One cheap way to get to the island from the mainland is via the Stradbroke Ferries. At just $15 per person for a roundtrip, its not bad. Transporting a car is also possible but at a much steeper price (I think a little over $100 for a roundtrip), and it only makes sense in my opinion if you have a 4WD over a regular 2WD. Once on the island, you can make use of the local bus to get around some popular spots. A group of the 5 of us were staying at Manta Lodge & Scuba Centre. The center itself offer some really awesome activities like Scuba diving and access to a pretty cool beach front.
We were supposed to go sandbaording, but sadly due to rains the day before, it was moved to the next day. This meant we could go enjoy swimming and relaxing all day long. The beach really was beautiful, not crowded at all, and you could rent stuff like surf baords if you so desired.
Our rest of the day pretty much was walking from the lodge to Point Lookout. Its definintely a beautiful walk except for the heat, which none of us were fans of. Lots of beatiful areas to just stop and admire the beauty.
Once at point lookout, we took a walk along the North Gorge Walk. The walk is fairly simple, well guided, and does a full circle. The views during the days are stunning, as are the views at dusk.
Did you know: It’s easy to spot marine life such as turtles, dolphins, and manta rays due to the clear waters. Although we didn’t see the manta rays, the turtles were easy to spot in the water from the gorge you can see below.
There’s just something about a vast ocean with nothing in sight…just water.
The sun was finally begining to set, and we decided to stick around a little longer to just relax and enjoy the cool weather. It really was super hot all day long. I wish the sunset was a little more to our side, but nevertheless, still very pretty.
Of course the views are amazing and all, but since I was with a group, might as well show off the kinda diverse group of friends. Well my brothers friends, but mine as well now 🙂
After a tiring day, we finally have dinner by a restuarant close to the walk. A perfect end to a perfect day. The next day was pretty rushed to get checked out and ready for our sandbaording. One advice: Do not do it in the summer or when there’s no clouds. It was so very hot, the heat, the sand…even the shade felt hot. It was fairly fun for the first 15min but we all kind of gave up and just chilled in the shade for a good hour or so. Wish I took some pictures of the sand dunes, coz’ they were pretty.
Divyang Joshi 