The wild side of Brisbane's bay

The first thing that strikes you when hand-feeding a wild dolphin is the size of its teeth. Long, large rows of them swivel towards your hand as you hold your little bait-fish under the water. My companion was unsettled. Standing in knee-deep water, she was sufficiently alarmed to fumble with her fish and drop it.

The dolphin carer standing with us gave her another fish and encouraged her to put her hand below water. My companion mustered her courage and did so. The dolphin swam gently forward and took the fish with the utmost care.

"It was as though she knew you were uncomfortable," the dolphin carer said as we returned to the beach.

The dolphin we met was known as Shadow and was a member of a bottlenose dolphin pod that inhabits Brisbanes Moreton Bay. Shadow plays "aunt" to the younger dolphins that swim into the beach for nightly feeding at Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort on Moreton Island.

I'd also given a fish to Shadow and, even though I wasn't allowed to touch her, I leaned right down and looked at her face. She stared back placidly and emitted contented buzzes and squeaks.

These animals are technically wild and Tangalooma ensures the guests only feed them a small percentage of their daily diet each night.

From this pristine island, it was hard to believe the bustle of Australia's third largest city lay just below the horizon. Tangalooma prides itself on eco-activities that involve everything from eco-walks to pelican feeding.

Whale Watching

Only two days before, we'd embarked on another eco-adventure on Moreton Bay - a day trip with Moreton Bay Whale Watching. Boarding the fast-cat "Eye Spy" at Redcliffe jetty, we zipped across the bay and around the northern point of Moreton Island.

Now numbering in their thousands, Humpback whales were hunted to the verge of extinction during their annual winter and spring breeding pilgrimage to Queensland until whaling was abolished in the 1960s.

The tell-tale spout from a whale's blow-hole signalled the whales were not far and soon we approached a pod of three or four.

Nothing prepares you for how big they are. There's a moment of uncertainty when you realise what damage they could do to even the largest yacht if they got aggressive.

But they're incredibly placid. As we watched, one rolled on its side and lazily slapped its fin. Then, completely unexpectedly, a 10m whale breached right out of the water and slammed down on its side.

The water thundered and churned in response for nearly half a minute.

Just when we thought it couldn't get better, a pod of dolphins raced up to the cat and leapt alongside as they gave chase.

The next day, we continued our Moreton Bay adventure with a day sail aboard the retired Sydney to Hobart race winner, Solo, from Manly Harbour.

The crew hoisted the spinnaker and turned off the engine. It's a placid experience lounging on the deck, absorbing the peace with the slight wash of waves.

Later, trooping ashore at Moreton Island for a sand tobogganing stint, we were led up through some steep sand dunes and came across “the desert”, a stunning wilderness of snowy-white sand.

Moreton Island is asserting itself as the world's third largest sand island behind the other Queensland islands of Fraser and North Stradbroke.

We'd brought wooden boards with us and after a brief instruction talk by our guide, we struggled up a gigantic white dune and one-by-one, we lay down on our boards and launched ourselves over the edge.

Sand tobogganing is wild. The speed builds up at an incredible pace and the wind rushes against your face. Unfortunately, I let the front edge of my board down and was catapulted forward, face planting into the sand.

But with so many good experiences behind me, I couldn't stay annoyed for long.

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Story By Shaun O'Dowd
Story Courtesy of Tourism Queensland