Nikki Wilson 
                                                                  
                                                            

David May David came to Point Lookout for a holiday in 1991. He fell in love. At that time David was writer/photographer for a magazine travel section and was traveling nationally and internationally. He moved his office to Point Lookout and with the help of computers has not looked back. He has produced many stories and cover shots for magazines such as Playboy, Penthouse, Post, Time magazine, Women's Weekly and The Bulletin.  He is still travelling all over the world and Australia writing and photographing for the travel section for Australian Newspapers. David has travelled extensively and admits there is no better place than home. Point Lookout is politically stable, safe, peaceful and pristine. He finds great pleasure walking along the beautiful Straddie beaches, watching the environment change from the elements that Mother Nature throws at Straddie. Another passion David has while at home is cooking. He has many fabulous stories to tell about his expeditions around the world. Here is one such example. "It was about midnight a couple of years ago, heading back to a bush camp in Botswana in an open Landrover feeling relaxed and comfortable after getting a skinful of South African wine at another one when I had to ask the driver to pull up for a comfort stop. The headlights picked up a couple of red eyes in the bush just off the track, then a couple more, then a couple of hundred. He whispered: “God, get back.” It wasn’t that easy. He turned on the spotlight. In the beam was a line of Cape buffalo which, along with hippos, are the most dangerous animals in Africa. Then there were more. It was the same on the other side of the track. We had skilfully managed to split what turned out to be a huge herd of about 1,000 buffalo on their annual migration though the Okavango Delta. Then a bull suddenly bolted across the track triggering a colossal stampede. I stumbled back onto the truck just as a storm of bellowing, thundering animals swept past the vehicle, front and rear, in a cloud of dust, bumping and rocking it like a toy. In the panic, one rose above the deafening melee and gored another one as the herd bolted into the night in a scene that would have challenged all the resources of Hollywood. Then, suddenly, it was over as quickly as it had begun. The dust settled and moments later three cute little spring hares hopped across the mauled sand as if nothing had happened as the driver, God bless him, produced a bottle of whisky."

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Lynn Jones Jonesy came to the island in 1990. He found the Straddie Hotel, had a beer and fell in love with the place. He never found his way back to where he was. He bought the Point Lookout Real Estate as it was known at that time. For the next ten years he turned this business into Ray White Accommodation Centre. Lynn was chairman of Redland Tourism for many years working with other Straddie businesses promoting the island. He started The Eagles Nest which was a ropes course catering to many different groups of people. Lynn is now doing Straddie Guides which is a 4 wheel drive tour showing all the different aspects of the island. Every year a group of businessmen leave the island for a weekend to go to a Rugby Test Final, whether it be union or aussie rules. There are 6 to 8 of them and they call themselves the Straddie 6 Pack. Unfortunately what happens on these weekends off the island is unknown. Lynn is boastful about the fact he shares a room with Jim Lally. He happily tells people that he sleeps with Jim once a year, much to Jim’s horror. Lynn enjoys the naturalness of the island and the way of being. His hobbies are general philosophy and bird watching. Straddie offers him the place to do both.

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Carol Clarey Carol has been involved with Straddie since the late 50’s. Her parents both loved to fish so after a couple of years of holidaying at the Point her father decided to move his family to the island. Carol’s schooling was done through correspondence until the Council started developing the gravel road between Dunwich and Point Lookout. She then went to school at Dunwich in the back of the gravel truck, arriving at school covered in dust. Growing up at Point Lookout was bush tracks and beaches so she spent lots of time swimming. Her favourite pastime was riding her horse around the bush and can still remember the bush tracks around Cylinder Headland where the Hotel stands today. Carol and her 2 brothers used to swing on the steel cable erected from the headland to Whale Rock before dropping into the gorge for a swim. One night in the middle of a terrible storm campers were taken to the Dancing Hall for shelter situated at the old camping grounds on Main Headland. Sometime through the night everyone was woken with lots of shouting asking for everyone to get out immediately. Safely outside, they watched in horror as the old Dance Hall slowly slid down the Headland. Carol worked in the Dining Room of both Samarinda and Clayton Cabins.  She feels she had a very special childhood on Straddie and still finds pleasure in hearing the Blow Hole come alive. Carol has 4 children and 9 grandchildren. Of course all visit throughout the year for holidays.

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Val Trevethen Val T – as he is fondly known – and his partner Narelle have lived at Point Lookout since 1996. He was introduced to Straddie by his cousin even though Val had flown over the island many times previously. Val has been a pilot since 1955, 15 years of service in the RAAF, then 20 years as an Airways Surveyor with the Civil Aviation Department. Val has many hobbies and the island offers him a place to enjoy them all. He is a keen fisherman and loves to go worming. Val has played bowls for many years and is a National Umpire for the sport. But the hobby Val T is most famous for is being Straddie’s Metal Detective Extraordinaire. He has been saviour to many locals and holidaymakers who have lost keys or items of jewelry on the beach or in the bush. Val enjoys the challenge that the majority of the requests presents and receives great satisfaction from a successful mission. His motto is “No Find, No Fee, No GST, You Decide On The Recovery”.

