Submitted by Andrew Gills:
Moreton Island is the third largest sand island in the world. It is 32km (20 miles) off the Brisbane coast and is visible most days from the mainland. The island can be visited by 4WD (All-terrain) vehicle. It is accessible by ferry to Tangalooma Resort or The Wrecks.
The 90km loop can be run in either direction and from either ferry drop off point. The northern and southern ends of the island must be passed at low tide due to hazards that make the beach impassable at high tide. At the southern end, these hazards include fallen trees and Mirabell Lagoon. At the northern end, the main hazard is the Heath Island creek crossing.
The south-western beach is always impassable due to mangrove swamp but a soft sandy 4WD track follows the coast. This is an acceptable route.
Cape Moreton is impassable on the coast. A soft sandy 4WD track with 20% grade crossed the headland from the eastern beach to North Point Campground. This is an acceptable route to follow.
Bring water to the island because none is available at Tangalooma Resort for non-residents. You cannot even buy it. There are water bores at most camps on the island including Rous Battery, Eagers Beach and North Point Campground. Treat before drinking because there was recently an ecoli outbreak on the island associated with the bore water. Water can also be purchased at The Gutter Bar in Kooringal Township (when it is open) and at Bulwer shop (if it is open). Kooringal and Bulwer are only open during daytime hours.
This route is all on sand. There is no relief. The sand is mostly soft. This is not a run on hard packed low tide sand.
Vehicles drive on the beaches. Be ware as they see it as a road not a walkway. High visibility gear is recommended at night.
Comments
Self Supported Moreton Island Circumnavigation FKT planned attempt - mid October 2022 *tides, weather final date TBD.
I'd like to acknowledge the official name given originally to this island (otherwise known as Moreton Island) by the Ngugi People, the traditional owners and custodians with continuing connection to the land and water, recognised on 4th July 2011 by the High Court of Australia - as Mulgumpin meaning 'Place of sandhills'.
Mulgumpin is the third largest sand island in the world and is !Â
I'd like to pay my respects to the Ngugi People of Mulgumpin, and the Gorenpul and Nunukal People of Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) meaning 'Place of many mosquitoes' and to the Kabi Kabi and Joondoburri people of Yarun (Bribie Island) meaning 'Hunting Ground' and acknowledge the important role they, collectively known as the Cungen Zungun People meaning 'people of the dugong' , continue to play in Quandamooka Country.Â
I'd like to pay my respects to their Elders past and present from across Quandamooka Country, and seek permission from the Ngugi of Mulgumpin, to travel through (and in this instance circumnavigate around) your country as I attempt this FKT.
I want to take a moment to specifically acknowledge Dr Robert Anderson OAM (93 years young) otherwise known as Uncle Bob, Ngugi Elder and delegate of the National Congress of Australia's First People, for his tireless leadership and incredible legacy left for oncoming generations, helping us all to better understand how to tread softly, gently, respectfully on this land and I commit to continue to learn more about the history and culture of this incredibly precious place.
I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of Mulgumpin as I state my intention to circumnavigate Mulgumpin (Moreton Island) in a FKT attempt at the end of October.Â
On 13 October 2022, I set, at that time the FKT overall unsupported at 11:56:32.
I would like to congratulate Rebecca Esat, who on Friday 28 October 2022, went and lowered the FKT unsupported by a further 25 minutes.
It is a great thing to see the interest in FKTs in Australia growing. And what a beautiful location for an interesting format of racing.
R
Ran unsupported with John McMahon, going anti-clockwise.Â
We got the 2:30am ferry on Easter Friday, arriving to Moreton just before 4am. Stashed a finish bag in the bushes and started running by torchlight at 4am.Â
We ran well for the first 20km down to Kooringal, with nice cool conditions and the tide low. Made good time and stopped briefly at the toilet block around sunrise (2hrs elapsed) for a water refill. Continued on the acceptable route through town and popped out on the Eastern beach. First 5km along here was glorious wide beach, spectacular just after sunrise.Â
Unfortunately just after Mirapool Lagoon, the evidence of recent cyclone Alfred’s effects on the surf side of the island became clear. We were met with many trees down on the beach, forcing some bush bashing on the dunes for 20 mins. From there we could run on the sand, but were faced with a severely eroded beach, with limited width to run on, and an incoming tide. The next 30km or so was challenging - a hot day with no clouds and the tide caused us to stop every 1-2mins when a large wave would stop us in our tracks - coming up to knee or waist height. Also resulted in lots of sand and rocks in our shoes. Made our journey a lot slower than expected.Â
Stopped at Blue Lagoon campsite for a water refill, then continued to the end of the Eastern beach and climbed up the track to the North Point campsite - 65km in. Took 10mins here to fill up with water again and attempt to clear sand/rocks from our shoes and socks. Accepted a welcome can of soft drink from a camper.Â
Made our way down the the northern beach, crossed Heath Island at just after high tide without any issues - only knee deep. Shortly after there were more trees down on the route, slowing us down more and forcing us to run on the dunes, climbing between the trees.Â
Once we cleared this obstacle it was great running on soft sand until Bulwer. Kept going on the beach past Bulwer and the Cowan Cowan but struggling with the heat. Had a short stop for a vomit 10km from the end, but rallied on to finish back at the wrecks just before 2:45pm. Then waited a couple of hours before getting the 5pm ferry back to Brisbane.Â
Official time of 10hrs43mins.
Was on track for the FKT but fell short due to a combination of heat, attrition and cyclone impacts. Shout out to Mason Newton, he has set a cracking time!Â
Keen to potentially give this another go in the future, with the learnings from this run. We had a fun time out, despite the challenges.Â
I would recommend running anti clockwise, going clockwise would result in a rough last 30km - no matter the tides. Would also start much earlier and run in winter - to use the cooler night time to run more hours, the heat of the day (30 degrees max) was tough with very little shade. The Eastern beach conditions/erosion/tree damage at the moment also make it very tough to have any sort of rhythm for this long section.Â