Law firm marketing: Making the most of what you’ve got!

2011 October 13
by squadron

If the legal marketing strategy for your law firm revolves around online marketing, niche marketing to particular industries, traditional advertising, or just retaining and growing a share of your stable of clients, you will need to generate content.

Content is the lifeblood of legal marketing, without it you may as well not have a law firm marketing plan. But producing content requires hard work, and you must make the most of the writing that you manage to produce. Here are just a few ideas to help you use two of the most reliably produced types of legal marketing content as effectively as you can.

Law Firm Marketing – Written material (blogs, email alerts, brochures, guides, information sheets)
If you have created any quality, interesting material of any of the types mentioned, don’t only send it out once or print it and leave it to stagnate in your reception area. You can distribute that content as widely as is possible. For each item of written material you produce, consider:

- Have I sent it to as many, relevant, clients as possible?
- Has it been loaded onto our website?
- Have I emailed it directly to referrers, associates and other professionals?
- Have I linked it with a post on Facebook and a tweet on Twitter?
- Has it been sent to media contacts?
- Is everyone in the firm aware of it and can they explain it in detail if a client questions them about it?
- Can I transform it into another type of content and distribute in a different form?

Law Firm Marketing – Presentations
Presentations are generally written with a particular audience in mind, or because of a particular request. As a result they are often presented only once then left to stagnate. The large amount of time involved in preparing them gets just one showing. To get much more benefit from your presentation consider:

- What other companies can I show it to?
- How could I let the greatest number of people know about it?
- Have I discussed it on my website, Facebook, Twitter, or suggested that I present it to others?
- Is it relevant to send the presentation in hard copy to people who were unable to attend the seminar?
- Could I record an audio or video of the presentation and distribute it electronically online or directly?
- Is it viable to write an article or blog discussing topics that arose during the presentation?
- Have I sent additional content to all the people who attended the presentation?

While a lot of these suggestions may feel like more work just when you’ve probably created a dent in your monthly billings with the amount of time you spent preparing the first lot of material, it is necessary to consider that it is far easier to use a tiny amount of time at the end to really maximise on what you’ve already produced than it is to produced a whole new piece of legal marketing material.

Increase the results of the time and effort you put into law firm marketing and you’ll discover that the next time you need to create content you will feel more confident about how effective that content will be.

John Gray is a practising lawyer and the Senior Marketer at John Gray Marketing, an Australian specialist law firm and legal marketing consultancy. If you are interested in law marketing, legal marketing and marketing for lawyers, contact John Gray today.

Relationship Combatibility Factors

2011 October 12

Relationship and Marriage counseling can help you find out how in harmony you are.

The two most important factors that decide how compatible you are as a couple are:

A similar degree of psychological health and maturity and a compatible ranking of Instinctual Variants.

What are Instinctual Variants?
The 3 Instincts represent the inherant energies or drives that are essentially part of us as humans. Our personality is highly engaged with and is often dependent on these libidinal, instinctual energies to give it its spark.

Self Preservation Instinct.
People of this Instinctual type are preoccupied with the basic survival needs as they translate into our contemporary society, for example, finance, food, housing, health, safety and comfort.
Being safe and physically comfortable are priorities, and they will often bring their supplies with them.
When entering a room, they will tend to notice lighting, uncomfortable seating, the room temperature, when the lunch break will be, and whether they will like the food provided. They tend also to be the most practical in the sense of taking care of basic life necessities.
They are the most introverted of the types.

Sexual/ Intimate Instinct.
People of this variant have a strong desire for severity of experience and intimacy. The blunt riveting gaze is the dead giveaway. When they enter a situation they gravitate toward people they feel attracted to, as if they are looking for the juice. These people can be intimacy addicts, often ignoring pressing obligations or even basic hygiene if they are infatuated with something that has captured them. This gives a wide ranging exploratory philosophy to life, but can also give a lack of focus of one’s own priorities.

