Bundaberg and Bargara Beach

Bundaberg is located on the Burnett River - it was still recovering / rebuilding after the recent record 1 in 200 year flood. Many houses and several motels were completely destroyed in the January 2013 flood. The main shopping complex was inundated as were many homes. We stayed in Bundaberg and visited and swam at nearby Bargara Beach. We would stay at Bargara Beach next time we pass through this way. we swam at the Bargara Beach "the Basin" which is a very large swimming rock pool which was made by South Sea Islanders (Kanakers) to provide a protected swimming location from sharks for the locals.

 

Bargara Beach swimming rock pool - the Basin



Barolin Rocks near Bundaberg

Elliot Heads - a popular holiday spot near Bundaberg

Lady Musgrave Island and Town of 1770

We enjoyed staying at the Captain Cook Holiday Village, just near the little town of 1770 as it was a quiet bush setting to watch Kookaburras, with plenty of room and a nice pool. 1770 is the only town in the world named after a date, (it was renamed in 1970) when Captain Cook landed in Sydney, and later in Queensland. We did some short walks at the Joseph Banks conservation area. This is protected so has the same open bushland as when Captain Cook landed.

We waited several days to get a calm day to travel out to the world Heritage listed  Lady Musgrave Island. Lady Musgrave is the most southern Island part of the Great Barrier Reef. Lady Musgrave is a coral cay which is surrounded by coral and has a large lagoon area. The Pisonia Forest on the island is unique to the Great Barrier Reef. We had perfect conditions for snorkelling, calm & sunny with good visability, and saw more coral colours and fish than off Cairns or the Whitsunday Islands.  We also saw several pairs of turtles mating. They are endangered so this was good to see. The coral was easy to reach from our pontoon and in shallow water. It could also be seen from the glass bottom boat trip. The water was about 22 degrees and a beautiful turquoise blue. We also saw a whale as we neared the headland of 1770. A great way to end a special day!

  

'Lady Musgrave' our catamaran out to the Island

Aerial view of lady Musgrave coral cay and lagoon



We saw several clams with blue and jade  coloured "lips"



 Great snorkelling:beautiful coloured coral, fish, turtles & blue starfish



View of  lovely turquoise water and coral reef

Endangered Turtles mating on coral reef.

Pisonia Forest, stores water in dry season, & home to Noddies

Noddie sitting on a nest in Pisonia Forest

Enjoying the cruise !

View of forest & white sands of Lady Musgrave Island

 



Headland of 1770

Memorial where Captain Cook landed in 1770

Near where Captain Cook landed at  1770 in 1770

Yeppoon - Nth QLD

At Yeppoon, we stayed at quiet Kinka Beach in the Cool Waters Caravan Park which had a lovely new resort style, pool. We loved the nearby, three short but steep, walks up The Bluff and watching large turtles from the Ritamata (where we saw the most) and Turtle lookouts. The water below was very clear and calm. the green turtles appear brown coloured due to the algae growing on their shells.

 

Emu Park, the next beach along, is a small pretty beach spot with a singing ship, composed of musical wind pipes, as a memorial to Captain Cook. The Yeppoon region has lots of sheltered beaches with headland views of the nearby Keppel Islands. Trips leave here for Great Keppell Island but we decided the snorkelling would be better at Lady Musgrave Island as the coral there is undamaged.

Singing ship at Emu Park, near Yeppoon

View of Rosslyn Bay Marina,from nearby Double Head



View of Kemp Beach & Double Point from top of "The Bluff"

View of one of the Keppel Bay Islands from The Bluff

Enjoying the walk & view from The Bluff lookout

Ritamata  lookout,The Bluff, where we saw lots of turtles swimming below 

great views & coffee at  Rosslyn Bay Marina, Yeppoon 

Keppel Island views from beach at Yeppoon

Airlie Beach - Whitsunday Islands



We had a wonderful week at Airlie Beach at a resort park, with a large heated pool. So many things to see and do. Spent a lovely day visiting secluded Hydeaway Bay for a swim.  Monte's Restaurant was delightful for a long lunch of freshly caught fish and chips, on the shady verandah. Best fish and chips ever! We loved every minute of our cruise out to the Whitsunday Islands from Shute Harbour. We snorkelled at Langford reef which was shallow so easy to see the coral and the coral was just off the beach. It had lots of colourful soft and hard corals and small coloured fish. Water was lovely and clear too. It was as lovely as the outer reef we visited from Cairns. We enjoyed the stunning white sands and a short bushwalk up a hill to a lookout to see some other islands out from Whitehaven beach. Our guide told us he saw a black Taipan snake, 2 days before so he was being careful. We were careful too when he later told us you only have 45 mins to get help if one bites you, which is unlikely out there.

