We planned to spend Thursday exploring Hervey Bay so we set off for a breakfast planning session at a cute coffeeshop called Little Blue Tandem. Once we got there, we realized that, in addition to serving awesome coffee, juice and toasts (see below), they also rented bikes for the day! This was such a no-brainer that we cut our planning session short and headed to The Esplanade for a day of biking by the bay.
Flat white for me, "Iced coffee" for Alex (more on Australian coffee drinks in our next Top Takeaways post) and toasts with chorizo, portobello mushrooms and goat cheese to share. Incredible way to start the day.
Alex is ready to go! (By the way it is illegal to ride without a helmet in Australia...safety first!)
I loved the old-school beach bicycles we got to use.
The ride down the full length of the bay and back is about 25 kilometers (15 miles) so Alex and I geared up (no pun intended) for a day of exercise and sightseeing.
The weather was beautiful and we were able to stop multiple times along the way to take in the scenery / rest a little bit. While the sun made for a perfect day, we also found ourselves sweating and in need of multiple sunscreen applications; also, the wind was great for cooling off, but made it slightly harder to ride up some of the longer hills!
Taking a break to admire the beach (and enjoy the shade!)
Consistent with most of the beaches we have explored in Australia: almost entirely deserted!
Low tide at the northern tip of Hervey Bay - and halfway point of our bike path
We ended up completing the bike ride in under three hours so we returned to Little Blue Tandem and cooled off with some fresh juice before heading down the road for a late lunch.
The sky had started to look a little cloudy at this point, so we decided to call it an early day. We grabbed some groceries for a light dinner in our hotel room before driving back to catch up on some reading and watch a movie.
Tomorrow we drive to Noosa Heads and continue our Australian beach tour!