Jacqui Fitzgerald bought her home in the seaside town of Woorim two years ago in search of a peaceful lifestyle.
She quickly discovered that this would be anything but a problem. Fitzgerald is on the front line of Bribie Island's rapid tourism growth. Her home is adjacent to the national park entrance and four-wheel drive beach on the southern tip of the island, just north of Brisbane.
Cameras outside her home have captured some of the dangerous behavior over the years.
In one video, two cars appear to drag the race down the road, leaving a plume of black smoke in their wake. The sound of screeching tires echoes through the streets.
Another video shows a man deliberately accelerating on a sandy section of road, causing his tires to spin and screech.
Other images show cars driving on the wrong side of the road, endangering pedestrians and cyclists. A neighbor tells Guardian Australia he had a four-wheel drive plow into his steel fence. Others on the street have also set up cameras to monitor the area.
The once sleepy island now receives tens of thousands of visitors every year. Its popularity is largely due to its natural beauty and easy access, with a bridge connecting the island to the mainland. It also boasts the closest four-wheel drive and surfing beach in northern Brisbane.
But Fitzgerald says residents are growing frustrated by a lack of action to control the "thousands" of four-wheel drive vehicles that "hammer" the island during peak periods.
"I report on dangerous driving, and Queensland should have the strictest driving laws in the country, but nothing is happening here," Fitzgerald said.
"There are a lot of elderly people here... and they bring so many vehicles through a quiet residential village."
The Queensland Government this month released long-awaited studies conducted into sustainable tourism on Bribie Island, K'gari (Fraser Island) and Cooloola Recreation Area.
The Bribie report suggests a limit on vehicles entering the beach during peak periods, minimizing unnecessary night-time traffic and increasing penalties for "inappropriate behaviour".
It is also proposed to allow rangers to impose the same fines as police and to improve "order to leave" provisions so that offenders cannot return for seven days or more after being told to leave.
The government is weighing these options, with Environment Minister Leanne Linard saying the Miles government will continue to "listen to the community and key stakeholders to protect the Bribie Island National Park and Recreation Area."
Tarin Field has lived on the island since the 1980s and has fond memories of 'bumming lifts' to the national park as a 'gromit' (young surfer).
'You rarely saw four-wheel drive there. Now I'm having a beer in the pub and I see all those four-wheel drive cars coming back," he said.
Field wants the beach protected, but says banning four-wheel drive is not the answer.
"There are still a lot of people going up at high tide, which is frustrating for us locals," he said. "Most people do the right thing, there are only bad eggs."
Ana McCrespo says something needs to change. The Spanish resident drives an all-terrain vehicle on Bribie at least twice a month and is concerned about people damaging the national park and causing a nuisance.
McCrespo often comes after visitors who have left trash on the beach. She says more controls and restrictions on four-wheel driving are needed to protect the island.
"There's been quite a few problems lately with people damaging the dunes, taking dogs to the beach... driving like crazy... making donuts," she said.
"At least one car is always stuck on the entrance track. Sometimes a chain effect occurs and one car after another gets stuck.
"[Restrictions are] not ideal, but we do not want to damage the park or close it to the public."
Jason Brown has led G'day Adventure Tours for the past eight years, educating people about the island's wildlife and history.
He is also the administrator of the Facebook group. I got stuck on Bribie Island and have heard of all kinds of vehicles trying to cross the sandy national park, including two-wheel drive vehicles.
Brown said on nice sunny days the beach can become "a bit of a parking lot" with more than 1,000 vehicles at a time.
Brown said that as well as reducing the number of cars during peak periods, a video questionnaire could also be introduced to test people about four-wheel driving before they are issued a vehicle permit.
"During Covid they have reduced the number to 300 per day. "I don't see why that couldn't be permanent during peak times," he said.
Environmental groups are also concerned about the island's wildlife. Locals often tell the harrowing story of 'Eric', the last emu on Bribie, who was killed by a dog brought illegally into the national park. Others lament how the local koala population disappeared after native forests were cleared.
More recently, turtle mortality in Moreton Bay Marine Park has increased by 87% in one year and there are concerns that uncontrolled boating, four-wheeling and discarded crab pots could lead to further losses.
At the north end of the beach, some of the last turtles of the season make the gigantic journey into the ocean. They've barely opened their eyes when the sea spits them out and drags them along the shoreline.
A few meters away, day trippers race across the beach in a Toyota Land Cruiser. Their tire tracks make it all the more difficult for the turtles to crawl to the sea.
A local environmental group, Bribie Island Environmental Protection Association, with almost 400 members, has developed a tool to advise travelers on the most turtle-friendly times to drive on the beach.
BIEPA is calling for a lottery system for vehicle access permits for the 20 peak days, no driving at night during turtle season and only driving on hard sand - meaning the beach will be closed to traffic for two hours either side of high tide, with barriers in place the entrances.
BIEPA President Richard Ogden believes it is "imperative" to implement these recommendations to protect the island environment.
"Bribie Island and Pumicestone Passage are extremely valuable environmental assets for Queensland and Australia," he said.
"Recreation must be managed to minimize impacts on our special but endangered wildlife, including shorebirds, turtles, dolphins and dugongs."
