Hervey Bay to Rainbow Beach
I cannot believe how quickly time is flying! We have been here at Rainbow Beach for two weeks already and only now have five days left before we go to Mudjimba for Christmas with Mike, Tanya and our Grandchildren, Michaellie, Nick and Briony. It’s been 2 years since I have seen them so I guess we will find big changes in them!
We both want to wish you all a very Happy and Safe Christmas and a wonderful New Year. If you are travelling we hope to catch up with you somewhere in this great outdoors!
Cheers Rob & Walter
I cannot believe how quickly time is flying! We have been here at Rainbow Beach for two weeks already and only now have five days left before we go to Mudjimba for Christmas with Mike, Tanya and our Grandchildren, Michaellie, Nick and Briony. It’s been 2 years since I have seen them so I guess we will find big changes in them!
Maryborough
First let me tell you about our bus trip to Maryborough. There were only the 2 of us and the bus driver, Barbara. She picked us up and we headed the 40 kilometres to Maryborough. This is a town of about 29,000
people but has amazing facilities. Barbara gave us a good understanding of its amazing history that also incorporates Hervey Bay. Firstly Hervey Bay was only a fishing village and people from Maryborough used to take their holidays there. Maryboroug
h sits on the banks of the lovely Mary River and was originally settled in the early 1800’s. The historic buildings and architecture there reminded us very much of Charters Towers. Truly lovely buildings. The town was moved though as the original spot was always flooding. The Council though still keep the maintenance on the old area and its graves as a lovely historical park.
The main city park is lovely and Walter got very excited when he saw the old steam train running around taking people for rides. Every Thursday parts of Maryborough’s main streets are closed to traffic and they have market stalls selling just about everything. You can pick up some great bargains but we stuck to the fresh fruit and vegies. So the old steam train, run by volunteers, chuffs its’ way around the track picking up customers from the markets. We also strolled through St Paul’s Anglican
Church that has beautiful stained glass windows and a very old organ.
After the guided tour through the city part, Barbara took us to this amazing old store that opened first for business in 1871 and only closed in 1972. The owner at the time (who was the son of the original proprietors) just walked out and left everything just as is was. Owned by George and Agness Geraghty, IT SOLD EVERYTHING! They imported oranges and wine and sold butter, meat and packaged products as well as rural supplies and serviced a huge area all the way up to Bundaberg and south to Brisbane. Even all the old invoices and ledger books are left in the office!
Barbara then took us for lunch at the Pier side Restaurant that was part of the original customs buildings and overlooks the river. It was a very interesting day!
First let me tell you about our bus trip to Maryborough. There were only the 2 of us and the bus driver, Barbara. She picked us up and we headed the 40 kilometres to Maryborough. This is a town of about 29,000
people but has amazing facilities. Barbara gave us a good understanding of its amazing history that also incorporates Hervey Bay. Firstly Hervey Bay was only a fishing village and people from Maryborough used to take their holidays there. Maryboroug
h sits on the banks of the lovely Mary River and was originally settled in the early 1800’s. The historic buildings and architecture there reminded us very much of Charters Towers. Truly lovely buildings. The town was moved though as the original spot was always flooding. The Council though still keep the maintenance on the old area and its graves as a lovely historical park.
The main city park is lovely and Walter got very excited when he saw the old steam train running around taking people for rides. Every Thursday parts of Maryborough’s main streets are closed to traffic and they have market stalls selling just about everything. You can pick up some great bargains but we stuck to the fresh fruit and vegies. So the old steam train, run by volunteers, chuffs its’ way around the track picking up customers from the markets. We also strolled through St Paul’s Anglican
Church that has beautiful stained glass windows and a very old organ.After the guided tour through the city part, Barbara took us to this amazing old store that opened first for business in 1871 and only closed in 1972. The owner at the time (who was the son of the original proprietors) just walked out and left everything just as is was. Owned by George and Agness Geraghty, IT SOLD EVERYTHING! They imported oranges and wine and sold butter, meat and packaged products as well as rural supplies and serviced a huge area all the way up to Bundaberg and south to Brisbane. Even all the old invoices and ledger books are left in the office!
Barbara then took us for lunch at the Pier side Restaurant that was part of the original customs buildings and overlooks the river. It was a very interesting day!
