Tamborine Mountain never ceases to amaze as an ideal destination for a day trip. It is one of my favourite places to go. Situated in the Gold Coast Hinterland – Summer, Winter, Spring or Autumn the diversified nature of this region will never leave you disappointed.
Travel by car from the Gold Coast or Brisbane, the drive up the Mountain is truly a magnificent experience offering the sights and sounds of the dense rainforest as you carve your way along windy mountain roads or stop and take in some of the best vistas of the Mountains and Scenic Rim.
Gallery Walk – Long Road Tamborine Mountain
Tamborine Mountain is also graced with a surprising and unique shopping strip, Long Road – Tamborine Mountain is the location. Positioned on the East and West side of Long Road, Gallery Walk is one of the most amazing precincts presenting a unique experience with…
Macleay Island, the northern-most of the group, was named after Alexander Macleay, the New South Wales Colonial Secretary 1825-37. Its fertile southern end was settled first in the early 1870s. Macleay Island is the second largest of the four Bay Islands, situated 30km from Brisbane in the Moreton Bay Marine Park at the southern end of Moreton Bay. It is 6.5km long and 4km wide at its widest point. Protected by North Stradbroke Island to the east, Macleay is connected to the mainland by ferries and barges, which also connect to inter-island transport for the four Bay Islands
Vehicle Barge leaving Macleay island
The island’s natural environment includes rainforest, rocky shores, sandy beaches, and vistas to the mainland, over to North Stradbroke Island and up to Moreton Island. There’s a large variety of birds including migratory birds which visit yearly. There is a large bush stone curlew population on the island. Macleay Island has mangrove foreshores. These are spots for fishing, swimming, sailing, picnicking and barbecues. A launch spot is the Dalpura Ramp towards the north of the island. Pat’s Park at the northern end of the island allows for swimming, BBQs, picnics and has children’s play equipment. The Anzac day services are held at the Cenotaph located there. The island has a skate park for the younger generation, which opened in 2014
RS Cenotaph at Pats Park Macleay island
The Industrial Ruins, located at the southern end of Macleay Island appear to be associated with the 1869 establishment of a sugar mill, possibly in conjunction with a salt works, on the island. Although no early description of the mill and salt works has been found, documentary evidence reveals that a sugar mill was erected on the island in 1869, that both a sugar mill and a salt works were extant on the southern half of Macleay Island in 1871, but that possibly neither were operating by 1874. At this period, sugar cultivation and manufacture in Queensland was still experimental. In the late 1860s the principal sugar-growing area extended from Tingalpa and Cleveland south to the Redland Bay, Logan and Albert districts. The red clay soil on Macleay and Russell Islands in southern Moreton Bay was similar to that at Redland Bay, and the islands had the additional advantage of being free from frosts. On the mainland a number of small sugar crushing mills and distilleries were erected, employing an open pan system which produced a coarse, dark brown sugar…. by the 1880s, farmers at Cleveland, Redland Bay and the Bay islands were growing mainly bananas, fruits and vegetables..
Recreation area at Pats Park
By late 1868, John Campbell had 40 acres under sugar on Macleay Island, and Rebecca Gosset [formerly Owen] 20 acres. At this period the Macleay Island cane was likely crushed on a floating mill [the Walrus] which operated in the southern Bay down to the Logan and Albert rivers.
In August 1870, J & G Harris had converted their leasehold of the southern half of Macleay Island into freehold, and the plantation was advertised for sale in April 1871. At this time it comprised 640 acres of freehold land, with 40 acres under sugar; a furnished residence with fine views, out-buildings, and a large tank with a permanent supply of water for household purposes; men’s huts, stock-yard, blacksmith’s; a sugar mill driven by a 4hp engine; and a salt works. South Sea Islanders were working on the plantation. In October 1871, the plantation was sold to Arthur Cumming Biddle of London for £500
The warm Summer weather and the rain has brought the snakes out to enjoy the sunshine too. Yesterday I sat in my favorite outside cane chair and read a book in the sunshine. Then I stood up to walk inside, and there was a snake under the chair, He crawled to the end of the verandah and eyeballed me. I went inside to get the camera and when I returned he was gone. I walked to the back door and there he was on the edge. He had climbed down the verandah and up the back steps. I carefully took a couple of photos but his head was behind the flower pot, and then he was gone.
Twenty-seven species of terrestrial snake are found in the Brisbane area. The combination of native habitat and the introduction of exotic animals have influenced the distribution of some species of snake. Some snakes can be found in suburban backyards and even in the city centre. The most commonly encountered species are the carpet python, common tree snake, keelback, yellow-faced whip snake, white-crowned snake and eastern small-eyed snake.
