After Christmas we packed the car to the brim with all our planks and camping utensils and drove up the coast to North Stradbroke Island. North Stradbroke Island is located off Brisbane in Moreton Bay and was about a 10 hour drive from our home in Port Macquarie. North Stradbroke Island is also known by its Aboriginal name Minjerribah and Straddie, both by locals and visitors. Straddie is the second largest sand island in the world after Fraser Island. The island is one of Australia’s natural treasures and we loved every second of the week we spent at Straddie, with its white sand beaches, beautiful inland lakes, hidden waterways, wildlife, friendly locals, scenic walks and wonderful laid-back lifestyle.
Arrival in Straddie and around the Island
North Stradbroke Island is easily accessible with Stradbroke Island Ferries water taxi or ferry, with regular services from Cleveland south to Brisbane. Be sure to book your ferries in advance (especially vehicle ferries), as Straddie is very popular and you don’t want to miss out just because the ferries are all full!
Once on the Island, there are sealed roads that connect the Island’s three Townships, so you don’t need four-wheel drive. However, if you’re feeling a bit more adventurous and want to bring a 4WD, the rest of the island is open for exploration (make sure you get a Straddie Camping permit first)! One of the most beautiful things about the island is that there is an abundance of native animals (which we will tell you about soon), so be careful on the streets, especially at dawn and dusk, when you are most active.
If you are visiting a day trip or don’t have a car, you can always visit, as Straddie has both taxi service and a frequent bus service that runs between Dunwich, Amity Point and Point Lookout. Buses meet all ferries in Cleveland and on the Island.
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North Stradbroke Island offers a wide choice of accommodation to suit all tastes and budgets. From resorts to backpackers, campsites and apartments and houses. Whether you’re staying at a beach campsite or want to relax in your own luxury holiday home, there’s definitely something for everyone.
Our trip to Straddie was a pretty last minute decision, and it was on Christmas/New Year holiday period, meaning the majority of accommodations were booked long ago. Dan loves Camping and I like to mix luxury with relaxing camping trips! We were lucky enough to reach one of the last campsites on the Island. Straddie Camping manages the island’s campsites and offers six beachfront campsites, all surrounded by native scrubland. We have really sprayed on our camping needs since we arrived in Australia because I like to camp in comfort, especially if we are camping for at least a week. We love that online shopping allows us to have access to high quality Camping and caravan accessories no matter where we are in Australia! Now that we live in Australia again, we plan to visit our amazing country as deeply as possible and look forward to camping everywhere, especially in beautiful Queensland! I particularly enjoyed relaxing on the campsite in our new, beautiful hammock that we recently purchased from West Coast hammocks!
We were at Bradburys Beach campsite in Dunwich, located on the beach and surrounded by many trees that we enjoyed on hot days! The campsite was well equipped and included toilets, showers, laundry and laundry facilities. If we booked in advance in the future, we would choose one of the campsites closest to Point Lookout, as we spent most of our time there on the beaches. If you have children, we recommend staying near Amity Point, as it has the safest swimming areas and is the smallest of the three Townships.
Dunwich
The town of Dunwich will be the first sight that most visitors to the Island will have upon arrival. Dunwich is a picturesque harbour town on the west side of the island, rich in Indigenous and European culture and history, as well as natural beauty!
Dunwich is the best place on the island to pick up all your holiday utensils, as there is a grocery store, bakery, fruit shop, bottle shop and butcher. Dunwich also has a local sports shop which can come in handy if you’ve left something behind or if, like us, you need to find a hole in your air mattress and buy a new one! There are also a number of Restaurants and Cafes including Cj’s Island Pizza, where we have a delicious one night dinner and the bakery that make a wonderful coffee!
While Dunwich doesn’t have the best beaches on the island for swimming, there’s no shortage of swimming holes and lakes! There is a pool near the ferry terminal, it is only 5 km drive to Brown Lake, a little further to Blue Lake and the very refreshing Myora Springs are on the way to Point Lookout.
Amity Point
Amity Point is the smallest of the three Townships and is a casual fishing village where you have no choice but to relax on the Island. Amity Point is located on the northwest tip of the island and is just a 15-minute drive from Dunwich. Whether you are a fisherman, seafood lover, wildlife enthusiast or family, then you will fall in love with Amity charm.
Amity has resident pelicans, cute Koalas and wild dolphins visiting the local pier. Amity is the perfect city to relax and ideal for families with a relaxed atmosphere, shady sandy beaches and a large pool that offers a safe place to swim. Due to Amity’s location on The Island, there are no surf beaches, making it ideal for swimming, fishing, and snorkeling.
If you are a seafood lover, you will love Amity. Every day, trawlers link up with the pier to unload their catch of fresh shrimp, crabs and fish. If you are looking for road signs, you know where to buy fresh seafood directly from the boat! Amity also has a beautiful Cafe, seashells in Amity, where we stopped for coffee and cakes one morning after a bath and it was nice! The cake was sweet, the coffee delicious and the atmosphere wonderful.