Tangalooma Island Resort Spotlight

Moreton Island Adventures

by Matt Taylor

For most Kiwis, southeast Queensland getaways revolve around two destinations, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast. But roughly in the middle of these two holiday hotspots lies a remarkable island that flies under the radar. Just over an hour by ferry from Brisbane, lies Moreton Island. The third biggest sand island in the world and home to Tangalooma Island Resort.

A whale of a tale.

Tangalooma Island Resort operates one of Queensland’s largest whale watching operations. Each year, many thousands of visitors have the chance to marvel at these graceful creatures in their natural habitat. Yet this could easily have been a different story.

Between 1952 and 1962, Tangalooma was home to the Southern Hemisphere’s largest land based whaling station. In our clean, green, eco-friendly world, it’s hard to imagine the scale of this legalised hunting, but in 10 years, over 6200 humpback whales were killed and processed at Tangalooma. The local whale population was decimated - to the point that whales in the region were nearly wiped out.

Thankfully fate stepped in. First vegetable oil was introduced as an alternative ingredient in many of the products that used whale oil. This caused a significant drop in prices. Combined with dwindling whale numbers (in 1962 only 68 out the 600 whale quota was filled) the operation was no longer viable.

Tangalooma transformed.

In 1963 a group of Gold Coast businessmen brought the property, turning Tangalooma into a resort. This was purchased by Brian and Betty Osborne in 1980, and it has remained in their family ownership ever since. Betty and Brian now leave the running of the business to their children and grandchildren – some of who work day-to-day on site.

Good old-fashioned family values.

From small beginnings, Tangalooma Island Resort has grown into a substantial operation with over 1200 beds and 400 plus staff. But the resort has very much retained its family-owned, family friendly atmosphere. It’s hard to explain in words, but when you stay at Tangalooma it’s like visiting an old friend. There’s a genuinely, warm welcome and a level of personal connection that’s impossible for global hospitality brands to replicate.

culture. We are still very much a family-run company. Yes, we expect a very high standard of service, but we also encourage our staff to be themselves, express their personality and have loads of fun with our guests. Our guests really appreciate the difference and it’s one reason they keep coming back.”

Adventure bound.

When you stay at Tangalooma Resort you‘ll have endless options to explore the rest of Moreton Island. At 38km long, Moreton Island is large and one of the best ways to get ‘orientated’ is on the Northern Safari Bus Tour. By bus, I mean jacked-up 4WD bus with big nobbly tyres. The route takes you along the sweeping Western beaches on the bay side of the island. Here you’ll see a bunch of families camping out and enjoying the great outdoors. Plus you’ll pass through the tiny townships of Cowan Cowan and Bulwer – Moreton Island’s only permanent settlements. Total population less than 300!

Next stop is Cape Moreton, home of Queensland’s oldest lighthouse, built in 1857. It wasn’t an easy life for the men and women who operated the lighthouse back then, but they played a very important role in helping Brisbane bound ships find safe passage past the dangerous Flinders Reef. From this vantage point you can see all the way along the eastern beach. Plus keep your eyes peeled for the turtles that live in the waters at the cliffs edge. Tip - if have your own binoculars make sure you pack them.

Desert Tour and Sand Toboganning.

For another top adventure take the Desert Tour. After a 15-minute drive from the resort, you’ll be amazed when your 4WD bus exits the bush track into a vast sand bowl. Sure this is ‘desert’ on a small scale, but you are still very much surrounded by sand. The prominent feature of this desert landscape is the towering sand dunes – i.e. the launching pad for the tobogganing!

After the bus pulls up, we all exit for the tobogganing briefing. Pretty simple really, shiny side down, hold the front of the board up, keep your elbows up and let gravity do the rest. The trek up these 50 metre high dunes gets the heart pumping. It’s great workout for the legs (and butt) too. When you reach the top and look around the surroundings are surreal, after all, you are in the middle of an island off the Queensland Coast, and not the Sahara.

The first time looking down the steep slope there are a few nerves, but its best to just go! Lie down, elbows up, keep the front up – so you don’t end up with a face full of sand. You fly down face first at a cracking pace, adrenalin pumping and loving every minute of it. There are plenty of screams from fellow toboganners – most of joy, some of fear. It’s something anyone can do and even the small kids were going down gripping their dad’s back!

