12 April 2008

The Moreton Bay Islands of Russell, Lamb, Macleay and Karragarra are just a half hour drive southeast from Brisbane. We were visiting just three of the islands on our bike ride.

Aboriginal people have lived on the islands during the last 20,000 years and European settlers arrived in the 1800’s felling timber and growing crops.

I arranged the social outing for members of the club who wanted to ride their bikes across the islands. Traci, Sandy, Mary, Lynn and John took up the offer, dusted off their “deadly treadlies” and helmets, then slapped on a good slathering of sunscreen.

The weather was perfect as we set off on the 9:00 am ferry. We headed to Russell passing the other island along the way. From the Russell Is jetty, we set of on our first ride down to Canaipa Point and this took us within a few hundred metres of North Stradbroke Island.

We had permission to stop inside the grounds of the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron which gave us the opportunity to take in the wonderful views looking north and south. With North Stradbroke Island looming in front of us, it gave us a perspective of the bay most people don’t see.

We meandered back towards the ferry terminal along the Canaipa Road and detoured around some of the side streets to get some bay glimpses and view some of the local real estate. We stopped for coffee at Aunty Alice’s coffee shop which has great views across Moreton Bay and some delicious fare.

For the adventurous riders there was an extra quick ride south along the central roads which sports some terrific hills. Then we all caught the 11:50am ferry across to Macleay Island.

A half hour ride from Macleay’s jetty, via the local golf course, saw us at Corroboree Park where we had our picnic lunch and watched some sea eagles gliding overhead. This is a great place to stop and soak up the peaceful atmosphere or to catch a fish if that takes your fancy.

After lunch we rode up along the eastern peninsular called Perulpa Island and then a quick ride across to the western and southern sides of the Island before getting the next ferry across to Karragarra Island.

Karragarra Island offered us a quick ride along the foreshore with some beautiful views east back across to North Stradbroke Island. Also it’s not as hilly as the other islands.

After the day’s adventure we caught the ferry back to Redland Bay for a well-earned coffee and ice creams all round.

We all enjoyed the day and a big thanks must go to Traci, Sandy, Mary, Lynn and John who all made the day so enjoyable (even the hilly bits!).

And if you ever get across to Russell Island you have to ask for the BLT at Aunty Alice’s coffee shop – we all now know that it stands for ‘Bloody Lovely Tucker’... don’t we Lyn!!

Stuart Mackay