… a number of venomous snakes are found in and around Brisbane, including the coastal taipan, tiger snake, death adder, rough-scaled snake and eastern brown snake. Of these snakes only the eastern brown snake is regularly found in Brisbane’s suburbs.
Eastern brown snake Pseudonaja textilis
Juvenile Eastern Brown Snake, Pseudonaja textilis Photo credit: Queensland Government
Warning: Highly venomous
The eastern brown snake varies widely in colour from light tan to almost black. The belly ranges from cream to orange with darker orange blotches. To add confusion, hatchlings may have a darker head and neck band or can have dark cross-bands along their entire length. These patterns gradually disappear with age. The eastern brown snake occurs in a variety of habitats ranging from grassland through to eucalypt forests. It is distributed throughout all but the western parts of Queensland. Active during the day, the eastern brown snake feeds on frogs, birds, mammals and reptiles. If provoked, the snake will rear up and adopt an S-shape strike posture, and will bite if cornered or provoked. It is uncommon in the settled areas of Brisbane but occasional sightings do occur. More commonly it is found in bushland and rural areas of the greater Brisbane area. The eastern brown snake grows to an average length of 1.5m.
Remove shelter like piles of rubble, building materials and rock walls;
Keep grass short;
Create a clearing around the house;
Plant native trees that attract snake-eating birds like kookaburras;
Get rid of rodents;
Remove water sources like ponds and bromeliads
If you notice snakes are residing in your yard or around your home, the last thing you want is for them to enter it …tips for getting rid of snakes once they take up residence in or around your home.
Sprinkle oils: Some essential oils deter snakes because they don’t like the smell. Examples include cinnamon, clove, and eugenol.
Use DIY repellents: Repel snakes using DIY solutions including ammonia, human hair, and vinegar.
Use non-lethal traps: Set non-lethal traps out to catch snakes so that you can catch them humanely and release them in a new location far from your home.
Use repelling plants: Snakes don’t like the smell of particular plants, including garlic, lemongrass, and marigold and geraniums. Bonus: Some of the plants that snakes don’t like also tend to repel insects.
There are many scents snakes don’t like including smoke, cinnamon, cloves, onions, garlic, and lime. You can use oils or sprays containing these fragrances or grow plants featuring these scents.
The first burials at Dunwich cemetery are believed to date from 1847 and it is one of the earliest surviving cemeteries in Queensland. The European settlement of Stradbroke Island began in 1827 when a convict out-station was established at Dunwich to serve the Moreton Bay convict settlement based at Brisbane town.
The Dunwich Cemetery has graves from the early days of Queensland’s European settlement, dating back to 1847. There are over 8,500 unmarked graves of inmates from the Dunwich Benevolent Asylum, and the cemetery is still a current place of remembrance for Island residents.
Three cemeteries have operated on North Stradbroke Island. The Myora/Moongalba cemetery just north of Dunwich is the burial place of people from the Mission, the Lazaret or Leper’s Cemetery south of Dunwich was set up in the late 19th century, and the Dunwich Cemetery still operates in the township itself. The first of the Dunwich Cemetery’s estimated 10,000 burials is believed to date from 1847 when a victim of the shipwrecked Sovereign was interred, which makes it one of the earliest surviving cemeteries in Queensland. Also among the early burials were the victims of one of Queensland’s immigration tragedies: a typhus epidemic in 1850 on the ship Emigrant, which claimed about 27 lives. Dunwich had just been proclaimed the quarantine station for Moreton Bay and the Emigrant was the first ship to arrive at the new station. The bunya pines are believed to date from the time when visiting mainland Aborigines brought the nuts as gifts to the people of Stradbroke. stradbrokemuseum.com.au
The aboriginal name of Carah was once given to Inskip Point. Early this century Inskip Point was the original settlement in the area and boasted a small school to cater for the children of the local timber workers and the Inskip Light Keeper. Some of the area between Inskip and Rainbow Beach was mined for […]
Beach she-oaks, cypress pine and other coastal trees and shrubs shade Inskip Peninsula’s camping areas, which are ringed by open ocean beaches and sheltered estuary shores—all within 15 minutes drive of Rainbow Beach. You purchase a camping permit for $6.80 from the National Parks and select the camping ground you want to camp at. I drive 2WD so can only park at the Dorrigo Camping areas, but you can park there and walk to the other areas, or drive, park and walk. The Dorrigo Camping area is well equipped with toilets and taps for washing hands. Three hybrid toilet blocks are provided in this camping area. One has a wheelchair access ramp. There is also plenty of shaded areas with grass and sheltered camping among the trees if you have a tent. Those with 4WD were parked right on the waterfront with a view of the sunrise over the sea.
