Agnes Waters/Town of 1770 & Yeppoon
After leaving Hervey Bay, we continued north to Agnes Waters and the Town of 1770. These two small towns are situated next to each other and are located at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. The Town of 1770 was named after Captain James Cook when he anchored his ship, the Endeavour, here on Wednesday, May 24, 1770. It was only the second time during the voyage that Captain Cook had set foot on Australian soil and his first venture on dry land at what is now called Queensland.
It was a three hour drive and once we arrived, we walked the Paperbark Forest Boardwalk. This short trail loops through the Reedy Creek Reserve along a wooden boardwalk and over wooden stepping stones through the water. There are beautiful Paperbark Trees and creeping vines. It was a very easy walk, although, we did spot a giant female golden orb spider. Alex took a few pictures (I don't like having them on my computer!), but am choosing not to post any as they creep me out! Feel free to google the spider if you are interested - the one we saw was a least four inches in circumference! ICK!
On Friday, we drove to Agnes Water Beach and spent time walking along the 3-mile shoreline. There were a few other people walking along the beach, surfing and sunbathing.
We originally booked a day cruise to Lady Musgrave Island for Saturday. However, a few days before we were set to leave, we got word from the tour company their boat was damaged and they had to cancel the tour! We spent some time looking at other tour companies but did not find a tour we liked as well. We decided to save our money and put it towards another day trip further north. Instead, we opted to hike the Red Rock Walking Trail. We lucked out with mostly sunny weather and the trail was really nice. It hugged along the coastline and onto several beaches. It was a very peaceful walk and we only saw one other couple on the trail.
On the way back to our Airbnb, we stopped once more to do a very quick 30-minute trail. During autumn and winter each year, the Town of 1770 is a popular spot to see the Blue Tiger Butterflies. Winding through the Round Hill Creek shoreline, we saw maybe ten Blue Tiger Butterflies and dozens of pretty yellow butterflies. I have always loved butterflies, so this trail was right up my ally!
Alex and I left Agnes Waters/Town of 1770 Sunday morning and made it to Yeppoon by early afternoon where we stopped in town for lunch at Whisk. We then spent time walking along the boardwalk and in and out of shops before checking into our Airbnb.
Monday we booked a catamaran tour with Sail Capricornia to visit Great Keppel Island. It started off very foggy in the morning while we were sailing and we could not see the island until we were pretty close to the shoreline! Thankfully the clouds lifted later in the morning and we had mostly sunny skies from there on out. On the way to the island, we came across two humpback whales and were able to watch them flapping their fins against the water. It was so exciting and we were much closer to them than in Byron Bay.
Great Keppel Island is located slightly north of the Tropic of Capricorn and part of the Great Barrier Reef. Our first stop was Monkey Beach, a protected green zone, with a large coral reef right off the shore. There were so many beautiful fish and corals and it was a great place to snorkel. We saw clown fish, sting rays, clams, schools of small and large fish, and Alex even got to swim with a sea turtle. One thing which surprised both of us was the temperature of the water! It was a lot colder than I anticipated, only 72-degrees. Luckily, the tour guide provided wetsuits which helped a bit against the cold.
The darker area of the water is the coral reef
There is an osprey nest in the top left corner of the abandoned Observation Deck
It was a very relaxing day aboard the catamaran and on the way back to Yeppoon, we spotted another whale in the distance. This one was not as active as the two we saw earlier, but we did get to enjoy a couple of fin and tail slaps. They are such magical creatures and I'm so happy we got an opportunity to spot them once again, especially as it is still early in the season.
On our last full day in Yeppoon, we started the morning with breakfast at Lure Living before driving out to Bluff Point to hike the 1.5-mile circuit. The trail climbs up to Turtle Lookout where we could see the Capricorn coastline and Keppel Bay in the distance. From the top, we also spotted dolphins and turtles in the water below. The water here is so calm and looks almost like glass from this high up.
Turtle Lookout
Below Bluff Point is Kemp Beach where Alex and I spent a couple of hours relaxing in the sun. We arrived at low tide which created the perfect glassy reflection to make a mirror in the water.
So. Many. Tiny. Shells.
We are officially over halfway done with our eastern Australia road trip and have another four stops left before arriving in the Daintree Forest. Alex and I will be spending a week at our next location in Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands. I do not think we will have internet for awhile, so it will most likely be pretty quiet over on the blog for a bit. I still cannot believe how quickly the days are going and I'm trying to soak up every last bit of our time left in Australia!
