Biking By The Bay

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!

Fraser Island

Similar to Whitehaven Beach near Airlie, the reason people visit Hervey Bay is to take a day-trip to Fraser Island. The island is huge, 75 miles long and 15 miles wide, and, for the most part, undeveloped. It is the largest island made only of sand, and the only place in the world where a rain forest has grown out of sand. It sounded like pretty rough terrain but “the Robster” assured us that many bus-loads of tourists visit each day so we signed up for a mid-sized tour and figured as long as we weren’t driving it wasn’t our problem to navigate the roads!

Our “bus” picked us up around 7:15am, then made a few more stops to pick up the rest of the passengers for the day. I say “bus” because that is what Murray, our very informative driver / tour guide, described it as. But I would describe it more as some sort of converted army vehicle that now has passenger seats. How else do you construct a 15-person vehicle capable of intense off-road conditions?

Our “bus” for the day (as seen mid-tour).

Once we were all on board we drove to the ferry – the only way to get from the mainland to Fraser Island. After a quick 30-minute ride, we were off on our adventure. First step: getting across the island. Not the simplest task given the road conditions (there are no paved roads on the island, only old sand roads that are maintained "whenever possible"). By the time we arrived at the beach on the east side of the island, I was almost ready to hurl – 45 minutes of bumps, hard brakes and leaning turns had taken its toll on me (and the rest of the passengers). Fortunately the next phase of the drive (north along the beach) was very smooth.

We arrived at our first stop, the Maheno Shipwreck, by mid-morning. As we explored this massive shipwreck, Murray prepared morning tea and coffee for us. The Maheno was an old passenger-turned-hospital-turned-back-into-passenger ship owned by the Australian government that they sold to Japan in the 1930s. The Japanese sent another ship down to tow it home, but a storm caused the cable to break and the Maheno to wash ashore at Fraser Island. The Japanese were unable to salvage the boat so they abandoned it…and then the Australian air force used it as target practice during World War II. Needless to say, there’s not much left. But to give you a sense of how big it was, there are apparently four decks buried in the sand below view.

The Maheno Shipwreck.

Our next stop was the Pinnacles, formations of colored sand dunes just north of the Maheno. I think we’ve been spoiled by some of the Southwestern US scenery we’ve seen because this didn’t impress us much…

The Pinnacles.

After the Pinnacles we headed back south to Eli Creek. This is a huge freshwater creek that feeds into the ocean. Most importantly for us, it has a constant flow of very chilly water. Rather than explore the creek, Sarah and I just laid down in the 8-inches of water and cooled off for half an hour. Time well spent!

We drove back toward the middle of the island and had lunch at Central Station, the former home base of all the loggers that once occupied Fraser Island. After lunch, we had a quick walk through the rainforest. It was an interesting change from the beach, but nothing compared to Costa Rica.

This hike did have a great boardwalk though!

Now that we were drenched in sweat from the hike, our final stop of the day was at Lake McKenzie. This is a crystal-clear freshwater lake. It reflects the blue of the sky, but when you are swimming in it you can see directly to the bottom – even the detailed sticks that look a lot like snakes! We relaxed here for an hour and a half before returning to the ferry back to the mainland.

Like I said, very clear water. And it was refreshingly cool too – much cooler than the oceans we’ve been in recently.

Trees growing in Lake McKenzie.

Once we were back at our hotel, Sarah and I got cleaned up and headed out to Badger & Brown’s for burgers. It happened to be $10 burger night so we saved ourselves a couple bucks. The food was great and a perfect way to end a long day exploring Fraser Island.

Journey to Hervey Bay

Packed and caffeinated, Alex and I left Airlie beach Monday morning ready for a full day of driving. We estimated the drive to Agnes Water would take about nine hours, including stops, so we wanted to get a pretty early start.

As has been the case with our other drives down the Australian coast, we had sunny skies, beautiful scenery and very little traffic. Given these ideal road-trip conditions, we weren’t really anticipating any complications. That is, until we realized we were in the middle of nowhere with less than a quarter tank and no gas stations in sight. Given the number of rest stops and signage along the road - Australia is big on preventing sleep-related accidents, even offering free coffee along the way - we were surprised we didn’t come across any signs indicating the distance until the next gas station. We tried to keep a positive attitude as we searched for any signs of civilization, but after we had to stop for roadwork and the gas light came on, we both started to panic a little.

At first, our trusty rental car indicated that we had about 75 kilometers worth of gas, which I knew was enough to make it to the next town, but after a short while the distance indicator disappeared and the entire display began flashing a gas indicator logo at us…which was about the time we turned off the A/C and I cursed myself for being an idiot. We drove along steadily and quietly for another twenty minutes, leaning forward to read any upcoming signs, letting each and every vehicle pass us and wondering what we would actually do if we ran out of gas. Without cell phone service, how would we call anyone? Who would we call even if we could make a call? In 90 degree heat would we physically be able to walk far enough to get to the closest gas station? Do people hitchhike in Australia?

Thankfully, as if its location was selected specifically for lost backpackers just like us, we finally came across a gas station. We pulled up next to a campervan that had passed us earlier and the driver immediately said “I didn’t think we’d make it!” (They were running on fumes too!) We laughed and told them we were panicking too, at which he grinned and said “So that’s why you guys were driving so slow! We were behind the tailwind from a truck and we wanted to keep close to him to reduce the air-drag on our van!" After filling up - at completely inflated prices - we felt slightly less stupid knowing we were not alone. Lesson learned: it never hurts to top off your gas tank before beginning a long journey into unknown Australian territory!

Alex completed the rest of the drive like a champ and we made it to Agnes Water by late afternoon. We had just enough time to drop off our laundry and head out for a walk to stretch our legs before sunset.  Agnes Water is definitely the smallest town in Australia we have been to so far, but it has some very nice, quiet beaches.

This pup was playing with his owners on the beach but came over to us to say hi.

Driftwood on the beach.

After watching the sunset we decided to walk to a nearby café I had read about for dinner. Unfortunately, the café turned out to be 1. More than a mile away down a pitch-black street, and 2. Closed! We walked back and grabbed dinner at the closest restaurant we could find – which was thankfully still open – before calling it a day.

Tuesday morning we kicked off the day with a run (well I did more of a run / walk given the extreme heat) and some well-deserved smoothies before heading briefly to the Town of 1770, which is aptly named for the year in which Captain Cook landed here. Besides the beach (and history plaques commemorating Cook and his crew), there really isn’t much to see in 1770, so after snapping some photos we hopped in the car and headed south to Hervey Bay.

Looking out at the boats anchored near 1770.

Alex snapped a quick picture of me climbing on the rocks.

We checked in to our new digs for the next three days – the Emeraldene Eco Lodge – and mapped out the next few days with our helpful host, “the Robster.” After planning tomorrow’s trip to Fraser Island, we drove down to the pier to walk around and see the sunset. The pier is over a kilometer long, which provides a great view of the sun falling behind the town.

The Urangan Pier.

I found a HUGE pelican perched on the pier! I was able to get pretty close for this picture...though I was a little nervous!

Alex snapped this incredible picture of this seagull and the sunset.

We had just enough energy left for a great dinner at Coast, which had been recommended by Tripdvisor, our map and Rob (a.k.a. the “Robster”). The food was incredible – Rob accurately described it as “an experience” – and definitely worth a stop if you’re visiting Fraser Island! It was a great end to a couple days of traveling for us; we’re excited to explore Fraser Island tomorrow!