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| Moreton access to the beach |
Moreton island is the third largest sand island in
the world, after Fraser island and Stradbroke island . Again we'd like to talk about a real paradise, located on the coast of South East Queensland, just 58
km from the capital Brisbane. Like Fraser Island, this is a popular destination
for day trippers and in general for fishing and camping lovers. Its nearness to
Brisbane make this place an amazing opportunity of relax for those people living in Brisbane and
suburbs, especially during the hot Australian summer.
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| Moreton "highway" |
The 95% of the island is considered national park and it is almost completely
sand with no roads, so a 4WD is more than needed, especially if you are planning to go in the heart of Moreton Island. Sunscreen, hat, sunglasses and swimming
gear are also more than welcome here and do not forget torch and a right amount of coolies in order to enjoy the
spectacular starry night sky.
In our opinion this place and Fraser Island have
a lot of things in common:
- Firstly, the similar environment: in fact in both places there are sandy dunes, clear
water lakes, shipwrecks, wild forest and huge beaches;
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| Tangalooma shipwreck |
- Secondly, the stunning wildlife: in Fraser Island we saw dingos and whales while
in Moreton we saw a couple of snakes, dugongs and even a shark. If you are a guest of the
Tangalooma Resort you have also the opportunity to hand-feed wild dolphins
in their natural environment;
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A huge DEAD shark on the beach -
DO NOT SWIM IN THE OCEAN! |
- Thirdly, the campsite experience on the sand. We
strongly recommend a minimum stay of two days, in order to get the best from this
experience, and the campsite accommodation,
so you can have the feeling of wild and nature surrounding the island.
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| Our camping site in Moreton |
To explore Moreton Island we chose to do a two-day adventure with a 4WD and a local guide/driver. We did this tour on a weekend of July, the company came to
pick us up around 8 am at our place in Brisbane, and after 1 hour drive and half an hour ferry, we arrived on the island. The tour program followed the main important highlights:
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| Cape Moreton Lighthouse |
- Snorkeling and/or kayaking at the Tangalooma shipwreck
(snorkeling gear was provided by the tour)
- Visit
at the Honeymoon Bay
- Swim
at the Blue Lagoon, a beautiful clear
water lake
- Climb the
Mt Tempest, the highest point of Moreton island
- Explore
the desert sand hills, trying the
sand boarding
- Walk
at the Cape Moreton Lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse of all Queensland
The tour was really good and well organized, meals
and accommodation were included in the price. If we have to choose which one prefer between this
tour and the one we did in Fraser Island, we would probably suggest the
Moreton island adventure, because it was more interesting thanks to the
excellent work of the guide. Besides this, another important reason was the focus
on the activities, in fact even if the tour highlights were exactly the
same of Fraser Island, in Moreton there was also the opportunity to do
snorkeling and sand tobogganing, well-known as sand boarding. The number of
people covered by the tour were different, in Moreton island we were just
10 guys, while in Fraser we were a big group of 40 people.
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| Moreton at the sunset |
So, if you are more interested in meeting new
people and having fun with new mates, the choice you should do is Fraser,
instead if you are looking for exploring and getting in touch with nature, Moreton is the place you should go to. If you like both things and you have spare
time you can of course visit both islands!
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| Beautiful starfishes |