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2007 - Keith and Olga off to work	1985 - The Post Office
Olga & Keith White Olga and Keith first came to the island in 1969.  They were engaged to be married and were saving for their first home when the opportunity arose for them to buy a small shack at the Point with Olga’s parents.  In 1981 they replaced the shack with the house that stands today.  In 1985 the Point Lookout Post Office was available for sale.  That gave Olga and Keith an opportunity to have a unique lifestyle by the sea.  They packed their family and moved to Straddie. The Post Office at that time had 12 private boxes, today there are 327 boxes.  Olga has been the secretary warden of the Anglican Church since 1987.  Both of their two daughters and their two grandchildren were christened at the Point Lookout Church.  Keith enjoys walking and is a keen member of the Bay Players and the Stradbroke Island Singers.  He is also the man on the microphone for the famous Toad Races at the Straddie Hotel every Melbourne Cup Day.	1995- Melbourne Cup Day at Hotel; Keith calling toad races
Keith remembers the days before bitumen, Olga’s brother, who was about ten years old at the time, was coming back from the shop with bread when he was accosted by several wild brumbies intent on stealing his purchase. He took off with the horses in hot pursuit and reached the safety of home in Boreen  Street.  He rushed in, but in his haste, forgot to shut the gate and the horses trampled over their almost new aluminum li-lo recliner.  All Keith could say to the brother was ‘Maybe you should have just given them the bread mate.’	20 Year Celebrations 1985 - 2005

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Gwen Specht Gwen loves her life on Straddie.  She is proud to say there is three generations of the Specht family living on the island.  Two of her three children were born at Dunwich and all three still live here with their partners and families.  Gwen first came to the island with her father for a fishing weekend in 1946.  Her family spent many weekends and holidays travelling to the island until 1955 when she moved to Straddie with her parents.  She worked many jobs on the island and was one of the first bar maids to work at the Straddie Hotel.  There was no electricity in those days.  Gwen remembers the day the power was turned on at the Point.  It was a big day – lots of fanfare.  Local councillor Ellie Durbidge opened the ceremony.  Unfortunately the next day a cyclone passed through and knocked the power line down.  In 1973 Gwen was on the mainland when she heard the dreadful news of a shark attack on the island.  There was only a telephone exchange at that time and she took a couple of hours to find out it wasn’t one of her sons.  One of the highlights for 2007 for Gwen was to be invited to the opening of the new Stradbroke Hotel.

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Bob Hoffman Bob discovered Straddie in 1975 when he first came to the island for annual holidays. For the next 10 years he visited the island at least 3 times a year with his 2 children. In November 1985 he decided to bring his family to the island with a view to buying a business. He checked out the Amity Point General Store that was owned at the time by Jorgy and his wife Robyn. He noticed that there were 2 pallets of grog in the cold room, yes that’s right, 2 full pallets. He thought to himself that this looked like a good little business. He initiated business discussions but was shot down by Robyn as she said Bob was too much like Jorgy and she would not sell the business to him. That was the end of that.

The very same night Bob stopped in at the Straddie Hotel for a quiet scotch and was amazed at the fundraising raffle taking place. The Point Lookout Surf Lifesavers were raffling a finger in a jar. A real finger in a jar!  That was it.  Bob thought to himself  “This is definitely my kind of island”. In March 1986 he took over as owner of the Stradbroke Fruit & Vegies Shop situated in Endeavour Street where Dolphin Real Estate is. Once a week the locals would hear the horn of the fruit truck when Bob drove the streets of the Point selling fruit and vegies. After bannering many trading names like 727 and AUR Express, Bob is trading as Foodworks Point Lookout. However, it will always be known to many as simply ‘Bobs Shop’. Bob enjoys the lifestyle of Straddie and says it is the perfect spot to raise a family. He has a passion for horses and is the proud part owner of a couple of horses including a future champion – Cocktail Supreme. Bob has been a member of the Bowls Club for the past 26 years, a Committee Board Member for 16 years and the Treasurer for the past 14 years.

