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Whether the marketing strategy for your law firm revolves around online marketing, niche marketing to particular industries, traditional advertising, or just retaining and growing wallet share of your stable of clients, you’ll need to create content.

Content is an essential dynamic of legal marketing, without it you may as well not have a law firm marketing plan. But producing content means hard work, and you want to make the most of the material that you can produce. Here are just a few suggestions for making sure you use the two most popularly produced types of legal marketing content as best you can.

Law Firm Marketing – Written material (blogs, email alerts, brochures, guides, information sheets)
If you have created any quality, interesting material in any of the forms mentioned, don’t only send it out once or print it and let it sit in your office. You should distribute that content as widely as possible. For every piece of written material you produce, consider:

- Have I distributed it to as many, relevant, clients as possible?
- Is it loaded onto our website?
- Have I sent it directly to people who have referred me, associates and other professionals?
- Have I linked to it with a post on Facebook and a tweet on Twitter?
- Has it been sent to media contacts?
- Are others in the firm aware of it and could they explain it in detail if a client asks?
- Can I transform it into a different type of content and distribute in a different format?

Law Firm Marketing – Presentations
Presentations are usually prepared with a specific audience in mind, or because of a particular request. As a result they tend to be presented only once and then left to become stale. The large amount of time required to prepare them results in only a one time presentation. To get far more benefit from your presentation consider:

- Who else may I present it to?
- How could I let the most people know about it?
- Have I discussed it on our website, Facebook, Twitter, and suggested that I present it to others?
- Can I send a hard copy of the presentation to those who were unable to attend the seminar?
- Can 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 to discuss questions that arose from the presentation?
- Have I sent additional content to all the people that were at the presentation?

While a lot of these ideas might seem like additional work at a time when you’ve possibly created a dent in your monthly billings with the amount of time you spent preparing the first lot of material, it’s necessary to consider that it’s much easier to use a tiny amount of time now to really impact on the impression you’ve already produced than to produce a whole new piece of legal marketing material.

Increase the benefits of all the time you put into law firm marketing and you’ll see that the next time you need to create some content you’ll 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 and Marriage counseling can help you discover how suitable you are.

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

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

What are Instinctual Variants?
The 3 Instincts represent the inherant energies or drive 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 often with the essential survival needs as they translate into our modern society, for example, money, food, housing, health, physical safety and comfort.
Being secure and physically comfortable are priorities, and they will tend to bring these supplies with them.
When entering a room, they will tend to notice bad lighting, uncomfortable chairs, the room temperature, when the coffee 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 pressing necessities of life.
They are the most introverted of the types.

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

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

Within a personality, one of these three Instincts will predominate. In fact these 3 traits can be ordered liked the layers of a cake, with the most dominant 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 completely, 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 is a modern way to decorate the walls of a making. The stone veneer cladding offers 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, builders and developers with a versatility and flexibility to be more to innovative. Stone veneer is also successfully used in gardening and complementing the natural beauty of the open spaces as well.

Stone Veneer acts as a ornamental and protective protecting on outside as well interior walls and surfaces. The veneer is normally one inch thick; 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 area 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 decorative developing 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 versatile stone veneer are various titles 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 look like 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 near 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 utilizing special high quality mortars for highest adhesion and strength. versatile 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 making use of different stones. The manufactured stone veneer is less expensive 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 using natural stone. mainly because of the lightweight of the manufactured stone veneer, there is no need for wall ties or any footings. It can make the construction easier and And thus minimizes the cost. There is a vast variety of designs, patterns and colors available on manufactured options as compared to the natural stone mainly because the natural stone is generally used in the area close to where it is extracted due to the huge transportation charges.

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

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

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 site visitors. SEO targets many selections which include picture search, local search, video search and academic search. Today, there are many companies offering cheap SEO package deals~deals} for buyers~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 customer’s website.

Any company offering cheap SEO packages~deals} should be able to permit the purchasers 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. Even though there are many elements that lead to a website acquiring to the top spot (or at least amongst the top ten), SEO comes in handy to make sure that this is achieved in a short time period of time. being professional, SEO’s know what is best for a site and how to go about creating 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 visibility. Inbound links are from other sites and they are important because of their significance to search engine optimisation. A site with a big number of back hyperlinks 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 links it has. It is For that reason worth noting that this SEO alternative is of great importance to any website owner who wants his site to get ranked fast.

LSI content writing is amongst the most well-known SEO options. due to the fact 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 occasion, Google is very strict when it comes to content. They involve a webpage to have key phrase rich content so that it can get good rankings. In many cases, search engine optimizers publish content for consumer}s observing key phrase density and also length. content articles of considerable good length are better positioned to get ranked much easier than short ones with crappy content. All content have to be free from plagiarism. This means that they are authentic and written by the site owner and are not copied from other sources.