Rainbow Beach
We left Hervey Bay and arrived at Rainbow Beach about 2 hours later. We have a nice site and its only 5 mins walk to the beach. We can see the water and hear the waves, but not right on the beach. The shopping centre is only across the road but it is just a sleepy beachside place (at the moment!) Like most coastal places it goes berserk over the Christmas period! The beach goes for miles in both directions and to the north just across a narrow strait of water is Fraser Island. To the south is Double Island Point.
On the Tuesday after we arrived our lovely friends Marie and Bill arrived with Nora (Bill’s Mum). They stayed in one of the cabins. We took a drive out to a coffee shop for lunch and then drove over to Tin Can Bay for afternoon tea. When we came back we headed across to the Surf Club for dinner. Lovely little club with views right sown the beach. No too shabby at all! Food was good too! I can particularly recommend the Pesto Reef Fish! They left early next day to drive all the way back to Yeppoon.
After
enjoying ourselves on the LARC trip at 1770, we found that there was another LARC here! So we booked ourselves on the Friday trip. Sad to say though that on the day, the LARC has an auto electrical problem. We did the trip though but in a 4WD bus instead. Still and all, it was fantastic. We drove out through the Coolangoola National Park through beautiful forest down to Freshwater. This is a little campin
g and picnic area maintained by the National Park right on the edge of Teewah Beach. Now for those who have their map out, Teewah beach runs 55 kms all the way down to Noosa. At low tide it is another beach drive. However once we turned onto the beach we drove north again towards Double Island Point and the lighthouse. Quite a bit o
f traffic on the beach including professional “wormers”. These guys spend hours finding worms that they then on-sell to the fish and bait shops. Back breaking work!
We have never seen water as clear as the ocean on Teewah Beach! It was crystal clear and so very beautiful. When we reached the end of the beach we climbed the 4wd track (about 2 kms) in the bus to the top and the lighthouse. And what a view! All the way to Fraser along Rainbow Beach and south to Noosa. It was spectacular! Whilst we were at the top we overlooked Wolf Rock (about 2 kms out to sea) and by all accounts a great dive site. Also below the headland the amount of marine life visible in the water blew us away. We saw at least 8 Loggerhead turtles swimming around, 2 Manta Rays and a Shovel Nosed ray. The bus
driver told us this wasn’t even a good day! He stated that there is usually also abo
ut 40 dolphins which weren’t to be seen whilst we were there!
After leaving the lighthouse and going back down the track we then travelled about ½ km along the beach south before turning onto a track called the Leisha Track. This is another 4WD only sand track that crosses the headland and takes you onto Rainbow Beach. We then travelled along the beach beside the Coloured Sands, cliffs of multi coloured sand. Th
is way is only negotiable at low tide. Once getting close to the end it is the rocks right at the end which cause many vehicles grief. We were told that the insurance figure (per year) for damaged vehicles at this point is approximately $1 million a year! What happens is that people get impatient and they can see Rainbow Beach township around the corner of these rocks and get over confident about making in it instead of re-traci
ng their tracks back along the 11 kms beach, over the Leisha track again and then back up the inland Freshwater track! So they try and negotiate the rocks. It is only possible on the exact low tide and sometimes not even then. The sand can wash away leaving the rocks exposed. Two places in town, including the Information Centre as a Wall of Shame, a wall of photos of the wrecks, some nearly underwater!
Our 4WD bus had high clearance and we struck the rocks right on low tide. The photos we took whilst we negotiated them will give you an idea! Again so glad we did not try it in our car!
We have wandered over to the beach most afternoons with our chairs and our books and have cooled down surfing then come back to read. When the tide is too high we use the lovely pool here. We also drove up to the lookout and took the walk to Carlo Sand Blow. Again the views were fantastic, over to Tin Can Bay, over the top of Rainbow Beach and out to the Pacific Ocean. This is also the spot where the Para-sailors launch from. So we stopped and watched their antics for a while.
