Just Say No! to Moreton Island, Australia

Oh, heck!  Just say no to Brisbane, Australia, as well (but that’s another story).  Brisbane and particularly Moreton Island were the low light of our Great South Pacific Adventure!

We had booked a day trip to Tangalooma Island Resort on Moreton Island, and we were pretty excited about going.  Moreton Island is the largest sand island in Australia, and the tour information stated that there were 75 activities available at the resort ranging from golf to snorkelling to boating, and lots of bars and restaurants.  I was looking forward to a great day at the beach, a great resort lunch of Moreton Bay Bugs, and working on my tan.  Oh, my!

It was a bit of an adventure just getting to Moreton Island.  A bus picked us up at the hotel, and took us to the transportation terminal, which was actually a pretty efficient way of getting tourists from their various hotels to a central location where busses were waiting to take people to specific locations.  It seemed like the greatest number of people were going to the Steve Irwin zoo–which we should have taken as a sign.

We boarded our bus which took us to the Tangalooma wharf, where we boarded a ferry to the island.  The ferry was very crowded, with the passengers composed of some tourists like us, but the greatest majority was families with young children.  After a ride of slightly more than an hour, we disembarked on a long pier, and began our walk to the resort.  At the pier, staff was friendly and welcomed us to the island. 

Moreton Island Beach

I must admit, the beach was lovely–blue water and lovely white sand–wide, wide sand.  A landscaped, turfed park area separated the beach from the buildings comprising the resort, and there were wide paved sidewalks throughout the resort.  The weather was a little chilly–to cold for me to venture into the water, but it was a lovely day to sit on the beach, relax, and watch the waves.  Except, there were no beach chairs!   Not even a chair for rent! 

So we thought we would sit by the pool–soak up some rays, and they must have chairs there!  There are two pools at the resort–we checked out the first one–small, very crowded, lots of activity in the water–mostly toddlers in diapers.  Not very appealing–so we moved on to pool #2, which was a repeat performance of pool #1.  We decided it was not going to be a pool day.

What next?  Well, there is a golf course!  Let’s play golf!  It took us a while to find the golf course, which really was not a golf course at all–just a net where one could hit balls!  What a disappointment!

Golf Course Moreton Island, Australia

 

 All this fun we were having made us hungry.  We set out in search of lunch.  We found a buffet restaurant, a snack bar, and a restaurant that looked promising, so we went in, or tried to go in–found out that it is only open for dinner–so back to the buffet.  Food was plentiful at the buffet–unfortunately, it all reminded me of a school cafeteria. 

It was a long, long day at Moreton Island.  Sometimes, I have thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a day just to do nothing?”  After spending the day at Moreton with nothing to do, my answer to that question is a resounding, “NO!” 

The highlight of our day was when we saw the ferry returning to Moreton Island.  We immediately walked to the pier to wait for it, and were the first to board.  We wanted to make sure that we didn’t have to stay one moment longer than we had to.

Tips for Travelers to Tangalooma Resort, Moreton Island

• Don’t Go!

Have you ever experienced a dreadful day in an otherwise wonderful trip?  What was it?  Leave me a comment and share your experience!