Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
is essential for getting around, but tours are run from the resort. Permits for access
(A$30/US$20 per vehicle) and camping (A$4/US$2.60 per person or A$16/
US$10 for a family of six per night) are available from National Park rangers and
ferry operators.
GETTING THERE & GETTING AROUND
The high-speed catamarans
Tangalooma Flyer
and
Tangalooma Express
(
&
1300/652 250
) leave Bris-
bane's Pinkenba wharf at Eagle Farm twice daily, at 10am and 5pm (10am and
2pm on Sat). The trip takes 75 minutes. Coaches pick up from Roma Street
Transit Centre at 9am daily to connect with the Flyer and will pick up from city
and Spring Hill hotels on request. Return transfers leave Tangalooma at 3:30pm
daily except Saturday, when they leave at noon and 4:30pm. The return fare is
A$56 (US$36) adults and A$28 (US$18) children 3 to 14. The
Combie Trader
vehicular and passenger ferry (
&
07/3203 6399;
www.moreton-island.com)
departs from Scarborough on the Redcliffe Peninsula for Bulwer daily except
Tuesday. The trip takes about 2 hours and costs A$27 (US$18) adults, A$24
(US$16) students 16 and over, and A$16 (US$10) children 5 to 15, round-trip
for walk-on passengers. The cost to take a four-wheel-drive and up to five pas-
sengers is A$125 (US$81). Day trips operate on Saturdays (11am-4pm) and cost
A$20 (US$13) adults, A$12 (US$7.80) children, and A$72 (US$47) family of
four. Combie Trader also runs four-wheel-drive trips to the island on Mondays,
Fridays, and Sundays. The cost of A$85 (US$55) adults and A$60 (US$39) chil-
dren under 14 includes the ferry crossing, tour, and lunch. Timetables are subject
to change so check first.
ST. HELENA ISLAND
For 65 years, from 1867 to 1932, St. Helena was a prison island, known as “the
hell hole of the Pacific” to the nearly 4,000 souls incarcerated there. Today, the
prison ruins are a tourist attraction, with a small museum in the restored and
reconstructed Deputy Superintendent's Cottage.
GETTING THERE & GETTING AROUND
Entry to the island is by
guided tour only. Excellent tours, most involving a re-enactment of life on the
island jail, are run by
AB Sea Cruises
(
&
07/3893 1240;
7am-7pm daily) on
the launch
Cat-o-Nine-Tails,
leaving from Manly Boat Harbour. The cost is
A$65 (US$42) adults, A$55 (US$36) concessions, A$35 (US$23) children 4 to
14, and $139 (US$90) family of four. The tour leaves at 9:15am weekdays,
returning at 2:15pm, and 11am to 4pm on weekends and public holidays, and
includes a box lunch.
St. Helena By Night Ghost Tours
are run on some Fri-
day and Saturday nights. They include dinner, a dramatized version of life in the
prison, and a few spooky surprises. Night tours cost A$75 (US$49) adults, A$40
(US$26) children, and A$159 (US$103) family of four. Bookings essential.
WHERE TO STAY ON THE ISLANDS
Moreton and South Stradbroke islands have resorts, while North Stradbroke has
plenty of existing low-key accommodations and is likely to have a major resort
development in the next year or so. The smaller islands offer a variety of motels,
cabins, motor-home parks, and camping grounds.
Couran Cove Resort
You'll be lucky to find a more peaceful
resort than this one, which is an island idyll in a class of its own. On South
Stradbroke Island, there are no cars, with everyone getting around on foot or
bicycle or silent electric shuttle. And whether you're a beach or bush person,
Finds