Fraser Island (Again)
Fraser Island so intrigued us we found another 4WD trip to take us form here, but this time ove
r 2 days. So last Monday we were again picked up at the front of the caravan park and headed out to Inskip Point where our 4WD bus caught the barge across to the island. It’s only a 10 minute trip from there. So we landed at Hook Point and started another adventure. Tide was still too high to drive around Hook Point on the beach so we took an old mining road inland for about 11 kms before cutting onto 75 mile beach. It’s an amazing beach to drive on and our first stop was Eurong Beach Resort for the “comfort” stop before heading further north along the beach. Again we stopped at Eli Creek and paddled our way all the way up as far as we could go before floating back with the current. Our tour guide had organised lunch why we floating down. Why does lunch always taste better when 1) we are outdoors and 2) when somebody else does al the work!
After lunch we were back in the bus to run all the way up to Indian Head. This is the end of 75 m
ile Beach. A steep but short climb to the top gave us another spectacular view north up to Waddy Point, Middle Rocks and the Champagne Pools and south right down the beach. Looking west you could also see a number of the sand blows. Looking down we could see two 4 metre long tiger sharks swimming around the headland. Another g
ood reason not to go surfing at Fraser! The good thing about having the 2 days nothing was rushed. We were able to spend a good time up on the headland before climbing back to head back south along the beach. We again stopped at the Maheno wreck and the Coloured sands at the Pinnacles were more photos were taken. Further down we stopped on the beach for Rainbow Gorge. As it is a walk to a sand blow, Walter & I decided not to take it as we had already seen the Carlo Sand Blow. It would have been too much walking for Walter with his painful hip, so we sat on the sand watching the traffic roar past us on the beach and enjoying the view. Following this, we then headed back to Eurong Beach Resort for our accommodation and evening meal.
Next day we headed off at 8 am inland this time to Lake Mackenzie. We did not have a
ny problem going back to this beautiful spot and able to have 2 hours there this time. Being wiser by having been there before, I took my mask and snorkel with me. Never though to take my underwater camera though – I’m still kicking myself over this! I spent most of the time snorkelling around the edge watching the turtles and the many small fish. The visibility is like over 100 metres the water is so clear and no current at all. After a cup of coffee and lamingtons (tour driver looking after us again) we headed over through the rough sand tracks to Central Station. This was initially the centre for the logging operation y
ears ago. This was a barbeque lunch spot, so sausage sizzle it was! After lunch, all of us except Walter walked through to Pile Valley. It is along the rainforest floor beside Wooloonga Creek (also known as the invisible creek as the water is so clear you cannot see i
t!). Walter did not do the walk as there are also 136 steps to climb out of the valley up to the ridge and the car park where we were to be picked up. He with the tour guide just did the top part of the walk back into a 1000 year old Satinay tree.
Then again it was back in the bus, back to Eurong and back on the beach for the drive right down the beach to Hook Point and back to the barge. (Ti
de low now) What made our day though was at the south end of the beach was a Fraser Island Dingo and her pup. We had a few chuckles as we watched the little one try to get off the beach by climbing the sand dune and he just kept slipping back. It’s the only time on the 2 trips that we actually got to see the dingos.
Thursday saw us take a drive to Gympie where we did a bit of shopping at Coles and then drove back to Tin Can Bay for lunch. Whilst we were there we realised that the school holidays were about to begin for Queensland and everything was going to get very busy. So we made the decision not to leave coming back to Tin Can Bay for the dolphin feeding to the next week but we would do it tomorrow.
Tin Can Bay
We set the alarm clock early Friday and drove out to catch the ferry from Carlo Point to Tin Can Bay. It’s a lovely trip across the bay, about 20 minutes, so we could go and hand fe
ed the dolphins. The dolphin feeding is free and run by volunteers. They often get up to 3-4 dolphins but only one came in when we were there. His name was Mystique. Poor old Mystique though had been in the wars this week and had been targeted by a Bull Shark. He was missing part of his dorsal fin and one half of his tail fin but seemed to be OK. The volunteers said he has his appetite back which is a good sign and that they have marvellous recuperative powers. He is very gentle when taking his fish from your hand and he definitely knows the procedure! It was a great experience.
Well we had planned to do a 4WD trip ourselves today to go down to Freshwater and Teewah Beach (coming back the same way) for a picnic. However when we woke up this morning it was pouring rain so we have put that plan on old. Maybe tomorrow if the weather is OK.
