Stradbroke Island

Stradbroke Island

Anzac Day (A day off work!)

Anzac day is a national day of remembrance celebrated annually in Australia and New Zealand on the 25th April, it commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders who fought at Gallipoli during World War 1.


Day One

For our day off we had planned a long weekend camping with Nick and Rachael along with some of their friends on North Stradbroke Island (2nd largest sand island in the world).

It was a very early start with Nick and Rach picking us up at 4am. 
We drove to Dunwich main harbour to catch a 45 minute ferry over to the Island, located just 30km south-east of Brisbane.

When we arrived I was immediately bowled over by the sheer size of the Island, I hadn't expected it to be as well developed considering it is just sand; there was even a rugby pitch!

In convoy with the other lads we then drove to the ocean side to set up camp on the beach!
Before we were able to drive onto the beach we had to deflate the tyres by half, this increased the surface area on the sand and stopped us getting stuck!

After a drive along the beach we found a good camp spot nestled among the sand dunes overlooking the white sandy beach. It was perfect we were literally meters away from the sea!

We then set to work on setting up the camp we had a fair amount of gear so it did take a while! Thankfully mine and Marcus's tent only took 10 minutes, we were both rather impressed with our bargain $45 Kmart tent!

After some delicious wraps for lunch it was then time to explore the Island. Boys will be boys and first we ended up doing some 4WD tracks it was great fun riding on the back of the ute, the track led us to lookout point where we had a great view of the Island! 
We also drove to the other side of the Island to check out the camping, I was pleased that our camp area was much nicer! 

It was then time to take a swim in the brown lake, admittedly I was slightly apprehensive given the name but we had heard great reviews. The verdict ... it was coloured brown not dissimilar to that of tea but it was incredible, the ti trees within the lake leave your skin feeling luxurious and afterwards we really did feel rejuvenated! I now understand why people drive miles to heal any skin ailments!

Feeling refreshed we then headed back to camp for dinner, Nick took charge and cooked us all up a delicious meal the boys had also caught a few fish that were delicious. For dessert Dalton had bought 5kg of lollies (Aussie lingo for sweets) so we had plenty to tuck into!

We then spent the majority of the evening around the fire - until I mentioned shooting star. Having never seen one I was determined to sit and wait with a glass of champagne in hand until I had. Nick, Rach, Marcus and I all saw shooting stars that night the sky was so clear! I went to bed very happy having seen my first shooting star.

Day Two

Our first night in the tent and we both woke up feeling surprisingly fresh! As usual I went for my morning pee however our camp had no toilets, water, or electricity so it was the bush! It was definitely not a normal morning pee as I was confronted by a HUGE GOANNA watching me, it was quite an experience that's for sure! I ran back to camp to share my experience with everyone to see more of the bloody things checking out our camp-site for food!

After breakfast we headed to the beach for a morning swimming, sunbathing and body boarding. It was a glorious day, Rach and I took full advantage of the sun whilst the boys spent hours riding the waves.

Our plan for the afternoon was to do some more off-roading and explore the blue lake. The 4WD drive track was very overgrown so I made the sensible decision to sit in the ute whilst Marcus was getting taken out by the branches! 
 

It was then time for a swim in the blue lake, from the car park it was a 5.2 km walk through the wallum woodlands to the lake, the lake was stunning however I did prefer the brown lake! On the way back to camp we all agreed to stop off and have another swim in the brown lake to freshen up.

When we returned to camp it was time to prepare our roast! We cooked a leg of lamb using hot coals buried in the ground with carrots, potatoes and gravy. It was a feast the lamb was incredible.

We were all so stuffed that we spent the rest of the night around the camp fire, of course we did have room for more lollies though!



Day Three

Second night in the tent and again we both slept so well. By this point I had got used to the free roaming goannas especially during toilet time. Within the space of three days we had both adapted well to living with creepy crawlies and lizards in the bush.

Unfortunately it was our last day and after a morning swim it was time to pack up camp. As I said previously we had ALOT of gear which meant that it did take a while to get everything packed away. 
Our barge was booked for late afternoon so we had time to visit the town and a beautiful lookout point. Again it was a glorious days and I was pleased that my photo's came out so well.

After a quick coffee it was then time to head to the barge. Nick had bought a portable tyre pump to inflate his tyres back up, unfortunately the cheap pump struggled and blew up on the last tyre!
Once we got off the barge we then headed to the garage to reflate the remaining tyre before heading back to Surfers Paradise!

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