Island Paradise
I have been extremely fortunate to have gone to many truly beautiful places in my 26 years of riding this rock and let me tell you that North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah) has shot very high up the list.
A number of locals had recommended it and that was all I needed to know that it would be worth spending some time there. Listen to the locals they know where the best spots are. Once again I can’t thank Kieth enough for his help, a. Keeping bag while I jaunted off for 3 nights, but b. Giving me a lift to the ferry terminal… it was massively appreciated on both fronts.
After boarding the only bus route on the island, along with every other punter, it set off along the main road on the island, winding its way northwards across the west side of the island island. Arriving at Manta lodge you’re greeted by the the faint sound of the ocean not that far away. First and foremost you can tell this is a scuba centre that is also a hostel, not that it bothered me to be honest. After dumping my bag upstairs I headed straight for the beach and what greeted me was a gorgeous stretch of sand called Cylinder beach which goes between Adder rock to Cylinder headland… I couldn’t tell you how long it was but it a fair old length and fairly empty… a win win. The first night was an early one, but that doesn’t bother me, in fact its the exact opposite, I don’t have any issue with an early night if it means I enjoy myself more and that is definitely the case.
The second day was spent at the beach enjoying the sun, listening to podcasts, reading my book and even a dip in the ocean to close and it was amazing I won’t lie to you. It really was super enjoyable. Then a few of us who were at the hostel headed to the rock to watch the sunset and Jesus what a cherry that was on the cake, it was truly amazing to spend time sitting with other like minded people taking in a cracking sunset. But the day didn’t end there… oh no… we then headed off as a band made up of an Aussie, an Austrian, a Taiwanese and 2 Brits. And what were we off to do I hear you ask? We went to the bowlo… what is the bowlo you ask… well its the bowling club and thats exactly what we did, we played bowls and I somehow came back to tie for the win, I don’t know how cause I was pretty diabolical but I put it down to many a summer afternoon playing with Grandma Campbell.
The alarm was set for 5am the next morning, but clearly I was so excited to see the sunrise I woke up 20 minutes before it and stealthily snuck out to watch the sunrise from the beach. I’m glad I did as it was beautiful. The sky was a strawberry lemonade colour and as the sun rose it slowly radiated its orange glow getting brighter and brighter until it burst from what looked like the ocean itself. I then promptly headed back to bed and fell back asleep for another couple of hours which I was not mad about in the slightest!
Another morning spent on the beach enjoying the sun, and about 30 minutes in the water which frankly could’ve lasted a whole lot longer if I wasn’t so sure that I was beginning to burn (I was in fact burning my back…), but it was worth it and I felt a childhood joy seep over of me as I swam around and bounced of the bottom of the sea and then let myself get washed ashore while I giggled away to myself. It’s something I’m going to aim to do more.
The afternoon I dawdled my way towards Point Lookout, one of the 3 main settlements on the island. Not a far walk but I was in no rush. Once I got into town I headed for one of the main attractions outside of the beaches, North Gorge which has a walk which follows and contours the gorge giving you an impressive view not just of the gorge itself but the pacific ocean. Thats where I had the great luxury of seeing whales, not just one or two but many, with one breaching every so often I feel incredibly lucky. After finishing the walk I treated myself to an ice cream which was braw in the afternoon sun and then I caught the bus back to the hostel where some of the group from the previous night were about to head to Adder rock. Not wanting to pass on the opportunity to take sunset shots with my camera I headed up with them and what followed was an even better sunset than the night before and I felt immensely lucky to be there in that moment. As the sun set below the horizon and we stood for a bit longer taking in the cracking sky which was on display we enjoyed what someone called second sunset… something I’ve seen a great many times and never realised. This is where the clouds afford you a second helping of the sunset you’ve just seen and let me tell you it didn’t disappoint in this case. After some scran and friends it was another relatively early night to close my time on Straddie. Oh and there was even more whales giving us a show than earlier in the day.
There are places I have been which sit close to my heart for a great many reasons and many of these are marked with a ‘To Return’ badge and North Stradbroke is one of these… and hopefully next time I might even go diving.
To Alex, Janna, Sylvia and Kat thank you for making my time of Straddie that bit more special.
Oh and one last thing… I got off the bus at the wrong ferry terminal and had to walk through town to make the right one. Classic.
Toddy
Current Locale - 🇦🇺
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