We set our sights on Moreton Island and spent the whole day sailing. I think it ended up being a 9 hour sail – pretty crazy when you can see the island in the distance and it doesn’t seem that far away.

We had a smooth-sailing journey (love that) and I spent most of the day in the hammock up the front. At one stage, there were dolphins riding the bow wave. They scared the crap out of me!

We would have liked to stop at the Gutter Bar, but the tide wasn’t right and we would have risked getting beached on the shoaling. It would have also added 2 hours to our journey, which we couldn’t really afford.

We arrived at just after dark and anchored off Tangalooma Point.

Oh my god, it was so rough that night. The boat was getting knocked around in the currents – the kind of motion that once you’ve woken up, you can’t really get back to sleep. So far, I’ve been okay in rough currents and not experienced motion sickness, but when I got up in the night and was getting knocked around I felt a bit queasy.

In the morning, we moved over to the shelter of the wrecks for calmer water.
The water was crystal clear and absolutely stunning. I was so tempted to swim, but it was a tiny bit cold for me. If it wasn’t for the wind, I would have been jumping in!

We headed into shore to look around. There are signs everywhere stating only resort patrons are allowed past the beach – they don’t want boaties and campers in there (you need to show your ferry boarding pass when entering eateries). Considering the restaurants were near-empty when we strolled through, I think they should reconsider. Oh well, we have plenty of food on the boat!

Tangalooma would be nice if you were heading over for a weekend away, staying at the resort and chilling out. Everything is catered for but it is very resort-y and doesn’t really give the relaxed island vibe I was expecting.

In the evenings, wild dolphins come into the shallows for a feed. On this sign, they have a record of the dolphins’ attendance!

Back to the boat for lunch – can you tell I’m pretty comfortable on water?

In the afternoon, we watched the sun go down and headed in to see the dolphins.

The atmosphere was much more lively once the sun had gone down – plenty of punters about and the trees were lit up.

The dolphins came in and after an appetizer and introduction, punters were able to feed them by hand. We watched the dolphins play around for about an hour and left when the feeding began. There were lots of families with young kids – this is a long and late experience, so make sure you’re well rested before signing up!

We had a much calmer night thank God!

The next day, we headed north to Bulwer, to get away from the crowds.

We went for a walk on the beach, had a look around. This is more the island vibe I was expecting.
While the water is too cold for a swim in the day, it is quite refreshing in the afternoon.

After dinner, we headed on shore for a look. It was cold, so I dressed warm in my trackies – only to have to roll them up to get out of the tender.

This area was much quieter and we could see the cars drive off the ferry onto the beach. Quite a few campers came down to the becah for sundown.

We found this cute shop/bar/restaurant which is exactly what I expected to find on a tropical island.
Sadly, it was closed when we got there.

If I go back to Moreton, I would like to explore more of this area.

Next stop, Caloundra!