Day 7: Tin Can Bay to Town of 1770

The alarm clock rings at 6 o'clock because we want to be at the Barnacles Dolphin Center at 7 o'clock. Wild dolphins come by there every day and can be fed with a fish. We have never seen dolphins up close in the wild, so we don't want to miss this opportunity, and the kids are already very excited.
And the best part: it's not raining anymore!!! Yay!!!

After breakfast (the kookaburras are already "laughing"), we leave the campground. It's still dark, so we didn't see the campground in daylight...

Well, what can you do. It was just an overnight stop. After arriving in complete darkness last night and then having to maneuver until we were perfectly on the site, today the next mishap happens:

The husband starts driving, but unfortunately, he didn't fully release the handbrake... then there's a loud HONK, as a warning that the handbrake has not been released. How embarrassing... We laugh and are ashamed at the same time to have woken up half the campground. Let's get out of here quickly!

Just 1 km up the road is the Dolphin Center. Small and unspectacular on the river, just before the open sea. We are almost the first visitors at 6:50 a.m., but in the following 20 minutes, true masses of visitors come to the small center.

Two employees are already in the water with waterproof pants and boots, each with a wild dolphin next to them.

In small groups, we stand on the beach and are explained that daily an indefinite number of dolphins (sometimes only one, sometimes up to 8) come to the spot on the river to pick up a little fish snack. Touching the dolphins is strictly forbidden, and the center's staff also complies. The two dolphins, two males, are unusually calm today, ideal for feeding them. After all visitors have listened to the lecture on the beach one after the other, the kids each get a fish (for 5 AUD each) in their hands and are allowed to feed a dolphin.

After feeding, we leave Tin Can Bay at 8:30 a.m. and continue towards Town of 1770. Today and tomorrow, we have longer driving distances ahead of us and we are still unsure what we want to do along the way. We have to discard the idea of taking a ride with the amphibious vehicle "Larc Tours" in Town of 1770. I tried to book a tour for the afternoon online, but the tours are fully booked 4 days in advance. Too bad...

But the weather is beautiful today - we enjoy the ride under the blue sky and sunshine and decide to take a detour to the beach.

Due to time constraints, we had to skip Fraser Island, so we pass Fraser Island and Hervey Bay "on the right" and drive nearly 200 km to Bargara, near Bundaberg, where we arrive just in time for lunch.

We find a parking space near the esplanade and have lunch in a small restaurant by the promenade.

After lunch, we go to the "Turtle Park," a giant turtle that serves as an adventure playground. Here, our kids immediately become "little children" again and climb the turtle before we go to the beach.

It's low tide, and the "home beach" of the turtle is mostly made up of stones. Since the weather is lovely, we take a walk and walk about 1 km further north to Nielson Park, where we find the fitness equipment from "Schuhkraft."

We continue to Nielson Beach, a really great, wide and sandy beach. Wonderful! Even a few cold-resistant swimmers and surfers are frolicking in the water.

Our shoes are quickly taken off, and we enjoy a refreshing footbath. The kids play with Dad on the beach because we have the beach almost to ourselves. How nice!
A special beach art awaits us in the form of an infinite number of small sand spheres that crabs have rolled into sometimes elaborate "pictures." As far as the eye can see, we see sand spheres. Amazing - I actually don't want to encounter all those crabs...

The time just flies by too quickly. With a heavy heart, we have to continue because we still want to reach our campground in Town of 1770 BEFORE sunset.

We walk through the park back to the motorhome, and when we get in, we can admire the blue stripe along the outside of the motorhome up to the rear tire. That looks really "super"... and it smells so disgustingly like a porta-potty.

Well... the outside compartment has become emptier, but with every kilometer, the blue liquid blows out through the slots during the drive. Maybe it will rain again!? (Hopefully not....)

Before we continue north, we need to make a quick stop at the gas station and Woolworths. Here too, we have a parking problem: there are simply no RV parking spaces, and the parking lot is full... We park at the edge where hopefully we won't bother anyone and quickly do the necessary shopping.

What I was aware of during the planning, but unfortunately completely underestimated, are the nonexistent highways in Australia!

Yes, there are none!!!

At least not as we know them from Germany.

So far, we have been driving on the "Bruce Highway" towards the north. The Bruce Highway (A1) is the main road that connects Brisbane to Cairns, but it has nothing in common with a "highway" in the traditional sense. It is a one, sometimes two-lane road that is repeatedly interrupted by towns (yes, you have to drive through them at 30 or 40 km/h!), sprinkled with traffic lights, and the many roadworks along the highway are particularly bad because then it means: Stand and wait! So, we make slow progress, especially when there is a traffic obstacle like a tractor or a slow jeep with a trailer in front of us. Coming from Baragara, we pass Bundaberg and its brewery (we just drank it) and leave the city heading north. As the Bruce Highway runs rather inland, we now drive along the coastal road closer to the coast to Agnes Waters.

We pass sugar cane fields and cattle pastures - always alternating. It seems that it hasn't rained as much here as south of Bargara because everything looks more like a steppe, the grass looks more like hay, and everything is very dry.

In the early afternoon, we reach our campground for today BEFORE it gets dark: the 1770 Beach Campground, as the name suggests, right on the beach.

I already reserved the campground months in advance, which was a good decision because it is fully booked! At check-in, the lady is happy that we "finally arrived" because we have the nicest site on the campground and can enjoy the sunset there. Oh, now I'm excited! And yes: we hit the jackpot with the Campsite. We have the only RV campsite with direct beach access or a view of the sea.

Other campers are already sitting around our site in their camping chairs, holding a beer can in their hand, with a view of the upcoming sunset. When we park, we are friendly greeted with "Ah, you're the lucky one - this is the best beachsite". Short small talk included.

We sit outside long after sunset and listen to the birds, then we have dinner in the motorhome and quickly go to bed.

Tomorrow the alarm clock will ring very early again because we have a full day of driving ahead of us.

Meanwhile, I sleep through until the alarm clock rings, so the jet lag is over! However, this night I wake up multiple times. Our motorhome is right under a huge tree, and the tree seems to be the home of countless fruit bats that are causing a ruckus up there. Constantly, fruits, seeds, and small branches fall onto the roof. What a crazy bunch up there!!!


For the statistics:
Campground: 1770 Beach Campground
Cost: 41 € / Powered Site without Slab
Distance driven: 339 km
Sightings: Dolphins, seagulls, kookaburras, fruit bats, geckos
Weather: Sun, 24 degrees
Conclusion: Sun, beach & sea