North Stradbroke Island, locally known as Straddie Island, just off of Brisbane, Queensland is one of the best days out I’ve had in Australia– maybe even my favourite place in Australia so far. It’s the second biggest sand island in the world (1st and 3rd also being Queensland’s Fraser Island and Moreton Island).
What’s so good about Straddie Island?
Also described as the Cornwall of Australia, its home to beautiful beaches. When doing the North Gorge Walk you’ll get stunning views of Main Beach. My favourite was Cylinder Beach, the water was as but and clear as the Caribbean. Brown Lake is a sacred Aboriginal Lake which you can swim in. The water is red/brown due to the tea trees surrounding it (leaves your skin feeling super soft when you leave too!). You can also see plenty of wildlife such as Dolphins, Turtles, Stingrays as well as your typical Kangaroos and Koalas (which although are common in Australia are still amazing to see in the wild).
How to get there
If you have a car you can book a ferry and drive around yourself. If backpacking/solo travelling I recommend going on a tour as you’ll then be with other travellers to enjoy the experience with. I booked with Hit The Road tours and couldn’t recommend enough. This tour sells out quickly so you’re unlikely to find it on Get Your Guide or Viator.
What to bring
I’d recommend wearing your swimmers under clothes so you can have a swim at the beautiful lakes and beaches quickly/without having to try and find toilets to change in.
- Big bottle of water
- Camera
- Birkenstocks/Tevas that you can wear on the beach and walking the North Gorge Walk
- Hat
- Suncream
Must do’s in Straddie Island
- North Gorge Walk: this is where you’ll see majority of wildlife: kangaroos, turtles, sting rays and dolphins! I didn’t see sting rays and unfortunately no kangaroos as it was a really hot day. Your best to try late afternoon to catch the kangaroos I was just unlucky (but lucky to see turtles dolphins and a koala at Brown Lake)
- Brown Lake: keep an eye out in the tea trees for koalas!
- Cylinder Beach: beautiful beach for a swim in the afternoon
- Prawn roll at Prawn Shack. Get in quick as their prawn rolls are quick to sell out each day!
