Moreton Island Hike Jan 2018

DAY 1

After meeting at port of Brisbane we parked the car and boarded the barge. Going through our gear we discovered Seb didnt bring shoes and packed his gear in the oldest military style pack I have seen for a long time.

75mins on the barge had us arriving at the docking area north of Tangalooma resort on Moreton Island. Looking out over the handrails on the barge you get to soak in the beauty of the island. Moreton island has the largest vegetated sand dunes in the world and several ships that were sunk close to the coastline making perfect artificial reefs for snorkeling. 

After the vehicles disembarked we excitedly walked down the gangway and turned left travelling in a northerly direction. Seb quickly found out that pack hiking barefoot on the beach is okay for about 2km and started to get sore heels.

Passing by scores of starfish washed up on the shore of west beach (also known as surf beach) we stopped in under a shady tree and set up for lunch near an old wreck. Goddo in his hammock, Seb laying in the sun we looked like some real backpackers.

With a swim, feed (salmon and noodles), relax and a few chapters in my book we set off again. 

To alleviate some of the pain Seb tried duct taping his heels which quickly fell off and left him barefoot again.

After lunch we hiked about 4km in the heat before a nice family passed by in their 4wd. They quickly looped back around and gave each of us an ice cold bottle of water from the esky. It is the little things like ice cold water that really brighten your spirits, lift your mood and keep you moving through the heat. These small acts of kindness help grow the hiking community and maintain that feeling of family.

Pace continued to slow as Sebs feet got more sore and his old style army pack became increasingly uncomfortable. Seb tried wearing his thongs and continued with them on (for many km) until we came to a water crossing. Goddo and I stripped off our boots and all three of us waded through the waist deep water. 

Goddo and I continued on barefoot with Seb in thongs. About 1km past the crossing Seb cracked it off saying he had enough, so we pulled up in the shade near the driftwood and mangroves. 

After a small break we tackled the last 2km arriving at North point camp sites around 5pm. The camping area was cleared with plenty of space for tents. Equipped with toilets and an outdoor shower it felt a little like glamping. The tents went up quick and we cooked dinner before watching the sunset on the beach.

After the sunset we ate together and discussed the days events. Seb shared his reluctance to continue feeling a little unprepared and ill equipped for the rest of the journey. Everyone climbed into their tents to take stock and prepare for the next days travel.

DAY 2

We woke up at dawn to find Sebs tent gone. He packed up around 3am and headed back to the dock area. At 0730 I received a txt saying he made it back safely in time for the 10am barge. Goddo and I cooked up brekky, broke camp and were back on the trail by 6am

Heading North we travelled around North point. Stopping at the marker and taking in the views of the headland and honeymoon bay. We continued on sticking to the coast as closely as possible rock hopping and climbing. 

Ending up at a point stuck between a rock and a slippery place Goodo felt it was unsafe to travel over. I found a route around by climbing up the bank. We thensplit up and Goddo backtracked to the road and followed it in to the lighthouse.

I continued on rock hopping making my way into honeymoon bay and followed the beach until I had to rock hop around the next headland and into secret beach. The going was tough and slow. Coming into secret beach I came across some birds who nested on the rocks.

After swooping and squarking repeatedly I decided to let them be and climb up the cliff and over them. Climbing with a pack on is way harder and more tiring than I ever thought. The sandstone handhelds and foot holds continued to crumble under force as I struggled up the surface.

After climbing back down only 20m past the birds I continued on the rocky coast line for 1km. From this point on it was very difficult to stay on the rocks due to the cliff faces.  I climbed up and down different cliff faces 5 more times. On the forth time it was too difficult to lower myself down with my pack on. I ingeniously used the rope in my pack to rig up a sling to lower my pack down first. This worked perfectly.

The only problem was with my clumsy feet when I climbed down afterwards. I managed to kick my pack and watch it fall down 5m in slow motion and bounce onto the rocks sending my drink bottles flying.

Picking everything up and checking for damage everything seemed fine (it wasnt) I continued on. The rock fields varied from large sandstone blocks to small near perfect soccer balls. 

My last climbing challenge started at the cliffs when I got to another stopping point. I saw no way around except to go up again. This climb revealed nothing but knee high grass and trees blocking all views. I stuck to the edge because without a map I was certainly lost. The north cliffs are amazing, carved by the wind and the rain over time revealing pure white rocks and deep yellow and ochre colours.

I eventually spied the lighthouse over the trees and left with no other options I made tracks heading straight for it. With not a dry part on me drenched in sweat, 2.5hrs and 2.5 liters of water later I climbed over a fence. There was a little sign on the other side of the fence saying to keep off the vegetation I just trampled over separating the lighthouse and caretaker area. 

After a quick rest, I had a look around and took a few photos at the light house. I then found Goddo waiting for me at an information centre looking rather refreshed. After a catch up we were back on the trail heading for east beach soon to be renamed hell beach. 

It should be named hell beach because of the lack of views and searing heat. One 40km stretch of coastline with no cover, very few cars driving by and no changes in scenery except for the distortion caused by heat waves. The only upside of hell beach is we saw a pod of dolphins swim by, no more than 10m from the edge of the beach. 

In the full sun low on water we trecked till lunch time which conveniently had us stopping at blue lagoon camp ground. 

The summer heat was really kicking our arses so we found a spot in the shade close to a water point. After a feed Goddo rested and I took the short walk (500m) down to checkout Blue Lagoon. At a perfect 21 degrees the fresh water was just what my body called for so I floated around for 30mins.

