It was the view that got Steve and Denise Maggs to Lamb Island.
And now they get to see Stradbroke, Macleay and Moreton islands every day.
“When I come home from work on the ferry, I feel like I am going on a holiday. There’s scenery all the way home,” Steve said.
The couple moved to Lamb Island in June, having bought a four-year-old, two-bedroom, two-bathroom Hampton-style house on the water.
“You feel like you’ve got off the treadmill for a while and are a million miles away,” he said.
Certainly it was not something Steve anticipated.
“Earlier, I posted on Facebook that I would never have thought I’d have bought beside the ocean, have had cancer and got a cat,” he said.
Steve is the original manager of Cineplex at Victoria Point (16 of 20 years working for Cineplex) and Denise works in childcare at Redland Bay.
The couple moved to the island from a 1500-square-metre property in Logan.
“This was a way of downsizing and getting a smaller yard. Our yard now is 900 square metres bordered by mangroves and the bay,” he said.
Steve said since moving to the island, they immediately felt like a part of the broader island community.
“We like to go to the recreation club for dinner every week,” he said.
“We basically walked in on the first day and were signing in and someone came up to us to welcome us.
“There is a real sense of community here. Everyone waves to each other.
“And Lamb Island is small. You can walk everywhere if you want to.”
Lamb Island is two by one kilometre in size with an approximate population of 500. There is a general store and netted swimming area near the recreation club.
With inter-island ferry transport free, all services at all the islands are available to all islanders.
Steve said the only issue he faced living on the island was parking on the mainland.
“It seems there just aren’t enough spaces. Lots of people have to park streets away,” he said.
