BRIBIE BUG BLOG

FOUR ISLANDS RIDE

KARRAGARRA, MACLEAY, LAMB, RUSSELL

26/27 APRIL 2012

Present:

Peter (leader) and Ute Crawford

Harry Fielding

Bob and Joyce Newell

Laurel and Keith Tucker

Mary and Tom Fryer

Tommy Tomiyama

Dave Judd and a friend joined us for Thursday

Posted by Joyce Newell

The ferry was Bay Islands Transit (www.transitsystems.com.au) (passenger ferry, not the barge) and the fare for five trips over two days is the Island Hopper Fare for $23 (or $11.50 if you have a seniors card).  Car parking was available at the commuter car park, alternative parking is the police station at Hamilton Street. The ferry terminal is in the Weinam Creek Marina, BANANA STREET, Redland Bay. UBD ref Map 226 P17. (1 ½ hours from Bribie).

The weather was perfect Thursday – sunny, calm and warm. We took the 10.30 am ferry (it runs about hourly clockwise around the islands, and counterclockwise half an hour after, so you have to be careful to get the ferry going in the right direction). We spent an hour on Karragarra Island in which we easily cycled to both ends of the island, then caught the ferry for the 3 min ride to Macleay Island where Tommy's daughter Midori lives with her family. We rented two houses at the north end of the island, about 4 km ride with moderate hills. The Boathouse at 39 Attunga Street has four bedrooms with en suites (set up as bed and breakfast) and Sirenia Retreat about 1 km further north at 51 Coondooroolpa Drive also has 4 bedrooms, 2 with double beds and 2 with single beds, and a larger kitchen and living area. Linen was included.

For meals, we bought bread and toppings for lunch and bacon and eggs for breakfast from the local supermarket and ate together at The Boathouse (Adele was chief cook for breakfast, assisted by Keith).

In the afternoon most people enjoyed the sun, went for walks, cycled the kilometer or so to the very north of the island to consider a swim (the tide was too far out, and the water too cold) – Joyce took advantage of the kayaks available at the Boathouse and kayaked around the northern end of the Island – you need shoes that can get wet for this, as the bottom is often rocky, and you may have to drag the boat some distance over the mudflats/seagrass if the tide is out. We saw a few mosquitoes, but not enough to be annoying - fortunately, as at times they can be a real problem on the islands.

In the evening we took the Bowls Club courtesy bus to the Bowls Club for a very pleasant dinner, followed by Trivia - which overwhelmed the non-Australians in the group and only partly overwhelmed the others, except for the questions on German and Japanese words. Despite Peter’s desire that return to Sirena Retreat to party on, we returned to our houses for a (not all that) early night.

On Friday 27 April, we woke to a overcast morning, and had some very light rain at times. We had breakfast at the Boathouse from about 7 to 8 am, then caught the ferry to Lamb Island about 9am and then to Russell about 10am. We easily cycled to the NE end of Lamb Island in that time – it was not as hilly as Macleay. On Russell Island we had coffee near the ferry, then cycled to the NE point of, and stopped at the Yacht Club (since Peter is a member of the Bribie Club) and talked to the friendly caretaker on this attractive spot overlooking North Stradbroke Island. Again, there were some hills, but nothing too challenging. We returned by 12 pm, lunched at the bakery or a café on Russell and most left on the 1 pm ferry to be back at Redland Bay about 1.30pm, and Bribie before 3:30.

A great weekend, with a chance to explore some very interesting islands, cycle some mostly gentle hills, and enjoy being together. Total cost was $380 for the houses, plus the food bought for the group – we all contributed $60 for couples and $40 for singles, plus our boat fares, and the BUG covered the extra amount. We didn't have any problem getting our 12 bicycles on one ferry, though there might be a problem with such a large group at busier times - the ferry has the right to limit the number of bikes per ferry if necessary.

Posted by Laurel Tucker

I would like to add that everything ran like clockwork. Thanks to all the organising done by Peter.

As the newspaper article reported, we were also warned by the locals about Angina Hill (a steep hill) we encountered as we left the ferry on Macleay Island. We marvelled at the large number of curlews feeding on the ground as we rode around sightseeing.

Posted by Tommy Tomiyama (Our Visitor from Penang)

I wish to express our thanks to Peter who arranged this fantastic trip

and Laurel who picked up the article of this trip in the newspaper. In addition, thanks to Adele and Keith who arranged a beautiful and delicious breakfast "Hole in Toast" which impressed me a lot with its taste.

We all enjoyed the ride and this trip.