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

To get the best low cost SEO bundle, a consumer} desires to look for the following qualities:

- no matter whether the company has been offering the services for a considerable period of time,

-whether the company charges reasonably,

-whether the company offers all the services that he/she desires and also,

-regardless of whether the company has reviews from previous successful projects.

Having located that all the above levels~factors} are well taken care of, he/she can from that level purchase their providers. The purchaser} should ensure that all instructions and details are meticulously tended to before giving them out to the SEO guys. employing low cost SEO bundles~deals} has verified to be the most efficient way that website owners use to make to the top of the web search engine results. since of the ever growing internet utilizing inhabitants globally, these solutions will continue to provide their companies to the ever hungry website owners who also want to get a piece 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.

If you are an avid party thrower and you want that extra special somefactor to add that element of glam to your party, spit roast hire is a great idea. Spits come in different sizes and depending on the number of people today at your party and the amount of space you have at your disposal, you can roast a few 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 webpages and the internet. However, before you go in for spit roast hire, there are some important things you must take into consideration.

Do It oneself v/s catering.
For a lot of people today, do it on your own 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 can come to spit roast hire, there are businesses which will let you simply hire the spit roast and do everyissue on your own, or give you a fully loaded package in which everything from setting up, cleaning up and serving 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 by yourself or pay someone else to do it for you.

Gas Spit v/s Charcoal Spit
When thinking of 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 thing about charcoal spits is the fact that the meat you cook on it will keep the delightful smoke a cigarettey flavor of the charcoal. Gas spits will not allow for that. Even so, charcoal spits are untidy, they create a lot of smoke cigarettes and can be dangerous if not attended to. Gas spits are cleaner, make less of a mess and don’t create as much smoke a cigarette. Another disadvantage of charcoal spits is that you are unable to use them in closed spaces because they create a lot of heat and smoke. If you plan to cook insides, 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 example if you wish to cook a full developed goat, you will need a spit that enables for 25kgs. Of course, the larger the spit size you choose, the more expensive the affair will be. talking about spit roast hire, gas spits come in a restricted number of sizes whereas charcoal spits are obtainable in a greater variety of sizes.

Cost Of Charcoal v/s Gas Spit
One of the most important points 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 feel that charcoal spits are cheaper which in fact is not the case. Technically if you go to see, charcoal and gas spits cost nearly 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 while gas spits don’t.

So relying 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/

You’ve made your mind up that it’s time for a new website or image. For most, the first step is to choose the right company. However, the first thing you should do is develop at least a vague concept of what you expect from the finished product. Not only is this step commonly overlooked in the starting phase of project development, but also during the creative briefing phase after hiring a design company.

Everyone wants to send off a project to the professionals and let them handle it all. If you’re having your car washed, then nothing is really required of you. For design briefs, you need to be more involved. Website design and graphic design are two areas where getting yourself involved is necessary to the perfect design for you and your business.

When you first meet with a website and graphic design agency, you should provide them with your ideas and goals. This gives the company something of a starting point. This doesn’t mean you are finished. No one is a mind reader. In order to make certain you get the best design possible, you must take the creative briefing stage extremely.

This is the part 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 quicker they 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.

As a growing area, there are many new families and people in the Mackay region who require the services of a Mackay lawyer*, solicitor or law firm for the first time. Choosing a law firm to do the conveyancing to help you buy a house or building, to advise you about starting a business or to prepare important documents such as wills or enduring powers-of-attorney, can be a intimidating and worrying process.

When you are needing a Mackay solicitor, lawyer or law firm you ought to seek the following characteristics:

Happy Customers
For most people it is impossible to compare the quality of legal services provided by one Mackay solicitor/lawyer or another. Unless you are a regular user of a similar kind of legal service you won’t really be able to compare different law firms. Look for a Mackay solicitor who is proud of their past performance with generous use of references from previous or existing clients. If they provide quite a number of testimonials it tells you two things. Firstly, that they have numerous happy clients and secondly, that they are willing to take the time and trouble to discover what clients think of their service. They are aware that theirs is a service-oriented business.

Local Knowledge
Any Mackay solicitor or lawyer ought to have good local knowledge and experience in assisting other people in the region. Find out if the firm has worked on local developments or firms with established conveyancing sections that will have built up a valuable amount of “inside knowledge” about the property market, local agents and banks which can make all the difference to the ease and efficiency of your transaction.

Breadth of services
Because you will only need a lawyer occasionally, there is value in choosing a Mackay solicitor, lawyer or law firm that can provide you with the full range of services without having to move around to alternate law firms. Finding a firm that can help with conveyancing, estate planning, disputes, business services and even workplace or employment issues, means you can be confident that the one firm which will meet all your legal requirements. Law firms value clients who use a range of services, and are often able to provide those services more cheaply and efficiently if they have provided other services 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.

