North Stradbroke Island

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NASA satellite view of southern part of Moreton Bay, Queensland. The long sandy beach on the right faces the Coral Sea.

Eastern wall of the North Gorge, as seen from the Gorge Walk at Point Lookout.

Main Beach, as seen from Point Lookout

North Stradbroke Island is an Australian island in the state of Queensland, 30 km southeast of the capital Brisbane. Before 1896 the island was part of the Stradbroke Island. In that year a storm separated it from South Stradbroke Island, forming the Jumpinpin Channel. The island is about 38 km long and 11 km wide.

The permanent population the island is quite small, but the number of people on the island swells significantly during the holiday season. There is no bridge to the island and the only access is via vehicular or passenger ferries leaving from Cleveland. There are three main settlements on the island. Dunwich is the largest and has most of the services including the school. Point Lookout is on the surf side of the island and is the major tourist destination in the season. The third is Amity Point and is much smaller and a popular fishing spot on the island.

Regular ferry services provide commuting between Cleveland on the mainland and Dunwich on the island.

The native name for the island is Minjerribah but in 1827 Captain H. J. Rous, who had the title of Viscount Dunwich, commander of the HMS Rainbow the first British ship of war to enter Moreton Bay, named the island after his father the Earl of Stradbroke, the town after his title, the entrance channel after himself and even gave his boat a guernsey with the naming of Rainbow Beach.

During the 1960s sand mining operations began impacting on the fragile island environment. As an alternative, development of the island for seaside residential use was mooted and in 1970 a bridge from the mainland via Russell Island was under serious consideration by the Queensland government.

However, the understanding of the island's environmental and native heritage value was on the rise. In 1991 the Australian Government and sand mining companies ACI and Consolidated Rutile Pty Ltd reached an agreement. Half of North Stradbroke Island would become a National Park in return for a guarantee that mining could continue for the life of several mines in high grade areas ¹.

Stradbroke Island's most famous local was Oodgeroo Noonuccal, formerly known as Kath Walker, the Aboriginal poet and native-rights campaigner. She was one of the prime-movers of the movement that lead to the 1997 agreement between the local government council and the aboriginal people of the area claiming rights over the island and parts of Moreton Bay.

The island has the region's oldest archaeological site at Wallen Wallen Creek near Dunwich. Research at the site has provided evidence of human activity beginning at least 22 000 years ago. More aboriginal shell middens can be found scattered behind the sand dunes along the main beach.

More recently, there were some incidents in late 2003-early 2005 in which groups of youths came to Stradbroke (in September and December) for the purposes of partying and for schoolies week. This led to minor conflict with local residents. An upgraded police presence in 2005 saw Stradbroke return to relative calm. Since January 2005, there have been no incidents.

The only public hotel on the island was at Point Lookout. However in January 2006 it was closed for re-development. In the same month a young woman swimming at dusk off Amity Point, was mauled by three bull sharks and later died in a nearby hospital.

Blue Lake

North Stradbroke Island is known for its long clean white beaches in the east, its peacefulness due to a long isolation and its rich diversity of nature varying from whales passing Point Lookout to the many wild orchids in the interior of the island. The island has two freshwater lakes, Brown Lake and the beautiful Blue Lake situated in Blue Lake National Park. At times the beaches and dunes may form lagoons and in some areas there are extensive swamplands.