Social Instinct.
People of this type are preoccupied on their interactions with others and with the sense of value and self esteem they receive from their participation in collective activities. These include work, relationships, hobbies and clubs.
Upon entering a room, these people would immediately be aware of the relationships and subtle politics between different people and social circles. They are subconsciously focused on other people’s reaction to them, particularly about whether they are being accepted or not.
They need to touch base with others to feel secure, acknowledged and energised. They seem to enjoy interacting with people, but they eschew intimacy.
They are the most extroverted of the types.

Within each person, one of these three Instincts will dominate. In fact these three variants can be ordered liked the layers of a cake, with the most predominant one at the top. The weakest one, at the bottom, is termed the blind spot.
These instincts play a pivotal role in our relationships because people of the same variant tend to share values and to understand each other innately, and therefore feel very compatible.

In relationships between 2 different Instinctual types, each will struggle to convert the other.

For further information on discovering whether you and your partner are compatible, contact the Hart Centre Australia. We are Australia’s premier relationship and marriage counselling service with 53 locations Australia wide, and 8 relationship counselling centres in Brisbane, 3 marriage counselling centres in the Gold Coast, and 2 relationship counselling locations on the Sunshine Coast. Phone 1300 830 552 for appointments at all centres.

For relationship counselling Brisbane, marriage counselling gold coast and marriage counselling sunshine coast, contact your local Hart Centre.

Stone Veneer

2011 October 10
by squadron

Stone veneer is a modern way to decorate the walls of a making. The stone veneer cladding provides a stylish method adopted by architects to impart a dynamic look to a lifeless structure. This is mostly used for visual purposes and has a long life. The elegance and simplicity of stone veneer provides homeowners, architects, building contractors and developers with a versatility and versatility to be more to resourceful. Stone veneer is also properly used in gardening and complementing the natural beauty of the open spaces as well.

Stone Veneer acts as a ornamental and protective protecting on exterior as well inside walls and surfaces. The veneer is typically one inch heavy; it is lighter in weight in weight and weighs about 15 lbs. / sq. ft. It does not need any extra structural support for its installation.

Stone Veneer is mostly made from natural stones. It can also be produced from manufactured stones. The natural stone veneer is manufactured from stone, which is collected from quarries or as subject stone. The stone is then sawn employing huge diamond impregnated cutters equally spaced to get the slices of the stone in a consistent heavyness and weight. This stone is also known as “thin stone veneer”.

Besides the natural stone veneer, manufacture stone veneer is also a ornamental making material. It is produced to imitate the appearance of natural stone. There are numerous leaders used for this type of veneer. The stacked stone veneer, artificial stone veneer, manufactured stone veneer and flexible stone veneer are various leaders used for stone veneer.

Stone veneer is produced by mixing a lightweight concrete mix to rubber molds of different type. These are painted with a coloring process to make them resemble the real stone. one more method to make stone veneer is by casting and molding it from chemically modified lightweight concrete. Stone veneer is actually a replica of natural stone. It takes the finest details of the original stone. At a shut look, the artificial stone veneers appear just like original stones.

The stone veneer is mostly used as a siding on the walls. It can be fixed on the walls using exclusive good quality mortars for highest adhesion and strength. flexible stone veneer is manufactured by slicing a thin part of a stone. It is then backed by some composite material. It can be produced in a variety of designs and colors using different stones. The manufactured stone veneer is cheaper than natural stone veneer and there is the least amount of wastage in its use.

Manufactured stone veneer costs almost 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of employing natural stone. simply because of the lightweight of the manufactured stone veneer, there is no need for wall ties or any footings. It makes the construction easier and Thereby reduces the cost. There is a vast variety of designs, patterns and colors available on manufactured options as compared to the natural stone due to the fact the natural stone is generally used in the area around where it is extracted due to the huge transportation prices.

Manufactured stone veneer is relatively less strong as compared to natural stone rock walls, but many applications do not call for higher strength as aesthetics is a more important element in many cases. Stone veneer is also not reusable like natural stones.

Stone veneer provides the natural look of the stones at inexpensive costs. Stone veneers are preferred these days for most of decorative facing in constructings and open spaces.