If you really want to look deeply at why the two of you have the unique relationship and issues 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 issues, 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 strengths, faults, 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 bizarre, inconsiderate, 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 yearn 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.

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

Travel to Straddie through the township of Cleveland will take you about fifty minutes using the vehicle ferry. Cleveland is a 30 minute drive from Brisbane International Airport and Brisbane central, and an drive from the Gold Coast. The boat ride across Moreton Bay is the first step that makes Stradbroke Island such a fabulous experience.

Stradbroke Island covers 27,530 hectares, making it 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. The beaches are able to be accessed by four-wheel drive, bicycle or tramping, with numerous popular camp sites placed down Main Beach, and views are visible from almost everywhere on the island.

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 buildings 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 (or Minjerriba to the indigenous Noonuccal tribe) was home to renowned Aboriginal poet Kath Walker, or Oodgeroo Noonuccal. There is a lot of Aboriginal and European history surrounding Dunwich where the water taxis and barges moor.

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

North Stradbroke attracts 4WDers, fishers, surfies and beach-lovers to the free lengths of sandy coast and rugged granite headlands, and the Island offers a range of accommodation, restaurants, cafes and holiday attractions. With an incredible diversity of attractions available and stunningly beautiful places to explore, 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 destination, and only a thirty kilometre drive on a sealed road from Dunwich. The North Gorge Headland is 40m above sea level and known as a leading land-based whale-watch 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 year round. Whales, dolphins, turtles and manta rays can often be 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 with several freshwater lakes, waterways and lagoons that are accessible by four-wheel drive or on a guided tour with one of Straddie’s friendly tour operators.

One of the best features of the island is being able to purchase fresh seafood available direct from local fishermen. Just look for signs at Amity Point and Point Lookout which direct you to their homes and the freshest, most delicious catch-of-the-day around. For those who prefer the work be done for them, Straddie’s restaurants and cafes all make use of this perfect resource in their menus.

“The Point” offers several alfresco style cafes, a bakery, chemist, post office, newsagent, corner store and supermarket. The island also has its own bus service linking all 3 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! Stradbroke boasts what is perhaps the last truly old-school surf shop in the country, that focusses on selling surfing 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/

Situated on Brisbane’s eastern doorstep, North Stradbroke Island (’Straddie’ to the initiated) is another of Australia’s east coast natural treasures -a perfect escape destination. Something of a secret, it is only recently that Straddie has begun to shine on the tourism and real-estate radar.

Travel to Straddie via the Brisbane suburb of Cleveland takes about fifty minutes using the vehicle ferry. Cleveland is a half-hour drive from Brisbane International Airport and Brisbane central, 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 destination.

Stradbroke Island covers 27,530 hectares, making it 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. The beaches are able to be accessed by four-wheel drive, bicycle or on foot, with a number of good camping sites placed down Main Beach, and beautiful views appear visible from almost everywhere on Straddie.

Thirty-five kilometres of white sandy beaches fringe the island’s eastern side, from Point Lookout in the north to Jumpin Pin in the south. From the Point lookout headland, the towering jungle of the Gold Coast can be clearly visible, being a reminder of the stark contrast to the more relaxed lifestyle of Straddie.

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

The calm 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 produces clean water that fish, and particularly Stradbroke Rock Oysters thrive in.

North Stradbroke attracts four-wheel drivers, anglers, surfers and beach-lovers to the free stretches of beach and rugged granite headlands, and the Island offers a good range of accommodation, restaurants, cafes and holiday attractions. With a diversity of attractions on offer and beautiful spots to explore, North Stradbroke is a popular holiday location 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, and only a 30km drive on a sealed road from Dunwich. The North Gorge Headland is forty metres above sea level and recognised as a leading land-based whale-watch area in the colder months, and world-class surfing and fishing throughout the year.

Point Lookout’s unspoilt beaches and headlands are perfect for swimming, surfing and fishing all year round. Whales, dolphins, turtles and manta rays can often be viewed 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 and has 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 best experiences of the island is the fresh seafood available direct from local fishermen. Look for the signs at Amity Point and Point Lookout which direct you to their homes and the freshest catch-of-the-day around. For those that prefer the work be done for them, Straddie’s restaurants and cafes all make use of this fabulous resource in the menu.

“The Point” offers several alfresco style cafes, a bakery, chemist, post office, newsagent, corner store and supermarket. The island also has a bus service which links all 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 drop in for a quick 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 equipment rather than fashion.

The jewels in Stradbroke’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/