Double Island Point Over The Years

Double Island Over the Years

We have done loads of Double Island trips over the past fifteen years and will continue to add stories to our blog.

Shayne’s Recount

Double Island became our camp site of choice once we purchased a Jeep. It wasn’t too far from Brisbane and we headed that way whenever I escaped my hospital roster. The short ferry trip over the river and the half hour drive on the beach to the camping zone made it feel more remote than it was. The lack of phone signal added to that and meant the outside world was left behind.

This was a time way before any drawers, fridges or kitchen setup at all. We camped as God intended – with our food in plastic boxes and an eskie and we squatted to do our washing up in a tub on the floor. We had never even heard of an Oz Tent however it quickly became apparent that some alternative to our large and difficult to assemble tent was required. When we did find out about the Oz Tent we rationalised it as cheaper than a divorce! Over the years we accumulated a bit of a set up and the Jeep got some upgrades like drawers and a fridge, but back then it was just the basics.

We spent many weekends out at Double Island by ourselves or with friends. On one such solo trip I woke up in the early hours of the morning as Peter unzipped the tent and stepped out for a wee. Unbeknownst to him I slipped out for the same reason. What I didn’t realise was that he didn’t notice this . As he stumbled back into the tent I came up behind him and laid a hand on his back. Given that he thought I was still in the tent sleeping soundly, this understandably startled him – his scream (sorry, his manly bellow) echoed through the camping grounds. Once his heart rate had normalised and I had stopped laughing we finally got back to sleep.

On another memorable occasion we camped with a group of friends. This included a slightly gruff, older fellow with a dry sense of humour who we will call Cliff. Our neighbours the first evening turned out to be a very rambunctious bunch. There was doof-doof music and there were burn outs on the beach until the early hours… not exactly the peace and quiet we were expecting. The next morning Cliff was brushing his teeth. One of the youths next door gave him a chirpy “Morning buddy!”. “I’m not your f###ing buddy”, Cliff growled menacingly, causing the youth to back away carefully. That evening was much more peaceful!

On another weekend we joined a big group as we knew a few of them. We were set up on the windy flat grassy area, with almost no surrounding greenery. Most people hung out by the fire but as an introvert,  I needed some time out so I headed back to our tent and sat reading out the front. We had an awning with side panels up, so I couldn’t be seen except from the beach in front. As I read, the hippie girl who was drinking with her friends by the tent next door popped around the panel and started to assume a squat in front of our tent. At this point I cleared my throat. We both stared at each other awkwardly for a moment and then without a word she stood and scuttled off to find somewhere else to answer the call of nature…

More recently we’d had a Double Island trip with Richard and Amanda. We hiked up to the Lighthouse on the way back from a day of sun and sea around the point. While there we’d seen a group testing out some hydrofoil surfboards. They made it look incredibly easy, zipping and zig zagging along the waves. Maybe I should give surfing another go, I thought to myself (my last attempt had been with a paddle board at this very spot… a surf magazine photographer was there and had enthusiastically started to take pictures of my efforts only to give up in disgust when he realised that I was falling off pretty much instantly with monotonous regularity). However the reason it looked so easy soon became clear as Peter pointed out to me that the guys trying the boards out were a few of Australia’s famous surfers, Mick Fanning and crew!

Back at the Lighthouse I tried not to vomit as Rick and Amanda perched on the narrow edge of the rocks high above the sea. The pair of them enjoyed rock climbing so it was left to me to fear for their lives. From our vantage point in the space of an hour or two we saw a huge pod of dolphins, some stingrays, a couple of migrating whales and two fairly big sharks feeding on a shoal of fish. The next time Peter and I went up there we were lucky enough to hear a whale’s song as it passed close to the cliff.

Anyway whether you’ve got nothing but some plastic tubs and an eskie or all the gear possible, Double Island is well worth a visit – you will more than likely see some sea life and potentially even spot a famous surfer (or just me falling off my paddle board!)

The thoughts of Shayne.

See other posts about some of our adventures here.