Coastal trees and shrubs provide dappled shade in some areas.
It is only a short walk to the surf beach or to the more sheltered Pelican Bay.
Some camp sites provide views across the ocean towards Double Island Point.
When you wander down the track to the beach, stop to consider the fate of the SS Dorrigo’s crew. The steamship sank several kilometres off Double Island Point on 2 April 1926. The captain and his son were rescued, and the body of the boatswain floated up on Fraser Island, but no trace was ever found of the remaining 21 crew members.
Why S.S. Dorrigo? The names of six camping areas on the Inskip Peninsula recall past shipping history. On Good Friday 2 April 1926 the steamer S.S. Dorrigo, bound for Thursday Island from Brisbane, sank in heavy seas several kilometres off Double Island Point. The captain and his son were rescued, the body of the bosun was found on Fraser Island, but all 21 other crew members disappeared without a trace.
The Sunrises are amazing… Every Day a new sunrise and a new experience.
CityHopper The CityHopper service started on 1 July 2012. The CityHopper service allows you to rediscover Brisbane for free with ferries running every 30 minutes between 6am and midnight, seven days a week. The CityHopper travels along the Brisbane River, stopping at North Quay, South Bank 3, Maritime Museum, Thornton Street, Eagle Street Pier, Holman […]
The Brisbane River is the longest river in South-East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Thomas Brisbane in 1823.
The Turrbal Nation of Aboriginal people have inhabited the shores of the Brisbane River for up to 40,000 years. The Turrbal were friendly and accommodating people who were great fishermen, using the river as a resource for food which included many varieties of fish, shellfish, crabs and shrimps. It was also an important location for spiritual and recreational purposes, as the people had gatherings at the best fishing locations.
Travel Brisbane River by Ferry Travel Brisbane River by Ferry
On March 21st 1823 ticket of leave convicts, Thomas Pamphlett, John Finnegan, Richard Parsons and John Thompson set sail south of Sydney for Illawarra on a timber finding expedition. However, the convicts were struck by a storm and were blown far north. They went 21 days without water resulting in the death of Thompson before landing on Moreton Island on April 16th of that same year. The three remaining convict’s sense of direction had been turned around by the storm and they believed that they were positioned south of Jervis Bay. They began to make the trek north back to Sydney when they discovered the mouth of the Brisbane River. The three survivors walked along by the river for a month before they stole an Aboriginal canoe at the Oxley Creek junction and made their first crossing of the river.
The Surveyor General of New South Wales, John Oxley, was under orders from the New South Wales Governor, Sir Thomas Brisbane, was sent to Moreton Bay on a mission to find a new convict settlement. It was on December 2nd 1823 that the convict, Finnegan, unwillingly guided Oxley through the mouth of the river and upstream. Oxley noticed the plentiful fish and flourishing pine trees on the river shore and was also convinced by the red cliffs north of the river (Redcliffe) of its attractiveness as a penal settlement. It was then that he named the river after Sir Brisbane, the Governor of NSW.
By 1842 England had stopped sending convicts to Australia and the district was opened to free settlers. From then on the population around the Brisbane River flourished and by 1859 when Brisbane was decreed the capital of the colony of Queensland, the population had risen to around 6,000.
Since then the Brisbane River has continued to change and evolve with the times and it is now used as one of Brisbane’s major public transport systems.
Brisbane River Views
There are picnic spots aplenty along the Brisbane River’s banks, and most public parks have dedicated barbecue areas that are free to use for the first to claim them. Our favourite spots are in Brisbane City Botanic Gardens, anywhere at New Farm Park, at the top of the Kangaroo Point cliffs, Captain Burke Park, Orleigh Park at West End, and anywhere at South Bank Parklands.
Brisbane’s riverside bars make for the perfect location for an afternoon beverage. Our favourites are Bar Pacino, Riverland Bar, Fridays, Blackbird and River bar at Eagle Street and Mr Percival’s and Felons at Howard Smith Wharves.
The Southbank Parklands are situated on the Southern Bank of the Brisbane River directly opposite Brisbane City. Nestled between the Goodwill Pedestrian Bridge at the southern end and the Victoria Bridge at the northern end, both giving direct access to Brisbane, the Botanical Gardens, and the CBD.