Jim Lally While owning the Jacaranda Hotel at Grafton Jim mentioned to his cousin Ian that he would like to buy a hotel in the Redlands area.  Ian’s reply to Jim was to say that the best pub in the Redlands is the Straddie Hotel.  So in 1983 Ian and Jim visited the Straddie Hotel for a look. The seed was planted and on the 7th May 1986 Jim as owner/licencee and his wife Judy started their long association with the famous Straddie Hotel.  Jim has always been involved with community fund raising, tourism and the promotion of Straddie.  He enjoys the lifestyle of living in a small community and says it is a great place to raise a family.  In fact Jim’s youngest daughter started her schooling at  Dunwich.  He has many stories to tell but fondly remembers one night in the Public Bar.  He was having a drink with mate Bob Hoffman.  The lights were low, all patrons had left when Bob dropped to the floor.  Jim starts to bend down to see if Bob needs mouth to mouth when reality hits him.  ‘What if someone like Jonesy walks past the bar and sees Bob on the floor with Jim bent over him?’  Much to Jim’s delight Bob came round only to drop to the ground once again.  Eventually Jim got Bob home.

Margaret Morris Margaret was introduced to Stradbroke Island by her mother when she was sixteen years. She reconnected with Straddie in the early 70’s visiting the island on weekends and staying in the Rabbit Hut. She decided to make this arrangement permanent in 1988. Margaret is a trained aromatherapy practitioner and decided Point Lookout was the perfect place to start a business.  She independently instigated the recycling on the island and for many years we watched Margaret collect bottles, putting them into 44 gallon drums ready for recycling.  She managed to get a contract with the Redland Shire Council and with their help worked at setting up the Refuse Station on the Island.  Margaret also worked at the Redland Times. Here she was responsible for photographing and writing about events happening on Stradbroke. This segment was aptly named “Straddie Snippets.” Margaret wrote for the local radio station promoting aromatherapy. She still works with essential oils making her own air fresheners and copy cat perfumes. Margaret is a carefree spirit who enjoys the quiet bohemian lifestyle on Straddie with fantastic places to walk and swim. She loves reading especially history on Stradbroke Island. Margaret’s embarrassing moment is when she thought she could be a tour guide on the island. She was curious about the history so she took a course at the local college to learn how to be a guide. At the end of the term a mock up tour was organized. Each person was given a topic.  The tour bus headed off from Dunwich to the headland at the Point where Margaret was to deliver on the naming and discovery of the Point. With great enthusiasm she leapt upon the step on the headland monument and announced “Sailing past in 1770 Point Lookout was named by Captain James Cock”. Mortified, she stepped from the pedestal realizing her destiny would never be as an Island Tour Guide. Sorry James!

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Noreen McKinnon Noreen came to Point Lookout thirty-four years ago to have a bit of rest before setting off on a working holiday. She has never left. In her first few years on the Island, Noreen worked at Samarinda Guest House, the Stradbroke Hotel and Dunwich Pre-School. She also married Alan McKinnon in one of the first weddings at the Point Lookout church. After eight years of working at the Pre-School, Noreen took time out to have her daughter Larissa. Three years later her son Jordie was born. Noreen's nursing background was put to good use on the Island. There were no doctors at Point Lookout, and sometimes none on the Island, so as a willing and competent bush nurse, she patched people up and sent them off to hospital if need be. As her children grew, so did her community service. When Larissa began kindergarten, Noreen began organising fetes and festivals, which made quite a lot of money for the school and other community organisations. Out of these activities grew YouthLink, an organisation dedicated to enriching the lives of the Island's children. YouthLink was the backbone of the Lantern festivals that celebrate life on Stradbroke Island and drew crowds in their thousands. YouthLink has now been running for fourteen years. Noreen also started the Point Lookout markets about twenty-five years ago, and they're still flourishing. They provide a marvellous opportunity for the Island's cooks and craft people to display and sell their wares, and with the brightly coloured canopies grouped around the Point Lookout Community Hall, have the vibrant atmosphere of a village fair. Noreen's Seaside Shop, her next venture, began some thirteen years ago, and what a wonderful addition to Island life that has been. The shop has become something of a hub on Stradbroke Island, somewhere to go to browse, buy, or just a refreshing chat with Noreen and her staff. Locals like visiting it often and visitors look forward to coming back.

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Bede Durbidge

Bede Durbidge is a local hero. He epitomizes two qualities that all Australians admire, the Aussie battler and the quiet achiever.
Bede grew up at Point Lookout and took his first wave standing up on his boogie board at an early age. He has progressed through the ranks over the ensuing years in local and state surfing titles and has now stormed onto the international pro circuit grabbing the world's attention by defeating Kelly Slater in spectacular style at the Boost Mobile Pro in California in 2006.
He is now the face to watch on the circuit and is currently competing overseas.
Bede has a huge local fan base on the Island and on the Gold Coast where he resides and Straddie Online is proud to announce that this website is home to Bede's official Home Page.
Click here to view his Home Page.

