Redlands Coast

We are staying on the Redlands Coast, approx  30 mins drive from Brisbane CBD and  it's 50 mins drive in the other direction to the Gold Coast.  The land has been inhabited by the Quandamooka peoples for at least 21,000 years.

This coast has it all! Red earth, hence Redlands Coast, that supports farming, winemaking and the area we are in was once all strawberry farms. There's still a strawberry farm here and the strawbs are beauties! 

Then there's the coast, and  at my count 8 off-shore islands you can get to by ferry. Sandcastle making, stand up paddle boarding, kayaking, boating and  fishing are just some of the activities we saw yesterday. 

Then there's the weather and for winter weather it's amazing. I know it gets very hot in summer but for winter temps we like!

There are any number of walking and biking trails, wetlands and conservation areas,   botanic gardens and we have seen Koala signs everywhere so we may be lucky and see a Koala in the bush. 

The birdlife is amazing more than 300 species of birdlife including Ibis, Pelicans, Herons, Cockatoo and Egrets. Where we are staying each day there are up to 20 or more Lorikeets swooping and zooming about with crazy aerodynamics and boy are they colourful. Also a Pied Butcher bird  pair that have the sweetest birdsong.  Will aim to get better bird photos for future blog posts :)

We found a local Sunday fruit and veg market and got three lettuces for Aus$5.00! Bargain.

One adventure on the cards this week is to walk to King Island on a natural causeway that appears at low tide.  It's a 2k walk each way and can be done between the tides. Watch this space :)

This is a boating paradise. There are any number of launching ramps and the parks and public bbq facilities are great and even better they haven't had the stuffing knocked out of them and there's no graffiti that we can see.  It's fantastic to see family groups really enjoying the public beach facilities. We even had a gym workout on one of those sets of gym machines in the park. The equipment all worked,  it wasn't dirty or vandalised and it was fun to exercise is such a magical outdoor space. 

With all our walking and exploring we found a lovely little cafe that looked over the Manley Bay Boat Harbour. Great coffee and good Pecan pie and what a spot to sit and take it all in.

There's galleries and museums and the city still to be explored. So far loving Redlands Coast and Wellington Point, and in Aussie parlance......it's a little cracker!