- Ben and Mariana,
- Louis,
- John and others (friends of Louis)
- Steve & Yvonne,
- Mark and Arie,
- Ben and kids,
- David and family
We followed the agenda reasonably closely as there was lots to see, and limited time. We had to ensure we are on the 4:00pm return ferry. The agenda had us cover the following.
1) Visit to Brown lake
2) Trip via the inland sand track to Point Lookout (and we also have a quick run around at Cylinder Beach)
3) Walk at North Gorge boardwalk and have lunch
4) Drive down Main Beach to view South Stradbroke Island
5) Take a track behind the dunes to the keyholes (seemed to be a favourite for many people)
6) Return to the ferry.
A view of the vehicles on top of a sandy hill while travelling on the inland track.
A view of the sand mining operation. Note the mining plant on the right side of the photo. You can see the sand coming off the conveyor belts/buckets.
We had a quick look at Cylinder Beach, and took the opportunity to throw a football around.
Mariana looking for a few shells in the clear waters at Cylinder beach.
View of Main Beach from Point Lookout North Gorge boardwalk.
While on the walk, we also spotted a whale in the distance .... far in the distance.
Our group and others on an outcrop watching the scenery.
While trying to spot the whales again, I had something block my view. It was a koala. And further along, there were kookaburras too.
Here is a photo of North Gorge.
After lunch, we went for a drive down main beach. It was very smooth in parts, as we timed the drive for peak low tide.
But on our way to the southern tip of the Island, we saw the dark clouds rolling in.
A view of some of the vehicles at the southern tip, and South Stradbroke Island in the background, and some very dark clouds passing by.
As we headed north back up the beach, we left most of the rain behind us. Here we stretched our legs, and Louis took the opportunity to test his new MaxTraxs clones. They seemed to work well.
Our vehicles lined up on the beach. You can see the bad erosion of sand, with the waves washing away at the sand dunes.
Travelling further north on our way to the keyholes, we saw some interesting weather (some great scenery)
Coming in from the middle-road entrance off the beach, we headed off to the keyholes. The track is not well marked, and difficult to find if you didn't know where to look. The track on the way to the keyholes had a series of "puddles", well, probably 50+. Some were reasonably deep in parts.
By the time we got to the keyholes, our cars had any traces of salt washed off (many times over). There were reports of engine temperatures dropping, ans cars "steaming". Ben had a look to see if anything was still dry in the engine bay. But nobody had any problems crossing the "puddles".
We eventually got to the keyholes. Very nice, and I'm should they would be even better in summer.
Continuing on, we then reached an exit onto the beach, and continued north to point lookout. The certainly noticed the tide coming in, as we were forced into the slightly softer sand. Taking the Point Lookout exit off the beach, we continued via the boring bitumen roads back to the ferry at Dunwich (and right on schedule too).
Though we didn't get too much more rain, we could see it raining in the distance.
Many thanks to all who came along. I think everyone have a great day out. We had lots of fun on the inland tracks, on the beaches, and driving through a series of water holes / puddles on our way to the keyholes.
The video is on it's way shortly, and will be posted below in the next day or two.
