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Wednesday, September 21, 2011

September 17 - 20, 2011 - Moreton Island & Tangalooma

Just across Moreton Bay from Brisbane lies Moreton Island, a sand island whose crystal blue waters and ivory colored sand beaches attract masses of day-trippers from the Brisbane area. They flock to the island in various forms of watercraft for either a day at the beach, a few days on the hook or for a veritable vacation. Large commercial motor cats ferry pedestrian and vehicle passengers over several times a day as well, pouring 4WD's onto the sand tracks and suitcase toting vacationers. There is a small settlement here called Tangalooma which hosts a resort, a very small convenience store and a couple of restaurants. The big attractions here are the towering sand dunes where those wishing to hike up the hill of soft cascading sand (too much effort four us old farts) can toboggan back down to the water's edge, and the Tangalooma Wrecks which form an artificial breakwater for the anchorage and diving opportunities for those wanting to drop several hundred dollars into the coffers of the tour operators. It is very beautiful, albeit very busy. If you can tolerate a rocky rolly anchorage, full of zipping little watercraft then it is a worthwhile trip out here.
We enjoyed a long walk far down the beach away from the hustle bustle to find ourselves a private spot to enjoy the sun and sand. I found a large plastic plate that had washed up onto the shore which I filled with pretty starfish that littered the beach. We spent 3-1/2 days swimming and lolling about here, witnessing spectacular sunsets and acting like locals before heading up to Mooloolaba.

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