Blogs from North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 2

In the winter of 2008, more than 10000 Southern Humpback whales were spotted off the headland at Point Lookout. Their numbers are slowly but steadily increasing with each season, and this is testament to our adjusted thinking and understanding regarding these magnificent creatures. Recent reports indicate that in the 2009 season their number had increased to around 12000, and the 2010 season promises to draw that number closer to 14000. The humpbacks haven't always had such a carefree time in our recent past because up until the early sixties there was a whaling station very nearby that almost brought them to the brink of extinction in these waters. In 1962, at the end of a ten year killing spree, the whaling station at Tangalooma on Moreton Island ceased to operate. The reason was simple, their Norwegian ... read more

This is an amazing place.... Small cruise from mainland to Island journey it self is wonderfulll....clear waters...we came across dolphins while passing .....check out the phtos its amazing....in some seasons whales can be spotted as well..... read more

Fri March 13- This weekend was the first of two weekends which I’ll be going on trips with my Australian Marine Ecosystems class. We went to the Moreton Bay Research Center on North Stradbroke Island. The day started early, we met at the main UQ bus stop at 7am to catch a ferry. There were 58 students from the class on this one particular trip. Anyway, we took about an hr and a half bus ride to get to the ferry (mainly because of traffic). When we got to the ferry we were surprised. We had figured we’d be unloading our bags and carrying them onto the ferry which would transport us to the island and we’d be picked up there. No such thing happened. This was one of the ferries where you drive right onto ... read more

Straddie - lørdag d. 24 - 27. Lørdag pakkede vi kuffeterne og tog efter en køretur på en times tid færgen til North Stradbroke Island, en tropisk ferieø lidt syd for Brisbane. Det var ligesom at være tilbage i tiden, hvor man ventede på færgen ved Storebælt!! Vi havde lejet to villaer, en til os fire og en til Andrew, Sue og Mario. Skønt område med stranden kun 100 m. væk. Det eneste mærkelige var at villaen var opdelt i to afdelinger, en med stue, børneværelse, badeværelse og køkken og et anden seperat del bestående af forældre soveværelset. Ind i mellem de to afdelinger var der en dejlig terrasse med grill. Den første dag lavede vi ikke så meget, vi spiste frokost og ungerne fik sig en lang lur og derefter smuttede vi ned for at ... read more

After a few days in Brisbane, staying with Sean's friends Ian and Ashlee in their beautiful house, we were off for a week camping on Straddie (we being me, Sean and Liam). Before leaving we kept checking the weather forecast every day, fearing the worst. This left us none the wiser as, like the BBC forecast, it kept changing every day. So we set off, hoping for a least a few days before the heavens would open on us and wash everything away. As it turned out, although the weather wasn't brilliant, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as we had feared and we stayed all week. Straddie is a sand island (like Fraser Island further north, only smaller) just off the coast of Brisbane. Sean has been going there for years with Liam, Ian and ... read more