Stradbroke Island

Sorry about the late posting of this but by the time I got back from the Gold Coast last night I was absolutely knackered! I could have used another day off just to recover from the weekend!

As I wrote in this post there was a shark sighting while I was at the Gold Coast. Here is a couple more pictures that I took, as the first post about it was posted from my phone.

Red and white plus the red flag is up because of the shark sighting

Red and yellow flags are back up, which is good as there is some sort of competition or something going on.

It's just like traffic lights in a way.

After I had killed some time at the beach (and about half an hour at a stationary shop), I could finally go get my ticket for the trip to South Stradbroke.

As we were going to the north part of the island, Mclarens landing, the trip there took about an hour. I was a bit worried that we wouldn't get enough time on the island since we didn't leave Main Beach until 11.45 and we were going to be back by 4.15. It was enough time though, for a day trip anyway. Although it would have been nice to have a few days there to be able to explore the whole island.

We had a BBQ lunch a few minutes after we arrived. I hope there wasn't any vegans on the island as there wouldn't be anything for them to eat. Not much to choose from for vegetarians either. As we were eating a wallaby came over and wanted to taste our food. With the amount of tourists on the island I guess the wallabies gets used to being close to humans.

After the lunch I went for a little exploring, I wanted to see more of the island than just Mclarens landing, and I also wanted to see if I could get to the east side of the island. Most of the walk was through a forest, slightly creepy, but only because of the few spiders I saw. Apart from the rustling in the bushes made by the wallabies (I think) it felt like I was all alone on the island. I'm glad there wasn't anyone walking with me as I got a spider in my hair at one point and was jumping around like a mad woman trying to get it out!

I had been walking for a while and was considering turning and walking back when I got to a sign saying Surf Beach, Score!

There was still a fair bit to walk though, and this trail was even more creepy, as there were fences up for no apparent reason. Maybe "private" property? " " around the private because all of the island is owned by the government. The walk from the sign also seemed a lot harder, but that was probably because I didn't have the  protective shade of the trees anymore.

The beach was SO worth it though. It was absolutely beautiful! I had to walk up a sand dune to get to the beach, and as I was standing on top of it I couldn't see a single person. When I walked down to the sea I could see a group of 3 or 4 people in the distance, but that was it. Except for that small group it was as if I had the whole island to myself!

When I headed back to Mclarens Landing I saw a GIANT lizard. Easily as long as my arm! Unfortunately it ran into the bushes and hid when I came, so I only saw it for a second. I wish it had stood still for a little bit longer just so that I could have gotten a closer look at it, and maybe a picture.

So in all I had a nice trip down to the Gold Coast. The hostel I stayed at, Surfers Paradise YHA at Main Beach, was nice, it was right next to Mariner's Cove, where the boat left from. I also met some nice people at the hostel, but nothing like in Sydney, but I guess that's because I stayed longer in Sydney and went on hostel-arranged outings.