Southbank was originally a meeting place for the traditional indigenous landowners, and in the early 1840s became a central point for early settlers that had migrated to the area. From the 1850s the Southbank Precinct was quickly established as the business centre of Brisbane. Throughout the years the inner-city suburb of South Brisbane gained a very seedy reputation with many pubs, brothels, boarding houses, and industry all set amongst warehouses with very few homes. It was a real “no go” area especially after dark but changes were on the horizon and what a transition was coming. The renaissance of the area arrived when the “WORLD EXPO” announced it was coming to Brisbane, and South Brisbane was going to be its new home. The transformation had begun, and Expo 88 opened 30th April 1988.
Southbank viewed from the Brisbane Wheel
Today, the Parklands are now a mixture of Rainforest, open grassy areas with BBQ’s and places to picnic, beaches and freshwater pools and Markets as well as a Riverfront promenade, the Grand Arbour and many café’s, restaurants, takeaways, and bars. This is also one of Brisbane’s most important cultural districts accommodating the Queensland Museum and Science Centre, GOMA (Gallery of Modern Art), QPAC (Queensland’s Performing Arts Centre), Queensland Conservatorium and the State Library of Queensland at the northern end and the Queensland Maritime Museum at the southern end of the Parklands. Southbank is also an entertainment hub, regularly hosting large scale events and festivals attracting approximately 11,000,000 visitors annually.
At low tide you can walk across the sand to King Island
King Island was named by surveyor Robert Dixon who also named Wellington Point. It was declared a Reserve in 1887. It is managed by a volunteer group and Redlands City Council and is protected under the Nature Conservation Act 1992. It is part of the Moreton Bay Marine Park.
Information Board King Island
A family even lived on the island from December 1904 to April 1906. The Phillips family had seven children. One of their daughters, Josephine had polio and a doctor advised the family to bathe her in salt water every day. They moved to the island with a maid and lived in a large marquee with a wooden floor. The dining room and kitchen were under a large cotton tree. Some of the children slept in a tent. Mr Phillips rowed a dinghy across to the mainland every day to go to work. Currently the island is a protected area and there are no buildings there. You can walk to the island at low tide, and walk around the island.
King Island 1890-1900 State Library of Queensland
The Island is smaller than it used to be because the mangroves have been destroyed. Mangroves protect the land, and also create a base for sea life such as crabs, and shells that live around the roots of the mangroves. Here the island ecology has been damaged.
Quandamooka People have lived on and around this area for tens of thousands of years. Geological evidence dates occupation at a minimum of 21,000 years. Local people identify the Noonucal, Gorenpul and Nughi as the traditional owners of what is now known as Redlands Coast and its adjoining areas. When the European settlers arrived in the 1820s, the Aboriginal people in the area we now call Redland City numbered more than 5,000. The new arrivals caused huge change to Quandamooka lifestyles and to the environment. Wellington Point’s Aboriginal name was Cullen Cullen, King Island’s Aboriginal name was Yerubin or Erobin.
This same area of land in Raby Bay, now the Redland Bay Council Offices, had been a great Aboriginal meeting place for countless years, with the earliest European settlers reporting large gatherings of up to 500 people who camped there, coming together from the islands and inland greater Brisbane and Ipswich areas, to exchange fish and shellfish for things like Bunya nuts and other food that was not in abundance locally, as well as items that they had made. In 1969 Redland Shire Council built a new red brick building on the same site. The Shire office was sent to Victoria Point and the Shire Hall to Wellington Point, to be re purposed as Girl Guides Association halls
One of the first settlers in the area was Gilbert Burnett. He arrived in Australia from England with his family in 1866 and after spending some time at the Gympie Goldfields, married Martha Dawson in 1869. Her father John ran a sugar mill at Manly in the vicinity of the old Edgell Factory. John Dawson became ill and Burnett then managed his mill. When he died the property was sold and Burnett went to work at Richard Newton’s sugar mill at Redland Bay.
In 1875 Burnett took out a seven year lease on all of Hope’s land on the western side of Hilliards Creek. He established his first home on the current site of Whepstead. The estate was known as Trafalgar Vale. Burnett carried on in the sugar industry with the assistance of Kanaka (South Seaislander) labourers. South Sea Island labourers, or Kanakas, were widely used in the sugar industry.