This will most likely be our last update for the year. I know I will be too busy with grandchildren and Christmas to do anything. Then we head back to Dubbo to get Walter’s hip fixed. Poor fellar has been in so much pain with it and gets frustrated because he cannot do what he would like to. Patience is not one of his virtues!
On the Tuesday after we arrived our lovely friends Marie and Bill arrived with Nora (Bill’s Mum). They stayed in one of the cabins. We took a drive out to a coffee shop for lunch and then drove over to Tin Can Bay for afternoon tea. When we came back we headed across to the Surf Club for dinner. Lovely little club with views right sown the beach. No too shabby at all! Food was good too! I can particularly recommend the Pesto Reef Fish! They left early next day to drive all the way back to Yeppoon.
After
enjoying ourselves on the LARC trip at 1770, we found that there was another LARC here! So we booked ourselves on the Friday trip. Sad to say though that on the day, the LARC has an auto electrical problem. We did the trip though but in a 4WD bus instead. Still and all, it was fantastic. We drove out through the Coolangoola National Park through beautiful forest down to Freshwater. This is a little campin
g and picnic area maintained by the National Park right on the edge of Teewah Beach. Now for those who have their map out, Teewah beach runs 55 kms all the way down to Noosa. At low tide it is another beach drive. However once we turned onto the beach we drove north again towards Double Island Point and the lighthouse. Quite a bit o
f traffic on the beach including professional “wormers”. These guys spend hours finding worms that they then on-sell to the fish and bait shops. Back breaking work!We have never seen water as clear as the ocean on Teewah Beach! It was crystal clear and so very beautiful. When we reached the end of the beach we climbed the 4wd track (about 2 kms) in the bus to the top and the lighthouse. And what a view! All the way to Fraser along Rainbow Beach and south to Noosa. It was spectacular! Whilst we were at the top we overlooked Wolf Rock (about 2 kms out to sea) and by all accounts a great dive site. Also below the headland the amount of marine life visible in the water blew us away. We saw at least 8 Loggerhead turtles swimming around, 2 Manta Rays and a Shovel Nosed ray. The bus
driver told us this wasn’t even a good day! He stated that there is usually also abo
ut 40 dolphins which weren’t to be seen whilst we were there!After leaving the lighthouse and going back down the track we then travelled about ½ km along the beach south before turning onto a track called the Leisha Track. This is another 4WD only sand track that crosses the headland and takes you onto Rainbow Beach. We then travelled along the beach beside the Coloured Sands, cliffs of multi coloured sand. Th
is way is only negotiable at low tide. Once getting close to the end it is the rocks right at the end which cause many vehicles grief. We were told that the insurance figure (per year) for damaged vehicles at this point is approximately $1 million a year! What happens is that people get impatient and they can see Rainbow Beach township around the corner of these rocks and get over confident about making in it instead of re-traci
ng their tracks back along the 11 kms beach, over the Leisha track again and then back up the inland Freshwater track! So they try and negotiate the rocks. It is only possible on the exact low tide and sometimes not even then. The sand can wash away leaving the rocks exposed. Two places in town, including the Information Centre as a Wall of Shame, a wall of photos of the wrecks, some nearly underwater!Our 4WD bus had high clearance and we struck the rocks right on low tide. The photos we took whilst we negotiated them will give you an idea! Again so glad we did not try it in our car!
We have wandered over to the beach most afternoons with our chairs and our books and have cooled down surfing then come back to read. When the tide is too high we use the lovely pool here. We also drove up to the lookout and took the walk to Carlo Sand Blow. Again the views were fantastic, over to Tin Can Bay, over the top of Rainbow Beach and out to the Pacific Ocean. This is also the spot where the Para-sailors launch from. So we stopped and watched their antics for a while.
