Redcliffe: Oaks Mon Komo

The opulent new Oaks Mon Komo is the biggest thing to happen to Redcliffe since vitamin king Vaughan Bullivant built his and hers mansions for him and his then wife up the road at Scarborough.

The sprawling, Hawaiian-inspired complex is the jewel in the crown of the city’s attractive waterfront, with its panoramic vistas of Moreton Island and the bay below and the Glasshouse Mountains to the west.

Two words best sum up the rooms: Light and Space. The palatial two-bedroom Ocean View apartment is as big as a house, and its minimalist décor with its stony palette and high ceilings is designed to capture the breezes and natural light from the bay winking at you below. It’s not even the biggest apartment on offer, so bring a GPS if you book a three-bedder.

All rooms have private balconies, and the fully appointed kitchen is a nice touch if you want to sample the local seafood. If the plunge bath in the ensuite isn’t big enough, try the inviting infinity pool on the mezzanine below. The only thing missing is a spa.

The towering hotel has the prime northern position overlooking Redcliffe’s low-rise esplanade. The twin building to the south houses the very relaxed looking permanent residents. Maybe they came for a weekend and didn’t want to return to the rat race. It’s not hard to see why they were seduced by the lifestyle here, just 30 to 40 minutes from Brisbane, a trip that has been trimmed significantly by the duplication of the Hornibrook Bridge.

The Food

Did we mention the seafood? Below the hotel is the Caribbean-inspired Caribbee restaurant and bar/nightclub/café. Like the apartments above, it has a spacious indoor-outdoor feel with a pleasant outlook through lush tropical gardens to the esplanade and bay beyond.

Don’t let all that distract you from the menu. You’d have go a long way to find a breakfast menu that has scram with fresh crab meat ($20) as a menu staple. For lunch or dinner, it is hard to go past the Mon Komo seafood tier for one or two ($49/$85). With steamed mussels, grilled and fresh prawns, bugs, divine softshell crab and Cuban spiced swordfish that melts in the mouth, it is several notches above the average seafood platter that’s more batter than platter. Not to mention value.

To top it off, a request to substitute the oysters for the coconut prawns (a steak topper that drew raves from an adjoining table) was no trouble at all for the obliging staff.

After that you’ll be flat out like a lizard drinking, and one of the resident water dragons just might join you on the deck for a digestif. So smile like a reptile as you sip on a rum punch and watch the locals out for their afternoon exercise, and think about joining them manana.

The Activities

Redcliffe’s waterfront is a well-kept secret from the hordes that bypass it on their bumper-to-bumper way to the Sunshine Coast. Not to the locals, though, who wholeheartedly embrace their beach, public lagoon, amphitheatre, walking and cycling tracks and sophisticated public gym equipment laid on for their enjoyment. It’s hard not to want to join in, they seem to enjoy it so much.

Slip on your sandals for a stroll north to the jetty markets (Sundays from 8.30am) and then on to Morgans Seafoods at Scarborough Harbour for spot of lunch perhaps, or have a dip and hang around the sunset; Scarborough is one of the few places near Brisbane you can see the sun set over water.

To the south at Margate is Seafood Lovers Café (you may detect a theme here) for expertly grilled fish and seaside picnic tables across the road with your name on them. A short drive further south is the Belvedere Hotel at Woody Point with its upmarket restaurant upstairs overlooking the bay. Or go fly a kite at Pelican Park. No, really, it’s home to the annual Kitefest on May 18 and 19.

From here Moreton Island seems so close, and you can hop across for day trip on the Sunrover, or in season go whalewatching, both direct from Redcliffe.

The Weekend

Do as little or as much as you want but one visit might not be enough when you get a taste of what lies in store just across the bridge to the north. Once a barrier, that long bridge is now a gateway to a place that feels far removed from the big, bustling city to the south.

The locals don’t seem too bothered about daytrippers, or the lack thereof. In fact they don’t seem too bothered by much at all. The pace of life is just that much slower and more relaxed.

With its hotels, cafes, restaurants and public spaces, and lack of mudflats, the Redcliffe esplanade is moving up in the world. You only wonder why it wasn’t discovered sooner.

• Shane Brady was guest of Oaks Mon Komo.