The only reason we came to Agnes Water and Seventeen Seventy was because these places came highly recommended as a place to visit. I really had no idea why there is a place called Seventeen Seventy on the map. Little did I know it is because Captain Cook landed here, hence the name. The town name is Seventeen Seventy spelled out however, I will refer to it as 1770 in numerals for ease, not spelled out within this blog.

I / we were expecting to see something like Airlie Beach not sure why we thought this, but we did. Agnes Water (which I kept calling Agnes Walsh – due to working in KEMH) and 1770 is nothing like Airlie Beach. It is smaller and less commercialised, which is good in a way. I expect that it will only grow in the years to come, for now it’s a small couple of towns.

Information Centre:

Here’s the thing, booking in advance does not always work well unless the Tourist Park has come recommended. As we drove into Agnes Water, we were on the lookout for where to stay. Again, first port of call is always the information centre, everyone is very helpful and font of knowledge. Our stay was for a couple of days however we are flexible. The lovely lady who helped us said it would be easy to get accommodation. Mr C picked up a brochure for 1770 Tourist Park for $39 a night, so that’s the one we chose. I had called another camp site in Agnes Water and she informed me they had no running water, so to fill up in town. We chose the 1770 option.

Where to stay:

On arrival to check in, there were three places left – the man quoted me $51.00 per night. I showed him the brochure that said $39 per night. well, you guessed it, it was an old brochure the prices are now updated on the website and on display in the office. I cut my losses and booked for two nights, with no internet (it was broken).

1770 Tourist Park was right on the beach however, it was an untidy looking park with narrow roads and not much turning space. Mr C was driving so he had to navigate the narrow track and the big trees. The part I hate most about caravaning is having to be the person who has to direct the driver into the parking bay. I’d rather be the driver any day. The park had some beautiful big old trees however, they dropped all their flowers on the car and on the concreate slab, it was a nightmare. Bush Turkey’s roamed through the park, blue honey eaters were around, together with Stoned Curlew’s which I now don’t like because they scream at night.

It was a 100-meter walk to the beach, perfect for me. The tide was way out when we arrived, so I walked around to find my bearings – where’s the ablution block, very important. The ablution block was old and looked unclean – I didn’t fancy shower. Once I got lost at a caravan park because I didn’t check out where the toilets were before dark. I went to the toilet and came out and turned the wrong way, walked around the block twice – these people were watching me and playing cards, they asked if I was lost, trying not to laugh – how embarrassing. I responded with “yes” then they did laugh. One of the men took out a map of the grounds and asked what the number of my site was…….. thank goodness I knew it. Long story short, his wife said just walk her back to her caravan…. when I got back, Mr C could not stop laughing. Lesson learned, find the toilets in the day light.

Paperbark Forrest:

My first adventure was walking through the Agnes Water Bush Paperbark Forrest boardwalk. It was a magical walk; I had no idea that this short walk of about 400 meters would test my balance by having stepping stones – you do need to have good balance. Just as well I didn’t insist on Mr C coming, his feet were sore, so he stayed in the car. There were 100s of paper bark tree trunks, it was almost like a rain forest with the majestic green fronds of the cabbage palm and maiden hair creepers up the trees. I just love them; it was really magical. I went round twice just for good measure. I met a local couple who informed me that they are so short of water, this area is usually covered in water. If you fell off the stepping stones you would be in water – that made sense as to why they were there.

Dinner was at 1770 Beach Hotel: The Tree, preceded by a walk along the beachfront to see the setting sun over the water. This was our catch-up anniversary dinner as Mr C was in Perth when it occurred. It was a delightful evening with lots to eat, my lovely man with me, beautiful atmosphere, we couldn’t ask for a better evening.

The day started with me waking early, asking Mr C if he wants to start early or sleep. He responded with sleep. So, I got up and went for a morning walk along Bustard Bay beach – the tide was in, the water felt cooler than Yeppoon – it was a great 2hrs walk, the sea was rough, white caps on the waves when I reached as far as I could walk, I felt like I was on the edge of the world. The wind was blowing in my face, not a soul around and I stood right on the edge of the rocks. I could feel the splashes of the waves on my feet and shouted at the top of my voice – “I love Scott, my boy, I’m sorry, & I forgive you” “I love you” – I took some deep breaths, turned around and started my walk back. I felt invigorated, I felt Scott was with me. Just as well no one was around, otherwise they would have me committed.

As I walked back, I decided to go for a quick swim, the water was so inviting I couldn’t resist. I noted a couple of small children were playing in the sand nearby. I put my camera, phone and clothes in a pile near the fence and went for a swim. I did not go out to deep, just to my thighs, just in case…. I thought of sharks it was a bay, I think we are too far south now for crocodiles and still a bit early for stingers. l had a great 30-minute swim, it was so refreshing, I love the water it was fabulous. I got out and had a beach shower, only to notice a sign that said ” strong currents and stonefish” – well, I just about died. This sign was not where I entered the beach – I guess I was lucky – I didn’t swim again.

Mr C and I had discussed going on a tour – I called LARC Tours after my swim and booked us for an afternoon tour on an Amphibious truck. I returned to the caravan and cooked breakfast hoping the smell of bacon, eggs and fresh coffee would encourage Mr C out of bed and so it did. Over breakfast I told Mr C, I had booked the afternoon tour for 3pm. He was a bit reticent about going on a big pink truck, would it be ok for crochety old man? It will only go on the sand, it can’t float, he says – Me. too late it was booked – I was excited.

