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 wallet share of your stable of clients, you will need to create content.

Content is the lifeblood of legal marketing, and without it you might just as well not have a law firm marketing plan. However, producing content means hard work, and you should make the best of the writing that you can produce. Following are some ideas for making sure you use the two most reliably 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 written any worthwhile, interesting material in any of the types mentioned, don’t only send it off once or print it and leave it to sit in your reception area. You should distribute the content as broadly as possible. For every piece of writing you produce, consider:

- Have I sent it to as many, relevant, clients as possible?
- Is it loaded onto our website?
- Have I emailed it direct to referrers, 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?
- Is everyone in my company aware of it and can they explain it in detail if a client asks?
- Can I turn it into another kind of content and distribute in a different format?

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 and then left to become stale. All of that time involved in preparing them results in just one showing. If you want to get more out of your presentation consider:

- Who else may 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?
- Can I send the presentation in hard copy 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 topics that arose during the presentation?
- Have I followed up with additional content to all the people that attended the presentation?

While some of these suggestions may feel like additional work just when you’ve possibly damaged your monthly billings with the amount of time you spent preparing the first lot of material, it is crucial to remember that it is much easier to add a small 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.

Improve the results of all the time and effort you put into law firm marketing and you’ll find that the next time you need to create some content you will feel more positive about how effective the results 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 assist you discover how compatible you are.

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

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

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

Self Preservation Instinct.
People of this Instinctual variant are preoccupied with the basic survival needs as they translate into our contemporary society, for example, finance, food, accomodation, health, physical safety and comfort.
Being secure 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 chairs, the room temperature, when the coffee break will be, and whether they will enjoy the food provided. They also tend to be the most practical in the sense of taking care of important necessities of life.
They are the most introverted of the types.

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

Social Instinct.
People of this variation are focused on their interactions with other people and with the sense of value and esteem they derive from their participation in collective activities. These include occupation, relationships, side activities and clubs.
Upon entering a room, these people would immediately be aware of the power structures and subtle politics between different people and groups. They are subconsciously focused on other’s reaction to them, particularly about whether they are being accepted or not.
They need to connect with others to feel secure, alive and energised. They seem to love interacting with others, but they eschew intimacy.
They are the most extroverted of the types.

Within a personality, one of these three Instincts will dominate. In fact the three variants can be ordered like the sections of a cake, with the most predominant one at the top. The weakest one, at the bottom, is termed the blind spot.
These inherent instincts play an essential role in our relationships because personalities of the same variant tend to share values and 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

2011 October 10
by squadron

Stone veneer is a modern way to decorate the walls of a developing. The stone veneer cladding offers a stylish method adopted by architects to impart a dynamic look to a lifeless construction. This is mostly used for aesthetic 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 imaginative. Stone veneer is also efficiently used in landscapes and complementing the natural beauty of the open spaces as well.

Stone Veneer acts as a ornamental and protecting masking on outside as well interior walls and surfaces. The veneer is typically 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 discipline stone. The stone is then sawn using 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 creating material. It is produced to imitate the appearance of natural stone. There are a number of titles 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 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 working with unique top 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 employing different stones. The manufactured stone veneer is less costly 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. 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 Therefore lessens the cost. There is a vast variety of designs, patterns and colors available on manufactured options as compared to the natural stone since the natural stone is generally used in the area close to where it is extracted due to the huge transportation rates.

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 costs. Stone veneers are preferred these days for most of decorative facing in makings 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 optimization which is the process of improving a websites awareness on search engines. Websites that are highly ranked in search results have more site visitors. SEO targets many options together with image search, local search, video search and academic search. Today, there are many companies offering low cost SEO packages~deals} for consumers~shoppers~buyers} who want their sites’ rankings to rise. SEO’s (acronym referring to search engine optimizers) use different methods to attain good search engine optimization on the customer’s website.

Any company offering low-cost SEO packages~deals} should be able to enable the clients site rise in the search engines fast. When many internet users search for a particular term(also referred to as ‘keyword’), 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 realized in a short time period of time. being 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 hyperlinks are from other sites and they are important mainly because of their significance to search engine optimization. A site with a big number of back hyperlinks is one indication that it is well-liked 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 alternative is of great importance to any website owner who wants his site to get ranked fast.

