Bribie Island, Queensland

 Bribie Island is about 1 and half hour drive north of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. There are approximately 20,000 permanent residents and up to additional 1,100 people at any one time visit the Island.

Lovely beaches, a few having shallow waters, good weather, wildlife, surfing and fishing attract people there in the winter in truth anytime of the year.  We've been there a few times just on day trips from the Sunshine Coast when on holidays. 

The Island is 34 km long and 8 km wide.

There is a National Park and Recreational Centre, where you will find Kangaroos, Wallabies, Emus, various Snake species, green tree Frogs, Dingos can often be seen venturing from the National Park into the surrounding suburbs.

There is a story about a man called Josh Taylor who was at a beach campground on Bribie Island when he fell into a hole that had been reportedly dug to roast a pig.  Mr. Taylor was airlifted to hospital shortly after the incident but succumbed to his injuries, which means he died.

He fell into the hole when he stumbled and overbalanced as he got out of a chair, with his flailing arms bringing down it's walls on top on him.  He was buried headfirst, with his ankles only barely visible to the rescuers, who tried to pull him out after their attempts to dig him out failed. This sad event happened in 2023.

Bribie Island has no cemetery; however, two people have been buried on the Island one back in 1920 and the other in 1935.

The pathway to the beach

Straight ahead as in first view of the sea and beach on a cloudy day

Looking south above, looking north below

A Fort at the edge of the beach

Car park and picnic area with trees

A lovely picnic area

The Bridge across to Bribie Island

Jetty for fishing.

Bribie Island dotted with red on the map.

Beaches

A bit of trivia on Beaches around Tasmania, Australia.  

Well, there are 11,761 recorded beaches around Australia, and I expect including Tasmania my home State which has over 16,000 recorded beaches.  These 11,761 Australian beaches are spread over 50,000+ kilometer of coastline and ever changing.  That's so many beaches that it would take roughly 226 years to see them all if you visited one per week.  So, the coastline is linked by over 10,000 beaches, more than any other country in the world.

Australia does not charge anyone to swim in the sea, it's free coming and going as one pleases.

There are a few beaches that have pebbles on them, even rocks which is normal but mostly there is sand from coarse to very fine grains of sand coloured from dark to white.

The photos are of a few beaches in Tasmania, Australia.

Beach fishing.

A typical entrance to most beaches with a car park provided.

Burnie, Tasmania, Australia

My parents and I lived in Burnie (North West Coast) when I was about 7 years of age, living there for about 2 or 3 years.  We had a fabulous view to the sea, and we lived in the Police house provided till Dad was transferred to Moonah, a suburb of Hobart. In Burnie I began dancing as in Ballet, Tap Dancing and Highland Dancing. Went to the Catholic School and giggled every morning so hence I along with other girls got the cane every morning.  We used to put onion on the palms of our hands and the cane didn't seem to hurt very much.  Never did we shed a tear, any of us and the cane certainly didn't do us any harm, however, we still laughed to annoy the Nun.  Fun days.

Now Burnie was established in the late 1820's by the Van Diemen's land Company as Emu Bay Settlement, the settlement was renamed to honour a company director, William Burnie, and was declared a town in 1866.  In the 1870's it served as the outport for the tin mine at Mount Bischof.  These days the Port at Burnie is very busy bringing all manner of things and exporting all kinds of things out of Tasmania.  There are also cruise ships that berth once in a while.

The first photo was part of the School I attended now something else.

Two houses not far from Burnie.

Straight at the end of the road is the sea = Bass Strait.

One of the Main Streets in Burnie, Tasmania....the below photo is Maginty's Irish Bar and Hotel on the way out of Burne, or the way in.

Tulip time

It's that time of year again, Tulip time at Wynyard on Table Cape on the North West Coast of Tasmania.  The Festival of Tulips was held October 12, 2024.  The main street in Wynyard is lined with Tulips, there is music, a small market, and eateries.  Many people come to the festival after winter to have a good time.

Table Cape is an extinct volcanic vent dominating the coastline close to the town of Wynyard.  Its 180m cliff drops away into Bass Strait and Table Cape Tulip Farm is perched on the top.

These photos were taken by me on one of our visits to the farm.

Down at Dunalley, Tasmania.

The Hotel at Dunalley was built in 1866 and built by a prominent landowner, the pub burnt down in 1891 and rebuilt somewhat differently. The Hotel is situated at the gateway to the Tasman Peninsular down the southeastern area of the Island of Tasmania, Australia.

Not a big population in this small town.  There is a Canal called Denison Canal which opened for use in 1905 lets the boats pass through from one parcel of land to the other side.

The white daisies are on the banks overlooking the sea, and a bay.

The History of the Black Swan

A link to the history of the black swan. I found the reading very interesting if you too are interested do give it a read.  

These photos were taken in Oatlands, Tasmania, Australia, yes, I was born there years ago!  Yet, I never lived there but live for 8 months in a schoolhouse with my parents in another area not far from Oatlands.  My mother used to put me out in the snow all rugged up to help give me rosy cheeks.  In the December of the year I was born we all moved to New Town a suburb of Hobart where my Dad then 21 years of age joined the Police force until he retired at 65 years of age.  I lived with my parents in many towns and cities within Tasmania until I married.

Oatlands has a lot of history and wetlands, and one can stay next to them if you have a caravan as we did at the time of taking photos.  Everytime I tried to get close to the swans they flew away, so hence these photos are from a distance.

A graphic I made.

Oatlands is where those red marks are.