. Minjerribah reminds me how special it is before we even hit the North Gorge trail; wallabies nibble seed pods in the grass, barely lifting an ear as we wander past. Winding along the boardwalk, I scan for dolphins, turtles and whales below – I’m yet to be disappointed, even if a solitary manta ray is the only one to be seen cruising the ocean floor that day. When the conditions are clear and glassy, you can see all the way to Jumpinpin, the island’s southern tip – the point where it broke free of its other half – now called South Stradbroke Island – in a storm in 1896.

After the walk (sometimes we loop back and do it all over again; it’s that beautiful), shoes are kicked off and a couple of salad rolls from the bakery go into the beach bag before we wander down to South Gorge Beach, my favourite on the island. The beach umbrella goes up near the vertiginous rock wall and we laze, chat, dip into the water, and warm ourselves in the sunshine.

It’s become a tradition for our friendship group to congregate on the island once a year, but even if we miss one or two, comfort lies in the fact that not much changes over here. Days will consist of surf, sun and bundles of prawns; evenings of barbecues and cold beers on the deck. And there’s an unspoken agreement that each afternoon will include a creamy scoop of gelato, eaten while keeping watch for whales.

Getting there

Take your car over on Stradbroke Ferries services from Cleveland – the crossing takes about 45 minutes – from $56.50 each way. Start early and catch the 6am or 8am ferry over. Return trips run until 6pm. Preannual bookings online are recommended. stradbrokeferries.com.au

Alternatively, catch the water taxi for the 25-minute journey across and catch the public bus services around the island.

Flyer.com.au; stradbrokeislandbuses.com.au

Best beaches

Check the wind and tides the night before your visit to save time once you roll off the barge – if one beach is blown out, you’ll always have a back-up.

Cylinder Beach is the perennial family favourite. Patrolled all year, it’s a great spot to

learn to surf. Plus, there’s the coffee cart tucked up under the paperbarks.

Main Beach is protected by the large headland and popular in northerly winds, though expect stronger swells.

South Gorge is a beautiful swimming spot tucked into the headland but is unpatrolled and has a strong rip so it’s safest to stick to the shallows.

Best walks

The North Gorge Walk is 1.2km of unrivalled scenery – mostly boardwalk (but lots of stairs so not great for prams), flanked by casuarinas and dramatic rocky outcrops. Access it from Moloomba Road at Point Lookout.

One of the newest trails, the 2.2km Mount Vane track was designed and constructed by more than 20 of the island’s traditional owners and offers up 360-degree views atop one of the island’s highest peaks.

It links in with other trails inside the Naree Budjong Djara (My Mother Earth) National Park, part of a 10km network. nprsr.qld.gov.au

Where to eat

For locally-roasted coffee head to Fever On Straddie, which doubles as a boutique stocked with vintage and Straddie-made threads. feveronstraddie.com

Head into the backstreets of Point Lookout to find the freshest spanner crabs and prawns at Mal and Carolyn Starkey’s house and devour them by the beach. 0409 618 353

Don’t leave it too late in the day for your gelato or sorbet fix from Oceanic Gelati, the line can quickly stretch down the street.

For a drink with the best views, head to

The Point Bar at Point Lookout Surf Life Saving Club, open most weekends from 2pm. It’s currently under refurbishment but should reopen soon. pointlookoutslsc.com.au

Best time to visit

Winter, when the humpbacks make their great migration north to the warm waters of the Great Barrier Reef to birth their offspring – each year more than 28,000 migrating humpback whales pass within 10km of the Mulumba (Point Lookout) coastline. Spot them from the North Gorge Walk or gain a deeper understanding by joining a guided land-based (Yalingbila) whale and cultural walk with Quandamooka Coast. q-coast.com.au

Want to stay longer?

Minjerribah Camping’s six campgrounds are open but reservations are not being accepted from selected Queensland postcodes and tent sites are temporarily unavailable at some sites. See website for the most up-to-date info.

Or rent a holiday home through Discover Stradbroke or Dolphin Holiday Accommodation.

minjerribahcamping.com.au; accommodationstradbroke.com.au; straddie.info

More information available at stradbrokeisland.com

“WITH OUR TRAVEL HORIZONS SHRUNK TO OUR OWN BACKYARDS, THIS UNDER-THE-RADAR, NOSHOES, NO-WORRIES ISLAND IS GOING TO SEE ITS APPEAL BOOM.”