Bribie Island to Moreton Island Return

This is one of my favourite day paddles, even better when you can stay a few nights on Moreton!  It involves a 16 km crossing, including the main shipping channel into Brisbane, so around 2 hours each way.

You need to watch your tides as there are a number of points where the tide runs between 3-5 knots at peak flow, and in heavy swell, the banks on the other side of the shipping channel will have breaking waves on them.

We were on the water around 6:40 am and at Bulwer by 8:45 am, pushing into a slight headwind and the remains of the swell generated by Cyclone Marcia and the subsequent low pressure systems which past by last week.

The wind dropped off near the shipping channel and we were left paddling in glassy conditions for part of the crossing.

This seems to be a replacement beacon (opposite the M2 beacon) which makes the shipping channel wider than it has been in the past.  The shipping channel markers are a little north of a direct line to Bulwer, but it is advisable to cross at the markers so you know where you are in terms of the channel.

We took some shots of the Bulwer Wrecks before heading into Bulwer for second breakfasts (closed on Tuesdays!).

We headed around to the North shore of Moreton for a surf after breakfast just to ensure we were completely exhausted before crossing back to Bribie giving us 42.7 kms of paddling.

We saw plenty of dolphins in the water today as well as a shark which jumped out of the water a couple of times creating a large splash on the surface - couldn't make out the species as all we saw was the silvery grey colouring and the resultant splash. 

Swan Bay and Jumpinpin Bar

We had an early morning start from Cabbage Tree Point at Stieglitz to wind our way out to Jumpinpin Bar for a surf and a wander around Swan Bay.  After a week of south easterly trade winds around 15-20 knots, the bar was a mass of white spray and mountainous lumps of moving water a long way out to sea so we took the safer option and surfed the slowing tidal race and the break on the inside bank which formed as the tide dropped.

The surf was a bonus as the main point of today was to have a paddle and an explore around Swan Bay which is situated on the south end of North Stradbroke island.

The bay is very shallow and partially empties at low tide.  We did in fact come across a few swans in the bay but they weren't feeling particularly photogenic.  This is a protected zone which doesn't allow any motorised boats so it is worth a visit on the high tide - and maybe a paddle up the mangrove lined creek (north western corner) if you feel inclined.

We were happy to wander along the peninsular which forms part of the bay and view the amazing array of wildlife that either call this area home or were stopping by on their yearly migration.  The bay would appear to be full of stingrays that feed on the yabbie banks on the west side of the peninsular.

We walked/paddled our kayaks across the entrance of the bay to walk over to the surf side of the island to have a closer look at the action that was happening on the outside banks of the bar.  We may have got  little distracted along the way, but it was a very scenic location - certainly worth a visit if the conditions for off shore aren't attractive!

The paddle was around a 27 km round trip which includes the surfing and bit of exploring in and around the bay. Thanks to Phil and Jono who joined me for the kayak/photography session.

Mud Island on a spring high tide

A couple of us headed out to Mud Island with a plan to paddle into a 15 knot SE headwind against the tide and then after exploring some of the lagoons and creeks on the island, paddle/sail home with 10-15 knots pushing us home.

Taking off from Shorncliffe, you take an easterly tack to get to Mud Island, crossing the Brisbane Channel at the "Coffee Pots".  Strangely enough the SErly had more south in it so we ended up with a beam wind assisting us out to the island and a tail wind on the way home - who am I to complain!

We explored a tidal creek from the north side of the island before being chased off the island by a swarm of overly friendly mosquitoes.  With some more tide and a lot of bug spray we could have potentially joined up with some water from the southern side of the island - but there were a lot of mangroves in the interior with little in the way of a  clearly defined channel.

We beat a hasty retreat and headed around to the eastern side of the island where we paddled over a coral bank into the interior of the island.

We saw a lot of turtles and fish and think the crabs would be well fed since they started dragging whale carcasses onto the island to decompose. We didn't come across any whale bones but assume they were in the lagoons on the western side of the island which had the best access for larger boats.

A nice 41 km paddle.