Packs on and ready to go we decided to see how far we could get that was close to Rouse Battery being our next water point. The beaming sun coupled with monotonous views on hell beach were driving us a little crazy. Somewhere between Eagers Creek and White Rock (28km into the day) a bloke out fishing surprised me with some trail kindness. A quick chat and from the back of his ute he pulls out the most glorious thing a thirsty man could see. Still with ice on the bottle he hands me an ice cold beer. It still may be the best beer I have ever drank!

When we hit the 30km mark Goddo and I needed a rest so we pulled up stumps under a pandanus tree and took stock for the day. Sunburnt, dehydrated and sore we decided that the next campsite was ours for the night and it didnt matter where it was. With that in mind I checked the makeshift map on my phone and didnt like our chances of finding anything anytime soon.

Back out on hell beach we continued at a very laboured pace. Concentrating on left foot right foot with the sun setting over the dunes we stumbled upon Rouse Battery. Finding the water point but no empty camp sites near by we set up our tents on the flatest sand close by. Completely fatigued I had a quick wash and tried to cook dinner. Goddo was almost instantly asleep. 

After boiling the water I attempted to pour it into my dehydrated chilli mac and cheese pouch meal. Adjusting my hands due to the heat I managed to spill boiling water onto my right ankle. Rather than doing the right thing (running the burn under tap water for 15mins) mainly because the water point was 15m away and I was too tired/lazy, I just ignored the pain and ate my dinner.

After my efforts on the cliffs and burning myself with dinner I topped of this somewhat stellar day when I pulled out my kindle to get a couple of chapters in before bed. It looked fine on the outside but after turning it on only the bottom quarter of the screen came on. Cliff 1 - Kindle 0 

DAY 3

Surprisingly we woke up feeling unusually refreshed and after a delayed start, thanks to me lounging around not wanting to do too much. We ate, broke camp and were back on "Hell Beach" by 0730. The sun was already beaming down a scorching 35 degrees and the views hadn't changed one bit. Sticking to the hard sand closest to the break made it easiest to walk. I set out a cracking pase averaging above 5.5km/hrs.

This was great until about 4.5km in when the heat brought down Goddo. We had a break smashed down some water and he called it there. Taking the smart option we flagged down a nice couple who were willing to give him a ride into the closest town area of Kooringal.

With Goddo safe in the car I continued along around the southern tip of the island. The southern tip has a huge sand bar which connects to Reflection lake. The lake area used to be called the timbers because the woods were so dense and ran right up to the ocean. Now they are more like inconvenient toothpicks blocking my way around the coast making me walk in knee deep water. Its all worth it as Reflection lake is a very picturesque spot, blue water surrounded by trees!

Heading further around the point I ran into the same couple who picked up Goddo and the reassured me he was fine. The dropped him off at... The pub! Knowing beer was in the distance I kicked it up a gear and was around the southernmost point in 1.5 hours. I just had to circle around the bay filled with tiny bait fish and wade across the entrance to Kooringal. Sounds simple but it took another 1.5 hours. So after a total of 14km I arrived at the 'Gutter Bar'. Goddo greeted me with an ice cold Great Northern stubbie and a can of coke. 

The stubbie lasted 2 mouthfulls and the coke 4. It was 11am by then and I was super hungry, between 1100 and 1430 I managed to eat 1kg of prawns, a chicken burger and chips, an ice cream, 3 beers, a coke and 3l of water.

All the time we had, let us meet a few of the locals who gave us tips and tricks about the island. There is a freshwater spring in the bow of one of the wrecks. We were told we also had to stop at campsite 1 opposite the oyster farm for the best views of the little sand dunes. We even met a little green tree snake chillin in the garden.

Just before we set off a family came in and asked where we were planning on camping for the night. Lucky for us they were staying by the big sand dunes right next to our last water supply for the journey. 

After a 3hr trek through soft sand and 4wd tracks we arrived at the Big Sand Dunes.

Then just around the corner we had proof that Aussie trail angels exist.. Met with smiles, beer, fresh oysters and great conversation our night was set. We showed them how we set up our tents and our dinner for the night before pulling up a chair and watching the sunset. Time flies when you are having fun because next thing me knew it was 10pm and we were writing our piece on the commemorative table before climbing into bed.

DAY 4

Feeling very refreshed after a night with great company, we were up just after dawn broke. We ate breakfast (oats, granola and powdered milk) down at the beach overlooking an unusually high tide and enjoyed a cup of tea. Looking down the track we knew that shoes would be worthless on today's journey.

Back on the trail by 0640, we were stomping our way through soft sand finding it hard to make traction. We tried close to the scrub and found no joy. Next we tried in ruts dug out by cars and had the same issues as the day before, not enough space to put two feet together! After we found the occasional hard patch of sand we spent the rest of the morning walking through the water.

Being so close to the water we could see a family of stingrays travelling up the channel chasing bait fish. We also had a sea eagle and various other birds fishing near by.

With all our electronics either flat or low on charge we were unable to gps track the last segment to Tangalooma and the barge. However, Goddo sent me a video explaining how he was just following in my exact footsteps through the sand, letting me do all the hard work. 

With the tide so high it turned an old steam vessel into the perfect picture moment. 2.5hrs in we rounded Tangalooma point and could see the resort and our final destination off in the distance.

We quickly arrived and went straight to the resort shop grabbing a drink and a few souvenirs. 

Walking through the resort we stopped by the old whale flencing station that Tangalooma is famous for. Australia has a rich whaling heritage but luckily we learnt from our mistakes. Now Australia makes more money through whale watching then we ever did hunting them.

We made it to the docking area just as the barge pulled in. Feeling a real sense of achievement we boarded the barge and took the 75min journey back to the car.

Sun, sand, surf, mates and great times. What a way to spend four days!

See you on the trail - Adventure hiker Gaff.