Up early on Sunday and a short ride for me and Cass down to Cleveland to meet up with everyone for the barge over to Stradbroke Island. Loaded the bikes on and then headed up to the cafe for the 40 minute cruise across Moreton Bay. The weather looked like it was going to be alright before riding onto the barge, but looking over to Straddie we could see some pretty dark looking clouds. Got to the island and rode off the barge then, after a smoko stop, headed for Point Lookout. Then the rain came...only a bit but enough to get us wet and in my case partly fill my shoes - I was wearing shorts.
Pulled into where the Staddie Pub used to be - in the middle of re-developing at the moment so the pub is trading out of demountables. Wandered down to Cylinder Beach from the pub carpark and had a look at the beach then headed back up. On the way we passed a couple of Wanga Trees (don't know their real name) with roots growing down from the main trunk that looked like dicks, big mofo dicks! Man, one tree was hung like Johnny Holmes. Was a bit hard to miss em when their growing right next to the path. Anyway, after the girls composed themselves, we headed back to the bikes and took off into Point Lookout for a bit of a look.
Got to the walk that winds around the heads at Point Lookout and Taffy decided to take us riding up the track - the walking track - a bit. Did part of the walk and man, the views were impressive. The view looking south down the main beach was great - the water was a real aqua and we spotted plenty of dolphins further around the point feeding.
After leaving the point we headed back to the pub and settled in for a few drinks while we waited for Billy to arrive. Rained a bit more but then cleared up and turned into a warm sunny arvo. Spent a bit of time on the deck outside the temporary pub and then decided to move on to 'The Local'- a hall with a beer garden and putt-putt out the front - about 5 minutes back up the road for some lunch. Billy and the boss rolled in just as we got settled. Spent a while there then decided to head for Amity Point - this is where a few bull sharks dined on a young chick all of 8 weeks ago. Not too much to see there as its on the mainland side of the island so we headed into the local club for drinks.
From here some wanted to head home and some wanted to head back to Dunwich for a beer at another club. After riding into Dunwich and seeing the barge not too far out, we headed to the ramp and joined the queue to get on. About 20 minutes later we were on and into the air conditioned cafe on the barge - then the crowds arrived so I took off back down to stand out on deck - amazing how many cars they fit onto those things. Was a relief to stand on the side of the deck in the shade with just enough breeze to keep you cool and watching the water.
As we came into the ramp at Cleveland we floated past a large cruiser stranded on the mudflats - looked wierd just sitting there leaning to one side. The funny thing was there were people on it waiting for the tide to come in.
Was a good day - haven't been to Straddie for years and the roads over there are good. The weather turned out to be ok and we saw a fair bit of the northern end of the island. Only had one minor incident where Tuffy (not Taffy) layed her bike down pulling up in the pub carpark - no damage done. As far as the island on a bike - it really isn't worth going over if you want to do a longish road ride as there are no sealed roads heading down to the southern end.
Pulled into where the Staddie Pub used to be - in the middle of re-developing at the moment so the pub is trading out of demountables. Wandered down to Cylinder Beach from the pub carpark and had a look at the beach then headed back up. On the way we passed a couple of Wanga Trees (don't know their real name) with roots growing down from the main trunk that looked like dicks, big mofo dicks! Man, one tree was hung like Johnny Holmes. Was a bit hard to miss em when their growing right next to the path. Anyway, after the girls composed themselves, we headed back to the bikes and took off into Point Lookout for a bit of a look.
Got to the walk that winds around the heads at Point Lookout and Taffy decided to take us riding up the track - the walking track - a bit. Did part of the walk and man, the views were impressive. The view looking south down the main beach was great - the water was a real aqua and we spotted plenty of dolphins further around the point feeding.
After leaving the point we headed back to the pub and settled in for a few drinks while we waited for Billy to arrive. Rained a bit more but then cleared up and turned into a warm sunny arvo. Spent a bit of time on the deck outside the temporary pub and then decided to move on to 'The Local'- a hall with a beer garden and putt-putt out the front - about 5 minutes back up the road for some lunch. Billy and the boss rolled in just as we got settled. Spent a while there then decided to head for Amity Point - this is where a few bull sharks dined on a young chick all of 8 weeks ago. Not too much to see there as its on the mainland side of the island so we headed into the local club for drinks.
From here some wanted to head home and some wanted to head back to Dunwich for a beer at another club. After riding into Dunwich and seeing the barge not too far out, we headed to the ramp and joined the queue to get on. About 20 minutes later we were on and into the air conditioned cafe on the barge - then the crowds arrived so I took off back down to stand out on deck - amazing how many cars they fit onto those things. Was a relief to stand on the side of the deck in the shade with just enough breeze to keep you cool and watching the water.
As we came into the ramp at Cleveland we floated past a large cruiser stranded on the mudflats - looked wierd just sitting there leaning to one side. The funny thing was there were people on it waiting for the tide to come in.
Was a good day - haven't been to Straddie for years and the roads over there are good. The weather turned out to be ok and we saw a fair bit of the northern end of the island. Only had one minor incident where Tuffy (not Taffy) layed her bike down pulling up in the pub carpark - no damage done. As far as the island on a bike - it really isn't worth going over if you want to do a longish road ride as there are no sealed roads heading down to the southern end.
posted by Beaker at 6:36 AM
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2 Comments:
Man that's some beautiful country.Sounds like a great ride.
Queensland is a great place to ride a bike - not only do we have some good scenery but the weather never gets too cold - I suppose the climate is a bit like Florida in the US.
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