Cheap SEO packages- what to look for in these services

2011 October 9
by squadron

The term SEO as we all know is an acronym of search engine optimisation which is the process of improving a websites visibility on search engines. Websites that are highly ranked in search results have more visitors. SEO targets many alternatives together with picture search, local search, video search and academic search. Today, there are many companies offering low-cost SEO bundles~deals} for consumerss~shoppers~buyers} who want their sites’ rankings to rise. SEO’s (acronym referring to search engine optimizers) use different methods to accomplish good search engine optimization on the consumer’s website.

Any company offering affordable SEO package deals~deals} should be able to permit the buyers site rise in the search engines fast. When many internet users search for a particular term(also referred to as ‘key phrase’), they perceive the ones at the top as having more relevance to the keyword. Though there are many factors that add to a website obtaining to the top spot (or at least among the top ten), SEO comes in handy to make sure that this is obtaind in a short period of time of time. becoming professional, SEO’s know what is best for a site and how to go about producing sure that it rises to the top. They use a variety of tactics that are all geared towards achieving the same.

A few of the methods they use include:

-Back hyperlinks building and,
- LSI (Latent Semantic Index) content writing.

In back link building, inbound links are used to improve a site’s awareness. Inbound links are from other sites and they are important simply because of their significance to search engine optimisation. A site with a big number of back links is one indication that it is well-known and of significance to others too. Google and other web search engines determine the Page Rank of a website or webpage due to the number of back hyperlinks it has. It is therefore worth noting that this SEO possibility is of great importance to any website owner who wants his site to get ranked fast.

LSI posts writing is amongst the most well-known SEO selections. simply because search engines rely on the content on the website or webpage so that it gets ranked, having a website that is well taken care of in this area is very important to the owner. For example, Google is very strict when it comes to content. They call for a webpage to have key phrase rich content so that it can get good rankings. In many cases, search engine optimizers jot down content for purchaser}s observing key phrase density and also length. articles of considerable good length are better positioned to get ranked much easier than short ones with crappy content. All articles have to be free from plagiarism. This means that they are authentic and written by the site owner and are not copied from other resources.

In most cases, client}s who consult these affordable SEO packages~deals} companies want providers so as to improve rankings to their money creating websites. They either have affiliate links on their sites, promote CPA, run Ad-sense or offer providers that people pay for. To them, it is an investment and Therefore it makes perfect reason for getting good site rankings.

To get the best cheap SEO package deal, a client} needs to look for the following qualities:

- no matter if the company has been offering the companies for a considerable time period of time,

-no matter if the company charges reasonably,

-regardless of whether the company offers all the solutions that he/she requirements and also,

-whether or not the company has reviews from previous successful projects.

Having found that all the above stages~factors} are well taken care of, he/she can from that stage order their services. The client} should ensure that all instructions and details are meticulously tended to before giving them out to the SEO guys. using low cost SEO bundles~deals} has established to be the most efficient way that website owners use to make to the top of the web search engine results. simply because of the ever growing internet utilizing inhabitants globally, these solutions will continue to provide their services to the ever hungry website owners who also want to get a item of the large chunk of money made from the internet. To sum up, we can say that this is two way traffic as both the customer and the service provider need one other.

Looking for a cheap SEO packages? Try this new service from Search Tempo. These cheap SEO packages are just about the best value on the internet.

Things To Consider When Hiring A Spit Roast

2011 October 9
by squadron

If you are an avid party thrower and you want that extra special someissue to add that element of glam to your party, spit roast hire is a great idea. Spits come in different sizes and relying on the number of individuals at your party and the amount of space you have at your disposal, you can roast a couple of chickens or even a whole pig or goat. When thinking of spit roast hire there are several easy ways to procure what you need through the yellow pages and the internet. Having said that, before you go in for spit roast hire, there are some important things you must take into consideration.

Do It yourself v/s catering.
For a lot of people, do it your self options are much better because they can save on lots of money. Setting up a spit and truly cooking on it can be a time consuming and cumbersome task. When it will come to spit roast hire, there are organizations which will let you simply hire the spit roast and do everyfactor your self, or give you a totally loaded package in which everyissue from setting up, cleaning up and helping is done by a team of professional caterers. So relying on whether you have enough time or not you can decide if you want to do it all on your own or pay someone else to do it for you.

