South Stradbroke

The South Stradbroke Island (Indigenous: Minjerribah), colloquially South Straddie, is an island that lies within Moreton Bay in the Australian state of Queensland, south of Brisbane and forms the northern end of Gold Coast.

The South Stradbroke Island (Indigenous: Minjerribah), colloquially South Straddie, is an island that lies within Moreton Bay in the Australian state of Queensland, south of Brisbane and forms the northern end of Gold Coast. The island is a locality within the City of Gold Coast. In the 2016 census, South Stradbroke had a population of 41 people.The 21 kilometres (13 mi) by 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) sized island is the smaller one of the two Stradbroke Islands and lies very close to the mainland. The island has hundreds of wild wallabies that are usually human orientated. They are also well known for stealing bread from tents and cabins, and joining campers at their fires.

One of more than 360 islands within Moreton Bay, the southern end of South Stradbroke Island fronts the Broadwater, and the tip marks the Gold Coast Seaway, only a matter of metres from the mainland at Southport Spit.In the northeast is Tipplers Passage which separates the island from many smaller islands within the bay closer to the mainland. The east coast borders the Coral Sea.

South Stradbroke Island consists mainly of sand dunes, remnant livistona rainforest and melaleuca wetlands. The island also has unique flora and fauna. The golden wallaby is endemic to the island and the agile wallaby, once more common to the region, has now retreated to the island.

Before 1896 the island was sacred to the Quandamooka people situated around Redland Bay islands.

To the north the island is separated by the Jumpinpin Channel from the larger North Stradbroke Island.Both islands were originally one island, Stradbroke Island. In September 1894, heavy seas drove aground the barque Cambus Wallace at a narrow isthmus roughly halfway down the island's length. Salvage activity (including the detonation of a cargo of explosives) weakened the sand dunes along the spit such that by the spring of 1896, storms and tides had created a permanent opening from Moreton Bay to the Coral Sea now known as Jumpinpin Channel. The new tidal channel caused large changes to the channels and islands within southern Moreton Bay. Coastal managers are concerned that eventually one day Jumpinpin may repair itself which may cause problems for tidal waterway management including fish stocks, dugong habitat, erosion and flooding.Some land clearing for cattle grazing conducted in the early 20th century has occurred.During the 1950 to 1960s sand mining was conducted at the northern ocean beach area but reserves were limited. From the 1870s onwards the island's inner shores were used as camp grounds for holders of oystering licences. A small township called Moondarewa with 156 surveyed lots, was established at the island's southern tip.By 1953 the island's natural movement north had washed away most of the settlement. Also once located at the southern end was a small area of vine scrub rainforest that attracted significant bird-life.In 2009, some filming was done on the island for the 2011 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.The population of the island at the 2011 census was 101, but the number of people on the island swells significantly during the holiday season.