LSI posts writing is among the most popular SEO selections. 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 rigid when it comes to content. They require a webpage to have keyword rich content so that it can get good rankings. In many cases, search engine optimizers publish content for buyer}s observing key phrase density and also length. articles of considerable good length are better placed to get ranked much much easier than short ones with crappy content. All posts 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 inexpensive SEO bundles~deals} providers want solutions so as to improve rankings to their money creating websites. They either have affiliate links on their sites, promote CPA, run adsense or offer companies that people pay for. To them, it is an investment and Consequently it makes perfect reason for getting good site rankings.

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

- regardless of whether the company has been offering the providers for a considerable interval of time,

-whether or not the company charges reasonably,

-whether or not the company offers all the services that he/she needs and also,

-no matter whether the company has reviews from previous successful projects.

Having discovered that all the above levels~factors} are well taken care of, he/she can from that stage arrangement their companies. The purchaser} should ensure that all instructions and particulars are meticulously tended to before giving them out to the SEO guys. utilizing 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. mainly because of the ever growing internet working with inhabitants globally, these providers will continue to provide their providers 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 client 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 somefactor 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 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 your self 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 actually cooking on it can be a time consuming and cumbersome task. When it arrives to spit roast hire, there are firms which will let you simply hire the spit roast and do everymatter yourself, or give you a fully loaded package in which everypoint from setting up, cleaning up and helping is done by a team of professional caterers. So depending on whether you have enough time or not you can decide if you want to do it all oneself 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 point about charcoal spits is the fact that the meat you cook on it will retain the scrumptious smokey flavor of the charcoal. Gas spits will not permit for that. However, charcoal spits are messy, they create a lot of smoke a cigarette and can be dangerous if not attended to. Gas spits are cleaner, make less of a mess and don’t create as much substance. Another disadvantage of charcoal spits is that you are not able to use them in closed spaces because they create a lot of heat and smoke a cigarette. If you plan to cook insides, a gas spit makes much more sense. Having said that, 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 procedure of cooking and everypoint 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 instance 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. speaking about spit roast hire, gas spits come in a restricted number of sizes whereas charcoal spits are available in a greater range of sizes.

Cost Of Charcoal v/s Gas Spit
One of the most important factors 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 almost 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 inside 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 made up your mind that it’s time for a new site or design. For most, the first step is to choose the right organization. However, the first thing you should do is develop at least a basic concept of what you expect from the completed product. Not only is this step commonly overlooked in the initial phase of project development, but also during the creative briefing stage after recruiting a design company.

Everyone wants to dump off a concept to the professionals and let them handle everything. If you’re having your car washed, then nothing is really needed from you. For design briefs, you need to be more directly involved. Website design and graphic design are two areas where getting yourself involved is essential to the perfect design for you and your organization.

During your first meeting with a website and graphic design firm, you should provide them with your ideas and goals. This gives the company with 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 understand what you want. 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

Because it is a popular and growing area, there are many new residents in the Mackay region that are choosing a Mackay solicitor* or law firm for the first time. Finding a lawyer to complete the legal work to help you purchase a home, to advise you about starting a business or to prepare important documents such as wills or enduring powers-of-attorney, can be a daunting and stressful process.

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

Happy customers
For most people it’s almost impossible to compare the quality of legal services that is provided by one Mackay solicitor/lawyer or another. Unless you regularly use a similar kind of legal service you can’t really compare various law firms. What you can do is look for a Mackay lawyer who is proud of their past performance and offers a number of references from previous or existing clients. If they have numerous testimonials it tells you two things. Firstly, that they have numerous satisfied clients and secondly, that they are willing to take the time and go to the trouble to find out what clients think of their service. They are aware that they are a service-oriented business.

Local knowledge
Any Mackay lawyer or solicitor should have good local knowledge and experience in helping other people in the region. Look for firms that have worked on local developments or firms with established conveyancing sections that will have developed a valuable amount of “inside knowledge” about the property market, local agents and banks that will make all the difference to the ease and efficiency of your transaction.

