BRIBIE ISLAND
We took at day trip with our 4wd club to Bribie Island. Our club, Off Road Camping & Outdoor Adventures is a Brisbane based community family adventures group all about off road touring, finding those special places and making the most of it with a group of like-minded people. They Explore, Appreciate, Relax, Socialize... From sitting under a water fall in a rock pool to drinking champagne in the rainforest whatever spot they find there is something great about getting a group together and having fun exploring this great country of ours.
Bribie Island is the smallest and most northerly of three major sand islands forming the coastline sheltering the northern part of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. The others are Moreton Island and North Stradbroke Island. Bribie Island is 34 kilometres long, and 8 kilometres at its widest.
Bribie Island hugs the coastline and tapers to a long spit at its most northern point near Caloundra, and is separated from the mainland by Pumicestone Passage. The ocean side of the island is somewhat sheltered from prevailing winds by Moreton Island and associated sand banks and has only a small surf break. The lee side is calm, with white sandy beaches in the south.
Most of the island is uninhabited national park (55.8 square kilometres) and forestry plantations. The southern end of the island has been intensively urbanised as part of the Moreton Bay Region, the main suburbs being Bongaree, Woorim, Bellara and Banksia Beach.
We hadn’t been on the beaches at Bribie Island in 2016, so we all packed up and headed out in a convoy of about 19 cars for a day trip. Bribie island is only about an hour and a half from Brisbane and probably the closest place that 4wd enthusiasts from Brisbane can get some beach driving action.
We decided to start on the bottom of the inland track and then head north, up and out to the beach at the top of the island. To get to the start of the Inland track, we went over the bridge to Bribie Island, and left at the large roundabout, then through White patch to the start of the sand track. We all stopped here for a little while to let down the tyres.
The inland track quickly changes from bitumen to dirt ruts to soft sand and before you know it we were having fun. Be sure to check if the track is open, because it does get closed sometimes if it is wet or not passable.
The inland track is mostly soft sand and didn't present any problems for our combination of soft roaders and proper 4wd’s. There is a few blind corners that are very soft, so look out for oncoming traffic trying to keep their momentum up, and don't follow others too closely.
Our first stop was the camping ground at Poverty Point, were the water was so tempting. We stopped for a quick lunch at the Lighthouse Reach Day use area, then headed out to the ocean beach and north to the bunkers where the kids were let loose for a while. We had a small wait to let the tide go out a bit before continuing south along the ocean side of Bribie.
Coming back down the beach, there are 4 lagoons which you will come across. Depending on the season/ tides etc these can be impassable, so make sure to do your research on the conditions and tide times before you leave. Also season dependent is the washouts caused by water running out of the lagoons, remember to check derm.qld.gov.au for the latest conditions report.
We continued south until we hit Woorim Beach, then you can get back up off the beach and back onto the black top. There is heaps of off street parking to inflate the tyres before heading back home.
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