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Russell Specht

The name Russell Specht is synonymous with both Straddie and surfing.
Born on the Island in 1957, Russell has lived here ever since, and when asked why he has elected to spend his life based on Straddie he says, "Why would you leave paradise?"
Russell stays for the lifestyle, his family, his long term partner Jenni and the surfing.
His achievements and accolades in surfing are many. Russell started surfing in 1966 and hasn't been long off a surfboard since.  He is a life member of the Point Lookout Boardriders Club and has been Club Champion 16 times between 1972 and 1988 and again in 1990. 
He competed with the Queensland team in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1993 and 2003 and took out first place in the Queensland Masters in 1992.
He made it to the semi finals in the Australian Masters in 1993 and 2003 and placed 4th in the
Bali Legends competition in 2004.
Russell started the first Straddie Assault and represents the Point Lookout Boardriders Club every year in this competition. He finds it very gratifying to see the improvements in the results of all the local surfers over the years in this contest, going from last place to first place over its 21 year run.
Russell enjoys surfing in Indonesian waters too and first visited there in 1976. He has surfed East Timor through to North Sumatra and tries to get back to Indonesia every year.
Russell currently lives at Amity Point where he moved in 1993 having lived at Point Lookout up until then. 
He spends his days working as a carpenter, mainly at Point Lookout, and spending his free time in the surf pursuing his favourite pastime.

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Wayne Kissick

Born in 1954, Wayne Kissick came to North Stradbroke Island for a weekend in 1972 and returned home on the Sunday only to pack up his belongings and move back to Point Lookout the next day!
He found an unspoiled paradise to live in and a place where he could pursue his number one passion - surfing.
Wayne went on to become a highly regarded surfer on the competition circuit and by 1978 he was ranked 7th in Australia. He was proclaimed the first winner of the Straddie Easter Classic and is a life member of both the North Shore Boardriders Club and the Point Lookout Boardriders Club.
Wayne also had the first surfboard shaping factory on the Island, under the Headland Chalet.
He is a familiar and friendly face around Point Lookout and these days spends much of his time renovating and building houses and of course, surfing.

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Kath Walker - Oodgeroo Noonuccal
1920 - 1993

Kath Walker was one of North Stradbroke Island's most acclaimed residents, who was as well known for her poetry as she was for her unswerving commitment to her birthplace and its people.

Born Kathleen Jean Mary Ruska on the 3rd of November 1920 on North Stradbroke Island, she began her education on the Island and left school in 1933. She moved to Brisbane and found work as a domestic servant for professional families.
 
Kathleen was a young woman with a vision, and when the Second World War loomed she joined the war effort serving in the Australian Women’s Army Service. She was warned that she may experience some degree of racial discrimination in the Army, but found that this did not happen. She trained as a telephonist and was promoted to Corporal and became responsible for the training of new recruits.

Despite her success, persistent ear infections caused her to be invalided out of the Army. It was soon after this that she met her husband Bruce Walker and married him in 1942. She and Bruce had a son, Denis in 1946. Kathleen continued to work and took a job at Murrarie in the bacon factory, but the hours proved unsuitable whilst looking after a young child, and instead, began employment for Sir Raphael and Lady Cilento as their housekeeper. The Cilento’s encouraged her literary talent and took a great interest in her pursuits.

In the fifties, Kath joined the Communist Party believing that it may provide a good opportunity to advance the interests of Aboriginal people. At that time it was the only Australian political party without a White Australia Policy.

Kath Walkers first book of poetry, "We Are Going" was published in 1964 to high acclaim. Of the book she is quoted as saying, "You could say a poet is born, but you are not born a poet, you have to work on it. I felt that poetry would be the breakthrough for the Aboriginal people because they are story tellers and song makers, and I thought that poetry would appeal to them more than anything else. It was more a book of voices that I was trying to bring out, and I think I have succeeded in doing this."

In 1966 she published "The Dawn is at Hand" and it went on to win the Jessie Litchfield Award.

Soon after, Kath Walker was awarded the Fellowship of Australian Writers Award and the Dame Mary Gilmore Medal. She was also a very talented and prolific artist.

For her continued pursuit of social justice for the Aboriginal people of Australia, she was awarded the MBE in 1970 for services to Aboriginal people in the same year that she published her book, "My People".

After a productive and active year she moved back to the place of her birth and in 1971, she established "Moongalba" near Dunwich on North Stradbroke Island. It was here that she remained for the rest of her life, dedicating her time to educating people of all races about Aboriginal society and culture. She lived happily with her animals and invited more than 30,000 people into her open air classroom to share her knowledge with them.

During this time she preferred to be referred to by her Aboriginal name, Oodgero Noonuccal, Custodian of Minjerribah. Oodgeroo is the local Aboriginal word for paper bark tree.

On the 16th of September 1993, Oodgeroo sadly lost her short battle with cancer and passed away, leaving behind her a legacy of courage, creativity and compassion.