Gas Spit v/s Charcoal Spit
When thinking about spit roast hire, you must first decide what kind of a spit you will need. There are spits that work on charcoal and those that work on gas. Weigh the pros and cons of each type and decide which one you want. The good matter about charcoal spits is the fact that the meat you cook on it will keep the delightful burny flavor of the charcoal. Gas spits will not enable for that. However, charcoal spits are untidy, they create a lot of smoke a cigarette and can be dangerous if not attended to. Gas spits are scraper, make less of a mess and don’t create as much burn. Another disadvantage of charcoal spits is that you cannot use them in closed spaces because they create a lot of heat and burn. If you plan to cook indoors, a gas spit makes much more sense. however, with gas spits you have to make sure the enclosed area is well ventilated.

Size Does Matter
Another important aspect of spit roast hire you must consider is the size of spit you need. What kind of meat are you planning to cook? A spit roast is a very versatile technique of cooking and everyfactor from cow, venison, bull, goat and pig can be cooked on it. depending on the type of and amount of meat you want to cook, you have to choose an appropriately sized spit . For occasion if you wish to cook a full grown goat, you will need a spit that allows for 25kgs. Of course, the bigger the spit size you choose, the more expensive the affair will be. talking about spit roast hire, gas spits come in a limited number of sizes while charcoal spits are accessible in a bigger assortment of sizes.

Cost Of Charcoal v/s Gas Spit
One of the most important things that you must keep in mind when going in for spit roast hire, is the cost. You have to first figure out how much you can afford and how much you are willing to spend to hire a spit roast. A lot of people today feel that charcoal spits are cheaper which in fact is not the case. Technically if you go to see, charcoal and gas spits cost practically the same if you take the total cost of cooking into consideration. The fee to hire a charcoal spit is much less than that of a gas spit but what you must take into consideration is the fact that charcoal spits require additional fuel whereas gas spits don’t.

So depending on whether you are having an indoor or outdoor party or if you want to be extravagant or minimalistic, put some time into research, figure out what you need and then go in for the right spit roast hire. For more information about spit roast hire Brisbane, visit http://spitroasthire.brisbaneoz.com/

The Importance of Proofing Designs

2011 October 7
by squadron

You’ve concluded it’s time for a new site or image. For most, the first step is to choose the right company. However, the first thing you need to do is formulate at least a vague concept of what you expect from a finished product. Not only is this step often ignored in the initial phase of project development, but also during the creative briefing phase after hiring a design company.

Everyone wants to hand off a concept to the professionals and let them handle it all. If you’re having your car washed, then nothing is really required of you. For other projects, you need to be more involved. Website design and graphic design are two fields where getting yourself involved is essential to the ideal design for you and your business.

When you first meet with a website and graphic design agency, you should supply them with your estimations and goals. This gives the company something of a starting point. This doesn’t mean that you are finished. No one can read your mind. In order to be certain you get the best design possible, you must take the creative briefing stage seriously.

This is the stage of the assignment where you work one on one with the designers to ensure they completely comprehend what you desire. The more they understand, the faster that can deliver the finished project. It also reduces the number of initial design changes.

The next step before the designer can work on your project is proofing your design. You should never just quickly glimpse the design and give your approval. Look over the design plans as thoroughly as you would any important document. If the design isn’t exactly as you envisioned it and doesn’t provide the features you discussed, now is the time to make changes.

Waiting until the final project is delivered means time consuming revisions for both you and the designer. By involving yourself in both the creative briefing and design proofing stages, you save both time and money. You also get the perfect website or graphic design the first time around. The sooner your project is in place, the sooner your customers and visitors will see it.

You should never take this responsibility lightly. It’s your design, your website. Take the time to ensure the design company you choose fully understands your vision. By communicating your needs, the company is able to provide suggestions. With thorough communication between both parties, the best designs and sites are created.

For graphic design Brisbane or logo design Brisbane visit The Creative Noise. The Creative Noise is also a website designer. Brisbane is where their head office is located.

