Complete Aussie Package in Agnes Water and Town of 1770

The first highlight of our stay in the cozy surfer village Agnes Water was already waiting for us with the campground we had chosen beforehand via Campermate. We had rented a spot at the Horizon Kangaroo Sanctuary, which is run on a voluntary basis and financed solely by the campground and donations. The kangaroos and wallabies live here in the wild and are mostly accustomed to humans, which is why you can even pet them and take selfies with them.

The hoppers are incredibly cute and it was a new experience for us to be so close to them. Additionally, we had a great view from our campsite.

The kitchen is not safe from the curious kangaroos either =DD

In the morning, we were rudely awakened by a kangaroo playing with a leash attached to our tent and enjoying jumping on our tent =D After a brief disagreement between Tobi and the kangaroo, which was probably quite funny for everyone else :-P =D, our tent was safe again.

In addition to the kangaroos, the next typical Australian highlight was waiting for us the next day, as we had already booked a 3-hour surf lesson in Agnes Water. By the way, Agnes Water has no more than 2,000 inhabitants and is the northernmost surf beach on Australia's east coast, but known for its good and very affordable beginner surf lessons. We had paid 13 AUD for 3 hours for our lesson, which was a mass production with about 40 surfers and 4 guides. But that was completely fine considering what was offered. We didn't do too bad and after a few attempts, we were able to get on the board and ride towards the beach. The waves were great for us beginners and it was a lot of fun. Tip: If you prefer smaller groups and want to go to a more remote beach for the surf lesson, you should book through Gnarly Tours (20 AUD per person including pictures and the use of GoPros). Unfortunately, we only found out about this afterwards, but it was still okay =) It was also a nice bonus that Tobi was able to cross off another item on the to-do list of the Schiltach friends and colleagues ;-)

We had also found out by now that our sailboat booked for the Whitsundays had been too badly damaged by the cyclone and could not be made seaworthy in time. However, we were able to switch to another sailboat and the tour was now confirmed. We just had to fill the week in between with activities =D.

First and foremost, we wanted to go snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. We had already received a great tip from an Australian on the flight from Buenos Aires to Auckland. Lady Musgrave Island on the Southern Great Barrier Reef is one of the first islands of the over 2,000 km long Great Barrier Reef and is unique due to the coral reef lagoon in front of it. The underwater oasis is protected by the surrounding reef, which forms the largest swimming pool of the Great Barrier Reef, and is known for the sea turtles that can be seen there. Unfortunately, the tours were fully booked and it took us several visits, nice conversations, and some convincing in the office in Town of 1770 until we finally managed to get on the boat. =) By the way, Town of 1770 is the only place worldwide that consists of numbers symbolizing Captain Cook's landing in Australia in 1770 at exactly that location.

In between, we spent a nice day at the beach in Agnes Water, where we finally used the beach tent that we bought in the summer sale at kMart for 5 AUD :-D

The next day, we finally went on the tour to Lady Musgrave Island. By the way, the island is only accessible from Bundaberg, Town of 1770, and Gledstone, with the shortest route being from Town of 1770, and the company 1770reef is highly recommended. Luckily, we had already bought motion sickness tablets in advance (as recommended) and had taken them in time, as the crossing to the island, about 64 km from the coast, leads across the open ocean and many people on the boat got seasick. After 1.5 hours, we finally arrived and were rewarded with fantastic weather and a world-class snorkeling spot with a visibility of about 25m. But first, we went for a short hike on the island.

Afterwards, we were finally allowed to put on our flippers and explore the underwater dream world. Many thanks to Dani & Martin, who lent us the underwater camera for our trip.

The highlight of the day was snorkeling with turtles, of which we saw 2, and as an added bonus, we were able to admire a large reef shark, along with countless colorful fish and a completely intact reef.

So our initially booked one night at the kangaroo sanctuary turned into 4 nights in the end.