Moreton Island

Hello year 2014!

To celebrate, we went on a day trip to Moreton Island, the third largest sand island in the world :) The ferry ride there has recently gone up in price (60 bucks), now incorporating a compulsory lunch voucher of 20 dollars to the local eateries (which are mostly quite sub-par). Oh well, that's life.

On the Island it's mostly about waters sports, beach walking, hanging out on the beach or going inlands to explore. There's a special place hidden in the inland, though, if you take a bushwalk up the hills from the right side beach of the port :

The most special place is in the end of the trail, opening unexpectedly after some thicker passages, and white sands:

Crazy, a vast inland desert, with white dunes almost as far as eye can see. A really unexpected, weird sight to behold at first. The spot is quite popular for sand-boarding - you can slide down the tall hills of sand with a thin veneer board, covered in candlewax for less friction - of course, we had to try:

A few pro-tips : bring water and glasses / goggles to prevent immiment death and sand in your eyes

After the desert hurdle, we also went to snorkle around the Tangalooma shipwrecks - a place supposedly quite known for interesting derelict pieces of warships + fish to see. In reality, the place is quite difficult to see in practice, as the currents are really strong. We literally had to struggle to get back to the shore. Phew!

All in all, a nice day with action and sunshine :) On the way back at the port, we saw also some pelicans and a group of dolphins, who come for dinner to the port every day at 4pm. It's funny - they've apparently done so like clockwork for the last 15 years!

And for the whole day, a strange, ominous veil of Smoke enveloped the island, as there was a large bushfire quite close in the nearby Stratford island.