Fraser Island (Again)
Fraser Island so intrigued us we found another 4WD trip to take us form here, but this time ove
r 2 days. So last Monday we were again picked up at the front of the caravan park and headed out to Inskip Point where our 4WD bus caught the barge across to the island. It’s only a 10 minute trip from there. So we landed at Hook Point and started another adventure. Tide was still too high to drive around Hook Point on the beach so we took an old mining road inland for about 11 kms before cutting onto 75 mile beach. It’s an amazing beach to drive on and our first stop was Eurong Beach Resort for the “comfort” stop before heading further north along the beach. Again we stopped at Eli Creek and paddled our way all the way up as far as we could go before floating back with the current. Our tour guide had organised lunch why we floating down. Why does lunch always taste better when 1) we are outdoors and 2) when somebody else does al the work!After lunch we were back in the bus to run all the way up to Indian Head. This is the end of 75 m
ile Beach. A steep but short climb to the top gave us another spectacular view north up to Waddy Point, Middle Rocks and the Champagne Pools and south right down the beach. Looking west you could also see a number of the sand blows. Looking down we could see two 4 metre long tiger sharks swimming around the headland. Another g
ood reason not to go surfing at Fraser! The good thing about having the 2 days nothing was rushed. We were able to spend a good time up on the headland before climbing back to head back south along the beach. We again stopped at the Maheno wreck and the Coloured sands at the Pinnacles were more photos were taken. Further down we stopped on the beach for Rainbow Gorge. As it is a walk to a sand blow, Walter & I decided not to take it as we had already seen the Carlo Sand Blow. It would have been too much walking for Walter with his painful hip, so we sat on the sand watching the traffic roar past us on the beach and enjoying the view. Following this, we then headed back to Eurong Beach Resort for our accommodation and evening meal.Next day we headed off at 8 am inland this time to Lake Mackenzie. We did not have a
ny problem going back to this beautiful spot and able to have 2 hours there this time. Being wiser by having been there before, I took my mask and snorkel with me. Never though to take my underwater camera though – I’m still kicking myself over this! I spent most of the time snorkelling around the edge watching the turtles and the many small fish. The visibility is like over 100 metres the water is so clear and no current at all. After a cup of coffee and lamingtons (tour driver looking after us again) we headed over through the rough sand tracks to Central Station. This was initially the centre for the logging operation y
ears ago. This was a barbeque lunch spot, so sausage sizzle it was! After lunch, all of us except Walter walked through to Pile Valley. It is along the rainforest floor beside Wooloonga Creek (also known as the invisible creek as the water is so clear you cannot see i
t!). Walter did not do the walk as there are also 136 steps to climb out of the valley up to the ridge and the car park where we were to be picked up. He with the tour guide just did the top part of the walk back into a 1000 year old Satinay tree.Then again it was back in the bus, back to Eurong and back on the beach for the drive right down the beach to Hook Point and back to the barge. (Ti
de low now) What made our day though was at the south end of the beach was a Fraser Island Dingo and her pup. We had a few chuckles as we watched the little one try to get off the beach by climbing the sand dune and he just kept slipping back. It’s the only time on the 2 trips that we actually got to see the dingos.Thursday saw us take a drive to Gympie where we did a bit of shopping at Coles and then drove back to Tin Can Bay for lunch. Whilst we were there we realised that the school holidays were about to begin for Queensland and everything was going to get very busy. So we made the decision not to leave coming back to Tin Can Bay for the dolphin feeding to the next week but we would do it tomorrow.
Tin Can Bay
We set the alarm clock early Friday and drove out to catch the ferry from Carlo Point to Tin Can Bay. It’s a lovely trip across the bay, about 20 minutes, so we could go and hand fe
ed the dolphins. The dolphin feeding is free and run by volunteers. They often get up to 3-4 dolphins but only one came in when we were there. His name was Mystique. Poor old Mystique though had been in the wars this week and had been targeted by a Bull Shark. He was missing part of his dorsal fin and one half of his tail fin but seemed to be OK. The volunteers said he has his appetite back which is a good sign and that they have marvellous recuperative powers. He is very gentle when taking his fish from your hand and he definitely knows the procedure! It was a great experience.Well we had planned to do a 4WD trip ourselves today to go down to Freshwater and Teewah Beach (coming back the same way) for a picnic. However when we woke up this morning it was pouring rain so we have put that plan on old. Maybe tomorrow if the weather is OK.
This will most likely be our last update for the year. I know I will be too busy with grandchildren and Christmas to do anything. Then we head back to Dubbo to get Walter’s hip fixed. Poor fellar has been in so much pain with it and gets frustrated because he cannot do what he would like to. Patience is not one of his virtues!
We both want to wish you all a very Happy and Safe Christmas and a wonderful New Year. If you are travelling we hope to catch up with you somewhere in this great outdoors!
Cheers Rob & Walter
