Sand Hills, Moreton Island

[Kyle]From Newport Marina, we took two easy days to sail across Moreton Bay to the Sand Hills at the southern end of Moreton Island. As the name betrays, Sand Hills is a section of the island dominated by giant sand dunes.

Views from the anchorage - Sand hills one way and the skyline of Brisbane the other (in the distance at sunset).

The next day, we went ashore. After struggling up the first dune, sliding two steps back for every three forward, we emerged at the ridge top to a sweeping landscape of sand and sculpted rock. Apart from the odd scraggly bush trying to eke a living out of the landscape as a big clue, most of the scenes could easily have been mistaken for NASA lander photos from Mercury or Mars.

It was a bit of a walk between the two dune systems, but beautiful, and Kyle helped a fellow boater with an outboard issue along the way.

Big Sand Hills - Maryanne's attempts to sand board didn't work out so well

Walking back, there was plenty of wildlife to entertain

The local pied oyster catchers (birds) also seemed keen to climb among the Little Sand Hills

We spent the whole day crawling over the dunes and gasping at each new vista that appeared. Once we had our fill, we half jumped, half slid back down to the beach for the dinghy ride home.