Cleveland Point was an established watering hole for residents of Brisbane and surrounds by 1885, having 3 hotels; the Brighton (Grand View), the Cleveland (Cassim’s) and the Pier (site of Lighthouse restaurant) and Wellington Point soon followed with the Wellington Point Hotel and store which was opened by John C Wilson c1888 in anticipation of the railway arriving in 1889. Most public meetings at that time were held in the hotel which also dates from about 1888. Other community activities included the Wellington Point Athletics Club, which asked for the road in front of the hotel to be cleared as a running track in June 1890.
Of the three Point reserves (Cleveland, Wellington and Victoria) Wellington Point’s is the only one that has had almost no other function since then except as a recreational area (other than during WWII). Redlands Coast was widely known as Sleepy Hollow for 100 years. In 1961 the population was only 9,000 with many residents being farmers. Then in 1968 Leslie Harrison dam opened and provided a reticulated water supply, followed in 1976 by installation of a sewerage system, fixing many drainage problems and allowing for development. The Commonwealth Games in 1982 and Expo ’88 both attracted visitors to the area, then the return of the trains in the late 1980’s as well as a new 4 lane road (built to Chandler Sports Complex for the Commonwealth Games) made the daily commute to Brisbane from Redlands a more attractive prospect
By 1897 the council had purchased land at the end of the point to be included in the area for public recreation. It was a popular picnic and camping spot with tourists and the boating fraternity. Interestingly, a newspaper report of the day indicated that King Island could be accessed via the spit at any stage of the tide except half an hour before and after high tide.
In later years it was reported that many poultry farmers were taking sand from the beach and King Island to provide shell grit. This may partially explain the depletion of the island and the sand spit, although erosion was also a problem. In 1917 the Manly Sailing Club agreed to clear the island of prickly pear, lantana, and ‘all useless timber and undergrowth’ in order to build two toilets on the island.
The King Island and Wellington Point reserves were already popular picnic and camping spots with tourists and the boating fraternity, and demands from these groups no doubt led to the Cleveland Divisional Board taking control. Slowly, more recreational facilities were added to the Point, but in keeping with the times, most were basic. In 1911 trees were planted and a well was dug to supply campers with water. More ambitious proposals, such as the Railway Department’s 1913 plan to run a tramway to the Point due to popular demand by residents, came to nothing. As with the other Points, practically all the facilities at Wellington Point were built as a result of public demand. This usually took the form of lobbying the local authority. A bathing enclosure was built on the western side of Wellington Point in about 1890 and other facilities, such as water closets (toilets) and men’s and women’s Wellington Point Reserve, 1926. New facilities. BCC bathing sheds, soon followed. It is not known exactly where the well was. However this 1960’s photo shows a water tank that was erected for campers just left of the kiosk, and it was next to a bore which supplemented it.
Businessman Alexander James Lamont began subdivision of his property at the end of Wellington Point in 1911 which included Marshall and Champion Lanes. Marshall was one of the first purchasers of the land. He was a Shire Councillor and licensee of the Wellington Point Hotel.
Surrounded by the coast on three sides, Wellington Point Reserve is popular for picnics, launching a boat into Moreton Bay, walking to King Island or the nature track along the mangroves, or simply dining at the waterside restaurant.
Wellington Point is about 22 km south-east of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. Wellington Point is largely residential and adjoins Birkdale in the west and Ormiston to the south east. The locality derives its name from the headland called Wellington Point which extends prominently into Moreton Bay.
Banyan figs were planted at the point in 1924, by 1925 the first kiosk at the point was established and in 1927 the Moreton Bay Figs were planted giving the point many of its most iconic features. An interesting development at the point was the drilling for oil which began in 1931. The drilling was commercially unsuccessful, but it did attract the interest of the Prime Minister and the Catholic Church. 1931 was also the year that town electricity was first provided in the area and the Wellington Point jetty was completed in 1937
Nature Walk
The Nature Walk goes from the bridge to the main Street where an Osprey has built her nest on top of a high pole. The walk follows the mangroves growing along the shore. There are some beautiful houses overlooking the Bay and this area is now prime real estate.
Walking the water to King Island
The 2km King Island Walk round trip is suitable for all ages and is much loved by kids in particular as the retreating waters leave behind a pathway that is usually littered with an array of different marine life such as curling shells and small mud crabs just waiting to be discovered. When we arrived it was High Tide, and as the waters were receding, the sand bank was visible and there were teenagers walking in the water. After we had lunch, walked the track and was going home, the tide was out and then you could walk to King Island and around in the sand.
Australian Traveller creator of my Blog site - ROAD TRIP'N - sharing my passion for road trip adventures exploring Brisbane, South East Queensland and Australia.
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