Choosing a Mackay Lawyer, Solicitor or Law Firm

2011 October 6
by squadron

As a popular area, there are many new families and people now living in the Mackay region who need to choose a Mackay solicitor* or law firm for the first time. Choosing a lawyer to do the conveyancing to enable you to buy a home, to advise you about starting a business or to prepare legal documents such as wills or enduring powers-of-attorney, can be a intimidating and stressful time.

If you are looking for a Mackay lawyer, solicitor or law firm you should consider looking for the following attributes:

Satisfied customers
For most individuals it’s impossible to compare the quality of legal services provided by one Mackay solicitor/lawyer or another. Unless you regularly use a similar type of legal service you can’t really compare different law firms. But you can look for a Mackay lawyer who is proud of their past performance provides several testimonials from previous clients. If they have quite a number of testimonials it tells you two things. Firstly, that they have a lot of satisfied clients and secondly, that they are willing to take time and trouble to discover what clients think of their service. They understand that theirs is a service-oriented business.

Local knowledge
Your Mackay solicitor or lawyer should have a good local knowledge and experience in helping others in the area. Look for firms that have worked on major local developments or firms with established conveyancing sections that have built up a valuable source of “inside knowledge” about the property market, local agents and banks that can make all the difference to the way your transaction will be dealt with.

Breadth of Services
Because most people only need a lawyer rarely, it is wise to choose a Mackay lawyer, solicitor or law firm that can provide you with the full range of services without you having to move around to different law firms. Finding a firm that can assist with your conveyancing, estate planning, disputes, business services and even workplace or employment issues, means you can stick with one firm that will meet all your legal needs. Law firms value clients that use several services, and are often able to provide those services more cheaply and efficiently if they have provided other work for you in the past.

*In Queensland a person with legal qualifications was traditionally referred to as a solicitor while a person who “had standing” to represent you in court was called a barrister. More recently the general term lawyer has become more widespread and can be used to describe either of these types of legal practitioner. In some other states of Australia the conveyancing process (the legal process required to transfer ownership of house) can be undertaken by licenced conveyancers. This is not the case in Queensland where conveyancing must be undertaken by a solicitor/lawyer.

John Gray is a practising solicitor and marketing consultant who has worked with leading Mackay law firms. If you need a Mackay solicitor or Mackay lawyer contact John Gray for a recommendation.

Relationship Counselling can help you discover more about yourself.

2011 October 2
by squadron

If you really want to examine deeply at why the two of you have the unique relationship and problems that you have, look no further than the Enneagram.

One of the most helpful ways to examine yourself and just as importantly, how you may add to your relationship problems, is to look at your Enneagram profile.

The modern Enneagram is based on ancient Eastern wisdom combined with modern Psychological thought. There are 9 personality types each with different patterns of thinking, feeling and acting. Each style has its own natural gifts, limitations, and blind spots.

When you know your Enneagram number, you can then be aware of the unconscious assumptions that drive the way you see yourself, do your work, and relate in your relationships.

And you can also understand why your partner seems to act in the strange, selfish, intrusive, self-interested, seductive or charming ways that he or she does.

Once you know how he or she see things from within, you can see why they do the things they do which makes perfect sense to them.

There are no types that are better than any other. Each is effective in their own way, but from a very different point of view.

• Ones want to make things right.
• Twos need to be of help.
• Threes are driven to succeed.
• Fours have a deep desire to be special.
• Fives want to be left alone to think.
• Sixes seek safety and support.
• Sevens are connoisseurs of life’s pleasures.
• Eights are driven to dominate others.
• Nines don’t want to make waves.

For more information on how your and your partner’s Enneagram types interact, call us at the Hart Centre. We are a group of Psychologists around Australia who are passionate about relationships and specialise in relationship counselling.

With 15 relationship counselling centres in Sydney, and 12 relationship counselling centres in Melbourne, you will more than likely find one near you. Phone 1300830552 for more details.

Remember, for relationship counselling Sydney or relationship counselling Melbourne contact the Hart Centre.

Stradbroke Island Queensland – Travel Guide

2011 September 28

Situated on Brisbane’s eastern coast, North Stradbroke Island (’Straddie’ to those familiar) is another of Australia’s natrual treasures -a perfect escape destination. Somehow, the secret has been well kept and it is only recently that Straddie has started to sparkle on the tourism and property radar.

