by Tracey Lloyd

Created on: July 13, 2008

Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia

As you come across the Houghton Highway from Brisbane, you can smell the change in the air there is a freshness, a happiness, a memory of summer days gone by that is unique to Redcliffe. Welcome to the Redcliffe Peninsula, 35 kilometres north of Brisbane. Redcliffe is a mixture of old and new the place of first European settlement in Queensland yet currently in the midst of a property development boom. There is plenty to keep a tourist interested when visiting Redcliffe from art to history to adventure sports or just sitting back and enjoy the sun, sand and sea. There are also cycling and walking tracks that navigate the Peninsula

Why not start your day at Pelican Park, Clontarf set right on the beach, you can watch pelicans being feed daily. After the pelicans have finished their feed, you might feel like some food yourself head down the Hornibrook Esplanade to Woody Point Village. Before you stop off for food, stop at Apex Park and enjoy the place where in 1799 Matthew Flinders became the first European man to step onto Redcliffe's soil. Woody Point Village is home to a bustling caf society where you can enjoy a morning tea or pick up an early lunch at the Belvedere Hotel. As you leave Woody Point Village, driving or walking up Gayundah Esplanade, stop at the top and take a look down at the Gayundah wreck, a warship from 1885 to 1921 and then a sand and gravel barge from the end of World War 1 to 1958.

After the Gayundah, continue driving along the main road around Redcliffe (this changes name quite a few times but as long as the beach is on your right side you are on the right road). At the intersection of King Street and Margate Parade is the Scotts Point Bathing Pavilion, a historic piece of Redcliffe. Continue along Margate Parade (which turns into Marine Parade) until you reach Suttons Beach. Suttons Beach is the playground of Redcliffe, a great place for families to enjoy a swim on a lifesaver patrolled beach or just buy an ice cream and build a sandcastle. From Suttons Beach, you can walk around the bike pathway to Redcliffe itself (Redcliffe has 22km of bike pathways circling the peninsula) and take a swim at Settlement Cove Lagoon (if you don't want to take your chances in the sea). Settlement Cove Lagoon was built in the early 1990s to provide Redcliffe with a safe and fun place to go swimming and to recognise the landing of European settlers. If you look up, you will see the red cliffs that inspired Matthew Flinders

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