Our last part of the cruise was a visit to the lovely Hayman Island Resort.  We swam in their lagoon style pool and saw red starfish, stingrays and small sharks in their resort "lagoon". We had a warm and very calm trip which was very scenic way to see the Whitsunday islands and very relaxing.

We also enjoyed swimming at the large lagoon style pool next to Airlie Beach and the visiting the Airlie Beach Markets. We did a bush walk at Shute Harbour to Coral Beach and saw a green tree snake. We loved sitting looking for turtles on Coral Beach. We look forward to coming back here again.

Watching for turtles at Coral Beach, Shute Harbour

 

Sitting on Coral beach made up of coral & stones

Been to Airlie Beach Markets



Shute Harbour and passage to the Whitsunday Islands

Great snorkelling & coral at Langford reef, in the Whitsundays

White sands at Whitehaven Beach, Whitsundays

Enjoying swimming & bushwalking at Whitehaven beach

Mermaids at Daydream Island

Lovely Airlie Beach Lagoon



enjoying the beach next to Monte's Restaurant, near Hydaway Bay

relaxing at Monte's Restaurant by the beach

Life's a beach at Monte's

Bowen Nth QLD

We found Bowen has many hidden features. It has many lovely beaches and many are sheltered. We stayed at Wangaratta Caravan Park which is quiet & next to the Golf Course. We were glad we didn't choose a shady site under a gum tree as a branch fell on our neighbours 4WD. Thankfully no one was hurt & it was still drivable.

We had a wonderful time snorkelling just off the beach at Murray Bay. Murray Bay is reached by a track over some large boulders. We swam at Horseshoe Bay it was too windy to snorkel while we were here. Maybe next time!  We saw lots of hard & soft coral on the rocks: purples, oranges, greens, pinks, boulder coral, stag horn, lettuce, plate corals, to name some. We also saw some lovely brightly coloured small fish. It was low tide and good visibility so we could see the coral really well. There were only a few people there which was great. Unfortunately the other days we were here were very windy so water was too choppy for snorkelling. 

We enjoyed the 360 degrees views of Bowen & nearby islands from Flag Staff Hill Lookout, despite the wind, & good coffee. Some regulars at our park called it " Blowin  Bowen." We did a short walk from Horseshoe Bay up to a lookout with views of Horseshoe & Murray Bays. We had beautiful lunch at The Cove, a restaurant next to the Horshoe Bay Resort with fantastic views of the sea.

 

John tackling a 60 metre carpet snake at Ayr QLD

View of Edgecomb Bay from Flagstaff Hill look out

Great sea view from Cove Resort/ Restaurant, near Horseshoe Bay

Enjoying  sunshine, good food & views

View of private  beach at Cove Resort



The Grandview Hotel, Bowen featured in the movie - "Australia"



 Horseshoe bay - popular for swimming and snorkelling

Murray Bay coral views

Horseshoe Bay is the most popular of Bowen’s twelve beaches.
 

 

Murrays Bay - was a great spot to snorkel and view colourful coral

Townsville 2nd visit

The view over Townsville and short walks around the top of Castle Hill were spectacular but windy. We enjoyed a 1.5 hour bike along the bike path along the Ross River, just behind where we stayed. We saw lots of turtles, fish & colourful Rainbow birds ( bee-eaters). We then had coffee at the Tearooms and walked through the shady rainforest gardens / Palmetum. We also visited Queens Gardens, close to The Strand and beach - these were smaller but had lots of birds, including kookaburras. We loved swimming at the free infinity pools, which had lovely river views, and few swimmers at this time of year. We enjoyed lunch at Longboard restaurant on the Strand with great views out to Magnetic island and the Coral Sea. we had our best ever pizza (a herbivore pizza). watched lots of colourful kite board riders and yachts in the bay. Need to be careful as the sun burns after 6 mins here. The average Temperature was 28 degrees in August, so good for swimming. Townsville has an annual sculpture display along the beach. We found lots to see and do in and around Townsville and would like to visit again.





 

View of Townsville & Magnetic Island from Castle Hill

View of Townsville & Magnetic Island from Castle Hill

Townville Harbour, marina & Ross River

Bike ride along Ross River was very pleasant



Palmetum (Palm gardens) were cool & tearooms had good coffee

Whale sculpture, made of thongs  on  The Strand

Castle Hill from Queens Gardens

Kookaburra in Queens Gardens had some blue on his wings