The Blue Lagoon.

If you’d like a break from the saltwater beaches of Moreton Island, you’ll find one of the island’s gems hidden 500 metres inland from the eastern beach. The Blue Lagoon was formed through natural catchments of rainwater over thousands of years. The fresh water is also naturally infused with Tea Tree oil which gives it a brownish tinge. Locals swear by its rejuvenating properties, but regardless of whether it makes your wrinkles disappear, you’ll still enjoy the serenity of swimming in this secret spot.

Moreton Island is a sand island (just like Fraser Island). There are no roads – just sand tracks that can only be driven on by well set-up 4WD vehicles. Although the sand tracks are maintained by the Queensland Government, they still get lump and bumpy, which is all part of the fun. Tanglooma Resort has 4WD vehicles available for hire if you’d like to explore on your own.

The Dolphin Experience.

The pristine waters around Moreton Island are home to vast array of wild life, including dolphins, which are the stars of the show each evening at around 6pm! When resort owner Betty Osborne first came to Tangalooma as a guest, she’d walk down to the jetty at sunset and started by feeding a single dolphin that would make its way into shore. This routine continued and over time more dolphins came to the same spot at the same time. Now, anywhere up to 15 wild dolphins come to jetty every night and the resort have a dedicated Dolphin Care Team who run a protection programme under strict guidelines. Each night guests have the chance to hand feed these playful creatures, one of only a few places in the world where people can get this close to dolphins in their natural habitat.

The Tangalooma Wrecks.

Less than a kilometre along the beach from Tanglooma Resort is the islands most famous (man-made) landmark - the Tangalooma Wrecks. The Wrecks are a collection of ships that were (purposely) sunk offshore to make a breakwater, so that visiting yachts could moor in calm waters. They certainly did a great job of that – on any given day, you’re likely to see a collection of yachts making the most of this protected anchorage.

Over time these rusty wrecks became covered in coral and they are now home to more than 200 species of fish. Tangalooma runs a variety of ‘wreck’ tours including a snorkelling tour, night sightseeing tour, glass-bottom kayak tour, full scuba tour and a fish feeding tour. The snorkelling tour was a real highlight of our stay. After making the quick boat trip down to the site, you jump in warm, clear water and follow your guide who navigates you from wreck to wreck. In 40 minutes we saw turtles, a Wobbegong Shark (harmless) and swarms of colourful fish. And diving around the rusty wrecks added a new dimension to the ‘run-of-the-mill’ snorkel adventure.

Housekeeping or wine – you choose!

If you don’t need (or want) your room serviced by housekeeping – just let reception know and they’ll give you a bottle of wine instead. For families with kids that can soon make a mess it might not be the best option – but if you’re a tidy couple it might be worth taking up the offer!

Quad bikes thrills.

If you’d like a quick thrill, the 45-minute Quad Bike Tour is brilliant. After a comprehensive safety briefing and ‘road’ test on the beach – to make sure you can steer and stop the bike safely - you follow the leader up into the sandy dunes behind the resort. As well as getting a birds eye view of the resort, you’ll take in sweeping oceans views and glimpses of the Brisbane coastline off in the distance. (For safety’s sake it’s best to keep your eyes on the road, at least most of the time.) On the journey there are a couple of different quad track circuits, complete with berms, banks and dips to make the riding experience more exciting. Having said that, the tour is safe for even novice riders. And the resort have dual bikes set-up with back seats so that the smaller kids can come along for the ride too.

Endless activities. Honestly, there is never a dull moment at Tangalooma Resort and there is certainly no excuse for kids to be glued to their screens! Trampolines, table tennis, golf, boule, basketball, badminton, squash paddleboards, kayaks, banana boats, beach Segway, parasailing, swimming pools and a glorious beach.

They also have some classic old-fashioned activities like bingo, talent shows, ‘horse’ races and karaoke! The resort even has its own pub with live sport on big screens, pool tables and a piano – it’s called B&B’s – named after owners Brian and Betty Osbourne.

Getting there.