June 2021
Rainbow Beach
After our adventures on Fraser Island we spent a few more days in Rainbow Beach to ensure we experienced driving along the coloured sands of Rainbow Beach. By this point we were pretty confident driving in sand. The beginning of the sands can be found about 2km away from the Rainbow Beach Surf Club. We saw the ‘Wall of Shame’ mural in town exhibiting all the vehicles that had been drowned in the surf at Middle Rocks, so we were determined NOT to make it on the wall and ensured we passed the rocks very close to low tide. The sand colours were amazing and if you got up really close some of them had little trickles of water dripping off them. They looked like really hard rocks, but you could actually chip little sections of sand off them. It was a pretty cool natural formation.
We ducked up to Tin Can bay to feed the dolphins. The local Humpback Dolphins have been coming to area to be hand fed for years. Volunteers run the whole tings and it was a really nice ‘no frills’ experience. Mali was too scared to feed them, so Craig used up our $30 in dolphin breakfast fish for her. They were so gentle simply plucking the fish out of his hands.
Bundaberg
We had a few days to fill before visiting Craig’s cousin in Coalstoun Lakes (NW of Rainbow
Beach) so we visited Bundaberg for a few days. My friend Shaz (who is a week ahead of us) suggested Bargara and we loved it here!! We had loads of rain soaked and diesel infused washing to do (the spare fuel tank in the canopy leaked at Fraser Island). The caravan park was full of grey nomads and they seemed to ambush Craig at every opportunity. We visited the Bundaberg Distillery, the Lavender Farm and explored the foreshore on electric scooters. There was a trail of mosaic turtles on the foreshore, which Mali absolutely loved, and it definitely took her attention away from her tired little legs on the walk. We have very quickly realised that ice cream, banana bread or milkshakes also motivate her but finding a non-food alternative was quite a novelty.
We visited the Mon Repos Turtle Centre which I was so impressed with. The interactive displays and the volunteers were amazing. Mali loved every minute of it. They had an amazing theatre with a movie displaying a nesting turtle moving up the beach. The projection utilised the sandy beach they had made at the front of the theatre which Mali was allowed to play in. She nearly wet herself and I was allowed to enjoy the incredible animations they had made without a child telling me how bored she was. The exit was much less enjoyable as she demanded I buy her a turtle toy and proceeded to exit the centre yelling ‘give me a turtle’. She was promptly disciplined once we reached the car park. Overall though, super place! I want to do a second lap just to see the turtles nesting on the beach between October – April.
Coalstoun Lakes (Jackie, Graham and Ava)
We had a lovely time with Craig’s cousin Jackie and her family. We backtracked a bit from Bundaberg, but it was worth it. Jackie, Graham and Ava live on a property which raises cattle. Mali and Ava (18 months old) had a wonderful time playing and Craig and I enjoyed time with Jackie and Graham. Mali was so in need of a down day that she stayed with Jackie and Ava whilst Craig and I visited Mt Walsh National Park. Graham told us that Coongara Rock was just down the road along a dirt track, so we set off for a little exploration and soon realised that what locals call a dirt road is actually a 4WD track, partly unused for some time, that was rather tricky to navigate. We never made it to the rock but got a good view of it from the road. Yokel got scratched a fair bit, which now allows me to giggle at Craig’s warnings about my ring scratching the doors as I close them. It was a lovely drive and gave us some more four-wheel-driving experience. Jackie cooked us some wonderful meals and we thoroughly enjoyed spending some time with them all. Thanks Jackie and Graham!!
Agnes Water and 1770
Next we travelled north 3 hours to visit a place my Dad has always raved about. 1770 is the place where Cook and his crew landed back in.....you guessed it...1770! We stayed at 1770 Eco Camp. $30 per night for a powered site, with brand new showers and toilets, a pizza oven, a kid’s cubby house and sand pit and a sheltered games area. We met a family from Warilla and quickly determined we had friends in common. It was lovely to see Mali playing with some kids again. We enjoyed sunrises, beach walks, butterfly forests, Cooks Monument, lookouts, some awesome parks (have I mentioned how many parks we have visited??) and ocean views. It was a beautiful place. I could have spent more time here, but we had to push north again.
Next stop…Alkoomie, a farm stay on the way to Rockhampton. This was rather underwhelming as far as farm stays go. The atmosphere was peaceful and quiet with only 3 other families. It rained when we got there but we soon gained the opportunity to feed the animals. This involved climbing onto the cart towed by an ATV and being taken on a ride to the entry gate and back to where we started. We alighted and proceeded to fill all the animal feed buckets with dry food before being given another little ride around the farm. Mali seemed to be a little delighted by the experience. I was more excited the next morning, about the visiting Brolgas, the treefrogs and the cane toads that had made themselves at home in Craig’s camp chair.
See you in Rockhampton!!
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