If watching kangaroos hopping on the grass in the wild or looking at a humpback whale frolicking in the ocean is what paints a picture of Australia in your mind, then you must visit North Stradbroke Island in Queensland, Australia.

North Stradbroke Island or as the locals call it, “Straddie” is a gorgeous island 30 Kms south east of Brisbane and makes for an easy day trip from Brisbane.

 

 

 

The island is known for its white sand beaches, freshwater lakes, picturesque landscapes and above all an opportunity to see kangaroos, sea turtles, dolphins, manta rays and even whales in their natural habitat.

We visited in Mid-November which meant the whale watching season was already over so we didn’t encounter any humpback whales, but we did get to see Kangaroos nibbling on the grass in the wild, and not one but several pods of Dolphins swimming freely in the sea.

 

 

 

 

The island is divided into three areas or townships, namely Dunwich, Amity Point and Point Lookout. We only visited Point Look Out and did the magnificent North Gorge walk.

We took an early morning train from Brisbane to Cleveland from the South Brisbane Station, it was roughly an hour-long journey. When we reached Cleveland we still had around half an hour before the next bus to the ferry point, so we decided to have a little picnic at this lovely dockyard park adjacent to the station. We had packed our breakfast from 7Eleven earlier in the morning and honestly couldn’t have asked for a better place to relish it.

 

 

 

Half an hour later we boarded the bus and were at the ferry point in approximately 10 mins. We bought the return tickets from the kiosk, (you can also buy it online HERE)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ferry takes approx. 30 mins to reach to Dunwich from where we boarded another bus (the GO card doesn’t work on this bus, the return ticket costed $9.4 each). The bus schedule is pretty much in sync with arrival and departure of the ferries. You can look at their schedule HERE

The bus dropped us at the start of the North Gorge Walk and from there it took us around an hour to complete the walk at very relaxed pace, stopping at several vantage points soaking in the magnificent views.

 

 

 

 

Most of the walk has a wooden path which makes it a very easy walk. The rock formations are amazing and you can walk to the edge of the cliffs and enjoy the glorious views, but PLEASE be very careful and mindful of the fact that it could be extremely dangerous. There are warning signs installed at the points which are particularly dangerous but since there are no guards present it is easy to get carried away, hence we would recommend to be extremely cautious.

 

 

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BqXRWZklqlt/

 

 

It was really windy the day we visited and we could hear a blow hole making loud snorting sounds… for a moment we thought it was a whale sound but then a local guide told us that it is actually a blow hole and this particular one was called “whale rock blow hole”, am guessing for obvious reasons 🙂

 

 

 

After completing the walk we enjoyed a much deserved lunch at a local eatery and had some grilled fish and chicken burger with a beer and our favourite Australian beverage, Bundaberg.

 

 

 

 

If you’re visiting Brisbane, we highly recommend you take a day trip to the North Stradbroke Island… it is a MAGICAL place… or as I like to call it – a slice of paradise with sun, surf and sand!