Breadth of Services
Because most people only need a lawyer rarely, there is value in choosing a Mackay lawyer, solicitor or law firm that can provide 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 rely on one firm to meet all your legal needs. Law firms value clients who use a range of services, and will often provide services more cheaply when 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.

Relationship Counselling can help you discover more about yourself.

2011 October 2
by squadron

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 useful ways to examine yourself and just as importantly, how you contribute 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 modes of thinking, feeling and acting. Each style has its own natural gifts, 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 strange, inconsiderate, intrusive, self-interested, seductive or charming ways that he or she does.

Once you know how he or she see things from the inside out, 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.

Stradbroke Island Queensland – Travel Guide

2011 September 28

Located on Brisbane’s eastern coast, North Stradbroke Island (”Straddie” to the initiated) is another of Australia’s natrual treasures and a perfect escape destination. Something of a secret, it is only in recent years that Stradbroke Island has begun to show up on the tourist and property radar.

To travel to Stradbroke Island via the bayside village of Cleveland takes about 50 minutes using the vehicle ferry. Cleveland is a half-hour 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 of a series of experiences that make visiting Stradbroke Island such a wonderful experience.

Stradbroke Island is 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. It’s beaches are able to be accessed by four-wheel drive, bicycle or on foot, with numerous popular camping sites located all the way down Main Beach, and fabulous 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 in 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 more relaxed lifestyle of Straddie.

North Stradbroke (or Minjerriba to the indigenous Noonuccal people) was home to celebrated Aboriginal poet Kath Walker, or Oodgeroo Noonuccal. There is much Aboriginal and European history surrounding Dunwich where water taxis and vehicular barges land.

The calm waters of Moreton Bay swish 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 sea creatures, and particularly Stradbroke Rock Oysters thrive in.

North Stradbroke attracts 4WDers, fishermen, surfies and beach-lovers to the wide lengths of beach and rugged granite headlands, and the Island also offers a wide range of accommodation, restaurants, cafes and holiday attractions. With an incredible diversity of experiences available and stunningly beautiful places to discover, North Stradbroke is a fantastic holiday place 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 thirty kilometre 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 throughout from May-November, 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 spotted 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 four-wheel drive or on a tour with one of Straddie’s tour operators.

One of the greatest features of the island is being able to purchase fresh seafood available direct from local fishermen. Look for signs at Amity Point and Point Lookout which will direct you to their homes and the freshest 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 island resource on 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 its own bus service which links all 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! Stradbroke also 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 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

Located on Brisbane’s eastern coast, North Stradbroke Island (”Straddie” to those familiar) is one of Australia’s natrual treasures and a perfect escape destination. Something of a secret, it is only in recent years that Stradbroke Island has started to show up on the tourist and real-estate radar.

To travel to Straddie by way of the bayside village of Cleveland will take approx. 50 minutes using the vehicle ferry. Cleveland is a thirty minute drive from Brisbane International Airport or Brisbane central, and one hour’s drive from the Gold Coast. The ferry ride across Moreton Bay is the first step that makes Stradbroke Island such a great destination.

Stradbroke Island is 27,530 hectares, and therefore 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. The beaches are accessible by four-wheel drive, bicycle or tramping, with numerous good camping sites located down Main Beach, and fabulous views appear visible from almost everywhere on Straddie.

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 concrete 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 home to celebrated Aboriginal poet Kath Walker, or Oodgeroo Noonuccal. There is a great deal of Aboriginal and European history in Dunwich where the water taxis and barges berth.

The 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 clean water which sea creatures, and particularly Stradbroke Rock Oysters thrive upon.

North Stradbroke attracts 4WDers, fishers, surfies and beach-lovers to the free lengths of sandy coast and rugged granite headlands, and the Island also has a good range of accommodation, restaurants, cafes and holiday infrastructure. With a diversity of attractions on offer and beautiful spots to discover, North Stradbroke is a fabulous holiday place 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 a popular 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 site during the colder months, 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 are regularly seen 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 4WD or on a tour with one of Straddie’s tour operators.

One of the greatest features 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, 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 wonderful island resource in the menus.

“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 which links 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 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 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/