A Day on Moreton Island

I had been meaning to book a day trip to Moreton Island for so long. I finally decided to go for it the Tuesday after Easter. The kids would be back at school and it wouldn't be too busy. The bus was to leave at 6.30am, which meant my alarm would be going off at 5am.

I was up and dressed remarkably quickly, especially seeing as I hadn't slept that well. I'd packed my bag the night before and so all I needed was breakfast. I only had enough milk for my porridge, so no cuppa. I grabbed my water and sandwich from the fridge and headed out the doorm

Despite consulting the map several times, I still managed to get confused and walk the wrong way. Luckily, I had a feeling I'd mess up so left early. My little mishap did get me a quick glance at the sunrise though.

Going in the right direction, I arrived just on time, at 6.15. There were only a few people waiting and I leant against the wall earwigging a conversation between some rather to do English girls. One was boasting that Daddy had insured her on the "big car" and paid for blah blah blah. How the other half live ey.

The bus did not arrive by 6.30. It only just pulled up at 6.43. And we were still sitting in the carpark at 7am. Little bit annoying, I could have had a lie in! We were finally on the move, heading out towards the Port of Brisbane and the MICat Ferry that would be taking us over the water to the 2nd largest sand island in the world.

We all clambered off the bus at the terminal and met our tour guides for the day. The schedule had been changed, we were lucky to get longer on the island, with the ferry leaving there later than usual. We had been given funky coloured wristbands for the guys to identify us and let loose on-board.

I climbed to the top deck straight off and flund a good seat for a spot of dolphin watching. The weather was glorious, the sun was shining down, reflecting off the water, and there was a nice breeze keeping me cool. I didn't get to see any dolphins though.

We arrived on the island, pulling up alongside the Tangalooma Wrecks. These were a collection of old whaling boats that had been submerged so long, an artificial reef had formed. I was looling forward to exploring them, the water was mega clear and meant to be warm too!

A few more guides met us off of the ferry and we followed them along the beach. At Sunset Safaris HQ, we were then split into two groups. One would be heading into the desert first, the other into the sea. I chose the sea group and we were told we'd be kayaking first, in awesome transparent boats!

I paired up with Ticihana from Brazil, we were the only two that had kayaked before. We chose the super light and speedy kayak, because why not. Amongst our group were a British couple, a group of four from Japan and about twelve from China and Korea.

We did pretty well for ourselves, and were quick enough to do a lap of one wreck with Solomon and the Brits before the others had even worked out how to turn. The sea was so calm we could take a break whenever we wanted, and just drift with the wind and waves. This was the life.

The coolest thing about the kayaks was obviously that they were see-through. This was great for spotting fish, and also being able to see the boats below made it easier to avoid any bumps and scrapes. We were out for about 45mins before being called back in to shore.

It was time to get kitted out for snorkelling. I'd be wearing flippers for the first time, along with fancy gloves and a snorkel. We all also had to wear wetsuits. I liked all my stuff, it fitted well and it was all orange.  We then met Solomon and Rex by the water's edge and put our flippers on. This was funny and actually quite difficult, I had to remember to walk like Michael Jackson, or I'd fall over.

To get back over to the wrecks, we had to hold on to a strap on a flotation board thing, lie down in the water and get towed by Jason on his jet ski. I'm now one step closer to riding one of those bad boys myself.

Looking down into the water, I couldn't believe my eyes. I had never seen so many fish, all swimming beneath me without a care in the world. The three main fish we were told to look for were butter tipped bream, bream and sergeant majors. It wasn't hard to find them, we were surrounded! I was snap happy with my camera, thrilled I could capture this experience.

Swimming amongst the wrecks, I saw lots of other wildlife; different corals, smaller schools of fish, and even a starfish. I swam to nearly every boat, joining Rex when the first group were towed back. He had spotted a shark sleeping in one of the ships.. I dived down but couldn't see anything, it was too dark.

Soon Jason was returning to take us back onto dry land. Taking my wetsuit off, I didn't realise how cold I was. I quickly returned my gear so I could stand in the sun to warm up and dry off. The other group returned, buzzing from their sand boarding and we tucked into lunch. It was make your own wraps, with salad, different hams and cheese. I also had my first crisps since Lent began.

We had half an hour to chill, so I found a nice patch of sand and enjoyed a little sunbathe. It was then our turn to pile onto the chunky 4x4 bus with Dan and Solomon. It was a very bumby ride, we even had to stop and rev a few times as the sand was so soft. Dan kept us amused along the way, with some very funny anecdotes.. although I didnt believe half of them.

We made it to The Desert and the guys started to hand the sandboards out. They had to be kidding? They were no more than tiny pieces of laminate flooring. I wasn't looking forward to this. Myself and Thiciana paired up again, we really didn't want to hurtle face first down a dune. We climbed higher and higher through the desert, up to the top of a steep dune. No way. Not a chance. I really didn't want to do it.

Dan wouldnt take no for an answer and started waxing my board after the first few brave souls had descended. What the hell, if I wasn't here to challenge myself and try things out of my comfort zone, then why was I here?? I laid myself on the board, lifted my elbows, thumbs and legs, closed my eyes and went for it.

I have to admit, it wasn't all bad. Sure, I got sand in my eyes and mouth, but it was okay. The adrenaline rush made it worth it. So much so, that I voluntarily climbed back up the incredibly dune to have a second go.

I was the last one to sandboard back down the slope, not going as far as last time but feeling faster. The walk back to the bus was more effort. My calves were screaming from walking up the dunes. We got back a lot easier, although there were lots of cars heading into the desert. Probably to watch the sunset. It's amazing how quickly they could move once they saw the massive bus coming their way.

A quick desand before afternoon tea, a combination of more crisps and dips. All of a sudden, there was a commotion on the beach. Someone had been fishing and caught a sting ray by accident. A crowd gathered as we watched him cut the line and flip the sting ray to release him back into sea.

Then we could all relax as we watched the sunset. The colours were beautiful, the sky lit with yellows, oranges and reds. We watched the last of it from the ferry, as we made our way back to Brisbane and back home.

What an incredible day, I was so lucky with the glorious weather and lovely group. I'm really glad I pushed myself to do the sandboarding, and I'm looking forward to more underwater adventures further up the coast.