Bustard Bay Lookout:

It was now time to see Bustard Bay Lookout; it was still windy; however, the sun was shining. I kept calling it Bastard Bay, Mr C kept correcting me…. “Pauline its Bust.. Bustard Bay…. It’s a bird” me. really where is it, let’s find it“. Mr C, “I don’t know, it must be here that’s why it’s called Bustard Bay” – well do you think we could see one, NO. Not sure if it was the wind, but not many birds around. You can tell not growing up in Australia I don’t know my Australian history very well. As I admired the view, I did think it would’ve been hard for Captain Cook and his crew to land in this bay, the sea is rough and there’s a huge sand bar and its miles from anywhere – it wouldn’t have been easy.

History:

The town is built on the site of the second landing in Australia by Captain James Cook and the crew of the HMS Endeavour on the 24 May 1770. The monument below is built on the site where the crew carved the date in a tree where they came ashore. The story is told that one of the crew shot a Bustard bird weighing 6.8kg, it was the best meal the captain and crew had eaten since leaving the Uk – on departing from this cove, Captain Cook named the bay Bustard Bay. We stopped at the small car park, which is also the beginning of the Round Hill walking trail – I walked a little of it however, there were some steep steps for me and I wasn’t in the mood for a challenge – I did think how hard it would have been all those years ago.

LARC Tour:

The one-hour tour, which seem to last much longer than the hour, was absolutely fantastic. I would highly recommend it – in fact they have a whole day tour as well – but we were not staying another day and we weren’t sure about the weather. Neil is the owner of this big pink truck goes on land and sea (they have two)- it is called the LARC 5, developed in the USA in the 1950’s. It’s an Amphibious cargo Vehicle, it is capable of transporting 5 tons of cargo. It can also carry 20 fully equipped troops plus a crew of three.

We climbed up the steps and were seated, as soon as we started, i could see Mr C was excited, and then this big pink truck ploughs into the water with a big thud – and we are floating…. “Honey its floating” Mr C smiled and that smile did not leave his face for the whole trip – it was delightful. We saw stingray, a shovel nose shark and some jumping fish – also some birds. Neil was so informative – it was he that told us there are no Bustard birds around since the 1970’s they are all gone, so we would not have seen one anyway. This big pink truck went over land and sea, we went as far as the heads. Neil stopped on a sand bar so we could get out and take photos and collect shells – and so we did, even Mr C collected shells for me. This day will go down as one of the best to date for an unexpected LARC tour.

Hervey Bay

Our usual first stop was the Information centre – also the free parking was also located at the information centre. It was one of the smallest and strangest free parking we have encountered. Our plan was to stay for two nights – it literally was like a carpark for about 8 RV’s. I have noticed many single women travelling in small caravans, or RV’s or White Vans converted into a travelling van or 4 wheel drives and a tent on the top – amazing really, very brave – I managed to talk to quite a few: some say they are living the dream, others are travelling to visit children who live in other states and some have no fixed abode they are just travelling – One we met had a caravan about the size of ours. She came and spoke to me asking for my help with centre-link, I couldn’t help her, she did seem a bit lost. I felt sorry for her, she couldn’t manage her caravan – she asked the man in the next caravan to help her hook up so she could leave. I feel if you are going to travel in a caravan, you have to be able to manage it….. but I guess that’s my standard. I’m not sure I could do this nomadic living forever – I could do short trips maybe a couple of times a year.

Our first stop was the Urangan Peir, I wanted to walk the Peir before it rained. The weather was cloudy and people were praying for rain – here I was secretly not wanting it to rain. The pier is the longest I’ve seen it spans 1124 metres and was first built in 1917 for the export of sugar, coal and timber. The pier was decommissioned in 1985 and orders to demolish the entire structure. A save the pier campaign resulted in the last 880 metres of the structure being saved. In 2013 after millions had been raised to rebuild the pier work began, 2017 saw the 100th anniversary of the Urangan Pier.

The Pier is a lovely walk – the tide was going out, so I decided to walk under the pier and see if there were any shells. I had researched where to find sand dollar shells and Hervey Bay was the outcome – however I have yet to find any. We then decided to go shopping; Mr C wanted to go to Harvey Norman as he wants an new laptop and the Black Friday sales are beginning. He was fortunate to finally find one he likes so we are going to stay a few more days in Hervey Bay – however will move to a caravan park.

Sunday: there was a weekend market which we just had to have a wander around and have breakfast: It’s nice to walk around and see people’s handicrafts and junk which can be someone else’s treasure. it’s been very cloudy; every day is threatening rain. After brunch we went back to move to the Torquay Foreshore Caravan Park for three nights.

Torquay Foreshore Caravan Park

Monday, we slept in, the rain has set in – I did still go for a walk in the rain, it was warm rain. I was keen to see if there were any more sand dollar shell, alas none were found. When I got back, we had breakfast and went to buy Mr C’s laptop. We spent the rest of the day resting, Mr C setting up his new toy, I cooked a stew for dinner and wrote my blogs. Its been raining non-stop today.

The danger of staying so close to shops and restaurants is that you are likely to eat out more and spend more money – that’s why I prefer to stay in smaller towns.

Tuesday – still drizzling, we didn’t get up until about 11am – It rained pretty heavily during the night, we were snuggled up in bed, dry as a bone. We went to the shopping centre and Bunnings – Mr C & I did a few odd jobs around the caravan and we’re ready to hit the road tomorrow.

We are heading to Brisbane, not far from the NSW border now…….lets hope we leave the rain behind us.

See you at the next blog adventure. Remember to always be grateful, we live in an amazing world.