Introduction to the Bay Islands
LARGE sand islands line the eastern side of Moreton Bay, sheltering it from the open ocean. The massive line of dunes is part of the same conveyor of sand carried by the current up Australia's east coast to the Cooloola Sandmass and Fraser Island deposits. In the southern half of Moreton Bay the sand islands protect the numerous smaller sand, mud and volcanic islands and the channels winding between them.
Many of the smaller islands are inhabited. Those that are inhabited have settlements which are no more than small towns. The towns in the middle of the bay are secluded residential areas with residents wanting to get away from it all, and long-term investors awaiting construction of bridges that will never be built. The settlements on the eastern North and South Stradbroke Islands are more geared for the tourism and holiday markets, with resorts and other tourist facilities servicing their relatively remote beaches.
From the mouth of the Nerang River, I head northwards along the western coast of South Stradbroke Island along its length. The south western end of North Stradbroke Island is completely closed to access, so I cut across several uninhabited islands to Russell Island, from where I explore the four inhabited islands of Southern Moreton Bay before crossing over to North Stradbroke and follow its western coast up to the top at Amity Point, 123 kilometres' trek from the Nerang River.
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