Australian Holiday Retreat on a Brisbane Island
Cheap Bribie Island Accommodation Means Great Aussie Holidays
Feb 12, 2009
Although Bribie Island belongs to the Moreton Shire, along with bayside Redcliffe and the town of Caboolture, it is so close to Brisbane and so popular with Brisbane residents, that it is often seen as a Brisbane island.
Getting to Bribie Island
The visitor sated with shopping in the Brisbane Central Business District may dream of escaping to an island and soaking his or her blistered feet in the surf. It’s do-able! An hour in a car is all it takes to get to Bribie Island, and there’s a bridge, so no ferry to catch.
Public transport from Brisbane is also possible. There aren’t many islands in the world that you can get to by train and bus. An off-peak return daily ticket from Brisbane Central, connecting with the Route 640 bus costs just $10.50!
Pumicestone Passage
A real island? It certainly is. Bribie Island is separated from the mainland by the Pumicestone Passage and extends north from Brisbane up to Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast. The booklet Experience Brisbane records that there are 360 species of shorebirds in this protected marine park, plus turtles, dolphins and a permanent population of dugongs (sometimes referred to as sea cows), which live on the vast beds of sea grass.
Activities on Bribe Island
With 10 named beaches, opportunities for windsurfing, boating, fishing, walking and surfing abound. The ‘inside’ of the island – the Pumicestone passage side - offers calm water for boating, plus views of the amazing, stark Glasshouse Mountains . A mere 10 minute drive away, the ‘outside’ of the island has surf beaches and nothing but Pacific Ocean to the horizon.
Other attractions include sand dunes, wetlands, lagoons beside the beaches and freshwater streams. Tourists should be aware that there are some dingos on Bribie, and they should be treated as wild animals, not domestic dogs. Most of the island is uninhabited reserve and pine plantations – only the broader southern portion has been urbanised. There are excellent facilities, a major shopping mall with supermarkets, coffee shops and eateries, schools, doctors – everything the tourist wanting a relatively quiet life could need.
Bribie Island Accommodation
Pleasant holiday rental apartments are available for $260 per week- not per night! Upmarket accommodation, for example the 3 bedroom Surfside Apartment is currently advertised at $500 per week. For a large family or group of friends that's an exceptionally cheap holiday.
The super luxurious 'On the Bay[" Resort with 10 metre lap pool and balconies with sea views,is offering low season specials - 7 nights 1 bedroom apartment with complimentary wine, chocolates and lunch voucher for $995.
The Fairways Golf and Beach Retreat, with 18 hole golf course, natural bushland setting and walkway to the beach, has a range of accommodation from 1 bedroom apartments ($770 per week) to 4-bedroom penthouse suites ($2100 per week). Occasional special deals will even beat these prices.
With prices and a glorious natural environment like Bribie, it's remarkable that people are travelling hundreds of kilometres and spending thousands to go elsewhere.
Why not Bribie?
With a wide variety of bargain accommodation from resorts to caravan parks, Bribie Island deserves more tourist attention. The international or interstate visitor who wants to make Bribie a quiet base from which to visit both Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, will find that their island home is only 45 minutes from Brisbane International Airport.
For a potted history of Bribie Island, see this Suite101 site.