To travel to Stradbroke Island through the Brisbane suburb of Cleveland will take approximately 50 minutes using the vehicle ferry. Cleveland is a 30 minute drive from Brisbane International Airport and the centre of Brisbane, and an drive from the Gold Coast. The boat ride across Moreton Bay is the first step that makes visiting Stradbroke Island such a worthwhile experience.

Stradbroke Island is 27,530 hectares, which makes the world’s second largest sand island. The elongated sand island shields much of the southern part of Moreton Bay and the smaller islands from the ocean swells. It’s beaches are able to be accessed by four-wheel drive, bicycle or tramping, with many popular camping sites placed down Main Beach, and views appear visible from almost everywhere on the island.

The 35 kilometres of white sandy beaches fringing the island’s eastern side runs from Point Lookout in the north to Jumpin Pin in the south. From the Point lookout headland, the buildings of the Gold Coast is often clearly visible, being a constant reminder of the stark contrast to the slower pace of Straddie.

North Stradbroke (Minjerriba to the indigenous Noonuccal tribe) was the home of famous Aboriginal poet Kath Walker, or Oodgeroo Noonuccal. There is a large amount of Aboriginal and European history surrounding Dunwich where water taxis and vehicular barges moor.

The waters of Moreton Bay lap against the shores of the island’s western fishing towns. With a lack of agriculture and the filtering effects of the sand results in pure water which fish, and particularly Stradbroke Rock Oysters thrive in.

North Stradbroke attracts 4WDers, fishermen, surfies and beach-lovers to its free stretches of sandy coast and rugged granite headlands, and the Island offers a good range of accommodation, restaurants, cafes and holiday infrastructure. With a diversity of experiences available and stunningly beautiful places to discover, North Stradbroke is a great holiday destination for families, couples and adventure-seekers alike. The ideal way to see the Island is by Four Wheel Drive, but there are many stunning coastal walks and a mountain bike and whale watching map are an easier and more environmentally sound alternative.

Point Lookout is the main tourist hub, only a thirty kilometre drive on a sealed road from Dunwich. The North Gorge Headland is 40 metres above sea level and known as a leading land-based whale watching area in winter, and world-class surfing and fishing throughout the year.

Point Lookout’s unspoilt beaches and headlands are safe for swimming, surfing and fishing year round. Whales, dolphins, turtles and manta rays are regularly viewed from the spectacular North Gorge at the northern tip of the island. The island has been listed as one of the world’s most ecologically important wetlands and has several freshwater lakes, waterways and lagoons that are accessible by four-wheel drive or on a guided tour with one of Straddie’s tour operators.

One of the greatest features on the island is being able to purchase fresh seafood directly from local fishermen. Just look for the signs at Amity Point and Point Lookout to direct you to their homes and the freshest catch-of-the-day around. For those that would rather the work be done for them, Straddie’s restaurants and cafes all make use of this wonderful island resource in their menu.

“The Point” offers a number of alfresco style cafes, a bakery, chemist, post office, newsagent, corner store and supermarket. The island also has a bus service linking the 3 towns to ferries and water taxis.

North Stradbroke Island is the ultimate paradise for the many enthusiasts who visit each year. On a good day it’s possible to surf right past the pub, along the evocatively named Cylinders Beach, on waves that peel dreamily for hundreds of metres. Stick ten bucks in the back pocket of your boardies and you can drop in for a quick beer on your way back around -you may even bump into world ranked surfer and local Bede Durbidge! Straddie also boasts what is perhaps the last truly old-school surf shop in the country, that makes it’s business selling surfing equipment rather than fashion.

The jewels in the Straddie’s crown is Point Lookout and the natural wonder of the North Gorge Walk, along with the surf, the choice of beaches, all sheltered in various winds, the whale watching, and the spectacular coastal walk around the gorges. If you are looking for Stradbroke Island Accommodation, make sure you visit: http://www.discoverstradbroke.com.au/

The Attractions of Stradbroke Island

2011 September 24

Situated on Brisbane’s eastern coast, North Stradbroke Island (”Straddie” to the initiated) is another of Australia’s natrual treasures -a perfect escape destination. Something of a secret, it is only recently that Stradbroke Island has begun to sparkle on the tourist and property radar.

