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The South Stradbroke Island ( Indigenous: ''Minjerribah''), colloquially ''South Straddie'', is an island that lies within
Moreton Bay Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and a ...
in the
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country b ...
n state of
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...
, south of
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the Sou ...
and forms the northern end of Gold Coast. The island is a
locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdiv ...
within the
City of Gold Coast The City of Gold Coast is the local government area spanning the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia and surrounding areas. With a population of 606,774 it is the second most populous local government area in Australia (City of Brisbane being th ...
. In the , South Stradbroke had a population of 41 people. The by sized island is the smaller one of the two Stradbroke Islands and lies very close to the mainland. The island has hundreds of wild wallabies that are usually human orientated. They are also well known for stealing bread from tents and cabins, and joining campers at their fires. One of more than 360 islands within Moreton Bay, the southern end of South Stradbroke Island fronts the Broadwater, and the tip marks the Gold Coast Seaway, only a matter of metres from the mainland at Southport Spit. In the northeast is Tipplers Passage which separates the island from many smaller islands within the bay closer to the mainland. The east coast borders the
Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the Fre ...
. South Stradbroke Island consists mainly of sand dunes, remnant
livistona ''Livistona'' is a genus of palms, the botanical family Arecaceae, native to southeastern and eastern Asia, Australasia, and the Horn of Africa. They are fan palms, the leaves with an armed petiole terminating in a rounded, costapalmate fan o ...
rainforest and
melaleuca ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of ''Leptospermum''). They range in size f ...
wetlands. The island also has unique flora and fauna. The golden wallaby is endemic to the island and the
agile wallaby The agile wallaby (''Notamacropus agilis''), also known as the sandy wallaby, is a species of wallaby found in northern Australia and southern New Guinea. It is the most common wallaby in north Australia. The agile wallaby is a sandy colour, bec ...
, once more common to the region, has now retreated to the island.


History

Even before its formation as a separate island in 1896 the lands and waters of what is now South Stradbroke were sacred to the Quandamooka people who had long inhabited Redland Bay islands. To the north the island is separated by the Jumpinpin Channel from the larger
North Stradbroke Island North Stradbroke Island ( Jandai: ''Minjerribah''), colloquially ''Straddie'' or ''North Straddie'', is an island that lies within Moreton Bay in the Australian state of Queensland, southeast of the centre of Brisbane. Originally there was on ...
. Both islands were originally one island, Stradbroke Island. In September 1894, heavy seas drove aground the barque ''Cambus Wallace'' at a narrow isthmus roughly halfway down the island's length. Salvage activity (including the detonation of a cargo of explosives) weakened the sand dunes along the spit such that by the spring of 1896, storms and tides had created a permanent opening from Moreton Bay to the Coral Sea now known as Jumpinpin Channel. The new tidal channel caused large changes to the channels and islands within southern Moreton Bay. Coastal managers are concerned that eventually one day Jumpinpin may repair itself which may cause problems for tidal waterway management including fish stocks,
dugong The dugong (; ''Dugong dugon'') is a marine mammal. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest ...
habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
,
erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is di ...
and
flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...
. Some land clearing for cattle grazing conducted in the early 20th century has occurred. During the 1950 to 1960s
sand mining Sand mining is the extraction of sand, mainly through an open pit (or sand pit) but sometimes mined from beaches and inland dunes or dredged from ocean and river beds. Sand is often used in manufacturing, for example as an abrasive or in concr ...
was conducted at the northern ocean beach area but reserves were limited. From the 1870s onwards the island's inner shores were used as camp grounds for holders of oystering licences. A small township called Moondarewa with 156 surveyed lots, was established at the island's southern tip. By 1953 the island's natural movement north had washed away most of the settlement. Also once located at the southern end was a small area of vine scrub rainforest that attracted significant bird-life. In 2009, some filming was done on the island for the 2011 film '' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader''. The population of the island at the was 101, but the number of people on the island swells significantly during the holiday season.


Heritage listings

South Stradbroke Island has a number of
heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...
sites, including: * Lot 50WD3686: Grave of Ben Frances Manager * Dux Anchorage (): Dux Hut. * Canaipa Passage, Jumpinpin: Site of the wreck of the Cambus Wallace * 4 Island Street, Currigee: The GravesGold Coast Local Heritage Register - N to Z, pp. 137-138


Accommodation facilities

The island is a tourist destination. There are numerous campsites including an anchorage for the Southport Yacht Club and Dux Campsite, owned by
The Southport School , motto_translation = Let him who deserves the palm of victory bear it. , established = , type = Independent early learning, primary and secondary day and boarding school , denomination = Anglican , headmaster = Andrew Hawkins , fo ...
. Tipplers was purchased by the
Gold Coast City Council The City of Gold Coast is the local government area spanning the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia and surrounding areas. With a population of 606,774 it is the second most populous local government area in Australia (City of Brisbane being th ...
in 2009. Due to ongoing encroachment of the sand dunes, the Council-run Bedrooms Campsite was closed in 2013. The Council has three alternate campgrounds: Tipplers that accommodates up to 100 tents with gas BBQs, a children's play area, and a kiosk that has basic camping supplies including ice and firewood; and North and South Currigee that together accommodates up to 80 tents with access to BBQs, a children's play area, and a mini kiosk for basic camping supplies. Couran Cove Island Resort is located on the north side of South Stradbroke Island Resort; located approximately forty minutes from Surfers Paradise, the Couran Cove Island Resort provides a range of quality accommodation options, fine dining and the opportunity to see native Australian animals in the forest. The resort was established by
Ron Clarke Ronald William Clarke, AO, MBE (21 February 1937 – 17 June 2015) was an Australian athlete, writer, and the Mayor of the Gold Coast from 2004 to 2012. He was one of the best-known middle- and long-distance runners in the 1960s, notable for ...
and originally opened in 1998 as an eco-tourist resort. While the resort is not marketed as such now it does incorporate a number of environmental design features and technologies. There are also several private house located at the southern end of the Island.


Recreation

An conservation park provides access to native wildlife. The park is suitable for hiking and ocean fishing. Other recreational activities include jet ski tours, tube rides, 4WD tours, and speed boat rides. These operate from the Couran Cove Island Resort and Tipplers Passage.


Education

There are no schools on the island, but there are many schools on the mainland. However, accessing those schools would depend on the transport options available from the home location on the island.
Distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually i ...
would be another option.


See also

* List of islands of Queensland


References


Sources

* *


External links

{{South East Queensland Islands of Moreton Bay Surfing locations in Queensland Suburbs of the Gold Coast, Queensland Barrier islands South Stradbroke Island Localities in Queensland