4 x 4 Stradbroke Island


by Jenny Brewer - Date: 2007-09-20 - Word Count: 904 Share This!

Any time is a good time to visit Stradbroke, one of the world's largest sand islands. With its magnificent beaches, white sandy 4WD tracks throughout the island and incredible views it has everything to offer the adventurous driver who is looking for the freedom to go off the beaten track.

Located in South East Queensland at the southern region of Moreton Bay, you can access Stradbroke by taking the ferry across from Cleveland. Stradbroke Ferries is one of the most popular operators, and the average cost is just over $100 return for a family. Permits are $33 and last for a year. You need these to access the beaches and restricted 4WD tracks throughout the island.

We visited in the middle of winter, and by late morning all we needed was a tee shirt, shorts and thongs. Beautiful! The first stop was to Brown Lake, its fresh water named because of the colour seepage from the surrounding tea trees. There is a park and plenty of sand for the children to play in close to the waters edge.

The next stop was Blue Lake, further into the centre of the island. It is the larger of the two, but cannot be accessed by 4WD. We had to abandon our vehicles and trudge for about 45 minutes to finally reach a viewing platform. The water was the same colour as Brown Lake, and there wasn't as much for the children to do here. Brown Lake was by far our favourite.

Driving onwards, we reached Main Beach in no time, changed gears into 4WD and roared onto the sand. It was spectacular. The waves were curling into perfect barrels, and there was hardly anyone on the beach which made it even more inviting. We coasted along the edge of the water for about five minutes until we stopped to enjoy the views and also let the kids play for a while. There are plenty of sand dunes along the edge of the beach which make for great jumps!

We reached the headland and headed back inland to visit Point Lookout. This is the central tourist strip and offers some great fish and chip and convenience shops, with a number of souvenirs available. After lunch by the park, we were in for a treat. We started for the walk to the lookout, and just before we arrived we spotted a pod of close to twenty dolphins surfing the breakers just below. Further along we reached the lookout, and tourists pointed whales out to us further towards the horizon! More treats than we expected that's for sure!

There is an excellent walking track that takes you right around 'The Gorge', which fills up and empties mega tonnes of water every few minutes. The pounding waves and mass of surging water has to be seen to be believed. Be prepared for lots of sea spray! There are a number of seats placed throughout the walk as well as flat rocky outcrops which are a perfect position to enjoy the panoramic ocean views.

After lots of photos and pointing at dolphins and whales, we drove further down to Cylinder Beach camping grounds. This would be the best campsite on the island for families, as it is situated directly in front of a flat beach with lots of small pools for the children to play in, and also has a large playground and toilet facilities. It is close to everything you need and very clean.

Amity Point is the most populated township on the other side of the island, but before you reach it take the turn into Cylinder Beach. You will be rewarded by more fantastic four wheel driving on more compacted sand which gives you a completely different experience. There were plenty of inland 4WD tracks which tested our driving skills in many ways.

We reached Amity and found a unique jetty close to the Amity Point Camping Ground. With fishermen in all directions, this is the best place to set up if you are keen for a few bites. Next to the jetty there was a sealed off swimming area perfect for kids, and also more pelicans than I had ever seen, all wandering close to the waters edge.

We headed back onto the main road, and the first turn to the left (don't miss it as it is almost hidden from view) we found the best track yet that ran through the entire island. Meandering through the heart of north Stradbroke, we also discovered a number of smaller tracks that once again tested our driving skills and took us further into the island. There were steep ascents and descents, and a few oncoming vehicles as it there is only ever one track. You can see the ocean on both sides from the main track, as well as the rest of the island stretching out to protected national park, inaccessible to tourists.

Back at Dunwich we waited for the ferry to come just in time to watch the sunset. Every moment on the island was magical. Stradbroke offers an abundance of wildlife, marine life and incredible coastal scenery as well as an abundance of four wheel drive tracks that were everything we expected. We boarded the ferry with plenty of stories to tell and began making plans for our next 4WD and camping adventure to Stradbroke, this time for a week.
If you need a hire car for the trip visit Car Hire Australia

Related Tags: tourist, driving holiday, camping grounds, stradbroke island, south east queensland, moreton bay, 4wd tracks, adventurous drive, amity point, cylinder beach

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