To travel to Stradbroke Island by way of the bayside village of Cleveland takes about 50 minutes on the vehicle ferry. Cleveland is a 30 minute drive from Brisbane International Airport or Brisbane central, and an drive from the Gold Coast. The ferry ride across Moreton Bay is the first of a series of experiences that make visiting Stradbroke Island such a great destination.

Stradbroke Island is 27,530 hectares, which means it is the world’s second largest sand island. The elongated sand island shields much of the southern part of Moreton Bay and the smaller islands from the ocean swells. It’s beaches are able to be accessed by four-wheel drive, bicycle or tramping, with a number of good camp sites dotted down Main Beach, and wonderful views are visible from almost everywhere on Straddie.

Thirty-five kilometres of white sandy beaches fringe the island’s eastern side, from Point Lookout at the north to Jumpin Pin in the south. From the Point lookout headland, the concrete jungle of the Gold Coast can be clearly visible, and is a constant reminder of the stark contrast to the slower pace of Straddie.

North Stradbroke (Minjerriba to the indigenous Noonuccal people) was home to famous Aboriginal poet Kath Walker, or Oodgeroo Noonuccal. There is a large amount of Aboriginal and European history in Dunwich where water taxis and barges berth.

The calm waters of Moreton Bay ripple against the shores of the island’s western fishing towns. The lack of agriculture and the filtering effects of the sand results in unpolluted water which sea-life, and particularly Stradbroke Rock Oysters thrive in.

North Stradbroke attracts 4WDers, fishermen, surfers and beach-lovers to the expansive stretches of accessible coast and rugged granite headlands, and the Island also offers a wide range of accommodation, restaurants, cafes and holiday infrastructure. With an incredible diversity of attractions to offer and stunningly beautiful spots to discover, North Stradbroke is a popular holiday destination for families, couples and adventure-seekers alike. The ideal way to see the Island is by Four Wheel Drive, but there are many stunning coastal walks and a mountain bike and whale watching map are an easier and more environmentally sound alternative.

Point Lookout is the main destination, only a 30km drive on a sealed road from Dunwich. The North Gorge Headland is 40m above sea level and recognised as a leading land-based whale watching area during from May-November, and world-class surfing and fishing throughout the year.

Point Lookout’s beautiful beaches and headlands are safe for swimming, surfing and fishing all year round. Whales, dolphins, turtles and manta rays can often be seen from the spectacular North Gorge at the northern part of the island. The island is listed as one of the world’s most ecologically important wetlands with several freshwater lakes, waterways and lagoons that are accessible by 4WD or on a guided tour with one of Straddie’s friendly tour operators.

One of the great features on the island is being able to purchase fresh seafood directly from local fishermen. Just look for the signs at Amity Point and Point Lookout to direct you to their homes and the freshest catch-of-the-day around. For those who would rather the work be done for them, Straddie’s restaurants and cafes all make use of this fabulous island resource in the menu.

“The Point” offers a number of alfresco style cafes, a bakery, chemist, post office, newsagent, corner store and supermarket. The island also has its own bus service linking the three towns to the ferries and water taxis.

North Stradbroke Island is the ultimate paradise for the many enthusiasts who visit each year. On a good day it’s possible to surf right past the pub, along the evocatively named Cylinders Beach, on waves that peel dreamily for hundreds of metres. Stick ten bucks in the back pocket of your boardies and you can drop in for a beer on your way back around -you may even bump into world ranked surfer and local Bede Durbidge! Straddie boasts what is perhaps the last truly old-school surf shop in the country, that makes it’s business selling surf gear rather than fashion.

The jewels in the Straddie’s crown is Point Lookout and the natural wonder of the North Gorge Walk, along with the surf, the choice of beaches, all sheltered in different winds, the whale watching, and the spectacular coastal walk around the gorges. If you are looking for Stradbroke Island Accommodation, make sure you visit: http://www.discoverstradbroke.com.au/