ISLAND DREAMS
Mike Yardley has a whale of a time visiting Moreton Island off Brisbane
UNDER A CAVERNOUS BLUE SKY, I swapped the urban beats of Brisbane for a quick escape to Moreton Bay. Departing Holt St wharf, my 60-minute ferry ride whisked me across to Tangalooma Resort on Moreton Island, an unpretentious bolt-hole for some blissedout island time. Lassoed by vivid blue waters teeming with marine life, Moreton Island happens to be the third largest sand island in the world, surprisingly draped in verdant, steep-sloped forest and a wealth of colourful flora. An astonishing
96 percent of the island enjoys national park status.
It’s also home to the highest coastal sand dune in the world, Mount Tempest, which at 285 metres high, delivers unrivalled views across the glittering waters of Moreton Bay. There’s all manner of historic nuggets to admire on Moreton Island. You’ll definitely want to head to the bright red Cape Moreton Lighthouse, built by convicts in 1857 from local sandstone. During World War II there were 900 troops stationed on the island.
Post-war, Tangalooma was first developed as a whaling station, finally closing in 1962. A brutal harpoon is on display, as a memorial to the grisly whaling days. You can join a whaling station talk and tour to learn about the history and operations of the station and how the island did a spectacular about-face, switching from exploiting these giant mammals to becoming one of Australia’s great homes to sustainable whale watching.
At this time of the year, it’s migration season, with an estimated 36,000 humpback whales cruising from Antarctica to Queensland (and back again) between June and October. The resort guarantees you will see a whale on their cruise, with juveniles frequently breaching alongside the boat.
In 1963 the Tangalooma Whaling Station was sold to a syndicate of Gold Coast businessmen and since 1980, the resort has been owned by the Osborne family, who are passionate about providing great-value island holidays, while pursuing their passionate commitment for supporting the wondrous natural environment.
I headed north up the vast sweep of white sand beach from the resort to the Tangalooma Wrecks. Just offshore, 15 ships were sunk between the 1960s and 1980s to create a protected channel for boats to moor. This drowned fleet of retired steamdriven dredges and barges were scuttled on the edge of a sandbank to provide safe anchorage for recreational boaties. Jutting above the waterline, it absolutely looks
like a maritime graveyard. But the real spin-off has been the fish life, with magnificent coral formations blooming around the wrecks, creating a giant aquarium for tropical fish – and best of all, wobbegong sharks.
Sticking with the wildlife, ever since the installation of lights of the resort jetty in 1960, bottlenose dolphins have been cruising into the resort at twilight, hunting bait fish which were attracted by the lights. This gave birth to the enduring wild dolphin feeding programme, which continues every night at sunset. Book a spot on the small-group programme, wade into the tranquil waters of Moreton Bay and the team of marine biologists will show you how to feed the dolphins, waiting patiently in the shallows. Hold your herring like an ice-cream cone!
Another banner Tangalooma experience is sand tobogganing. Backing the small settlement is Tangalooma desert and its mighty dunes. I took a safari tour to the desert, on a thrilling, bouncy 4WD bus tour, where getting there is half the fun. As a virgin to sand tobogganing, I found it utterly exhilarating, hurtling down the sandhill at 40km per hour, with just a flimsy wooden board to hold on to. The hardest task was mustering the energy to keep mounting that 30-metre-high sand dune, to reach the launch pad, for repeat rides. My calves paid the price for several days.
There aren’t too many places on Australia’s East Coast where you can watch the sunset over the water, but you can at Tangalooma. After lapping up a fireball sunset, the languid waters rippled all pink and grey. After dark, with the sea turning midnight ink, the sky above Tangalooma was full of twinkle, far away from the city lights. The chirpy, cheerful and outgoing staff are the cherry on top of a stress-free getaway to Tangalooma Resort. www.tangalooma.com