The Northern Suburbs of Brisbane City
Sandgate Beach
Shorncliffe, Sandgate and Brighton are adjacent seaside villages, just 16km north of Brisbane, on the Moreton Bay coast. They are connected by a pedestrian walkway that follows the Moreton Bay coastline from Shorncliffe Marina in the south to the Hornibrook bridge in the north. The tidal beaches are mainly covered in a fine golden brown sand with occasional rock and pebble patches. The sea level along this coast is quite shallow, exposing large areas of beach at low tide. There is an abundance of parks and picnic spots along the walkway with scatterings of cafes and restaurants. The sheltered bays are popular for boating, fishing, waterskiing and wind surfing.
Inland from the villages, you will find a series of lagoons, marshes and wetlands which are important breeding grounds for many bird species. The Deagon and Boondall environmental parks provide a unique insight to the natural vegetation of the area before the arrival of Captain Cooke
Shorncliffe is surrounded on three sides by the calm waters of Moreton Bay. It hosts the Sandgate Golf Club, which must be one of the few golf courses in Australia serviced by a railway line! The Sandgate Yacht Club is located at the junction of Cabbage Tree and Nundah Creeks which drain nutrition rich waters from the wetlands into the bay, arrracting hosts of smaller fish species. The yacht club has a fine marina in the sheltered inlet. The village still retains decendants of the original fishermen that founded the prawn and fish trawling industry in the area and you can still buy their fresh produce from the Fishermen's Cooperative seafood market.
Our History: The first European settlers arrived around 1860 when wealthy Brisbane residents purchased land along the seafront to build their holiday homes. Before the Shorncliffe pier was built in 1865, access to the area was by a twice daily coach from Brisbane. A railway line was constructed between Brisbane city and Shorncliffe in1882. This reduced the transit time to 35 minutes and opened up the area as the northernmost Brisbane suburb.
The villages now boast a combined population of 8,000, but the area is a mecca for rail travellers from the surrounding regions, including the Redcliffe Peninsula. Many of the original homes have been restored to their former glory and the villages retain their 19th century charm. This is especially evident in the homes along the waterfront and adjoining avenues.