Day 64 - Riding The Waves

It's Matt as scribe again today. Just to put Jill's mind at rest this isn't because I lost Helen on the kayaking tour.

After driving the sweat box nearly 1000km in two days it's nice to have it parked up and be able to enjoy a beer or two again. Town of 1770 is possibly the most beautiful place we've been so far. We didn't know much about it before we got here but it's really scenic and picturesque.

The sweat box should probably be renamed the box as it's noticeably cooler in there on a night now and after a good nights sleep we had a leisurely breakfast of bree and avos on toast (living the dream!) before deciding to do a couple of walks we'd read about. When I say we read I mean Helen and these walks may or may not have been linked to the three geocaches we just happened to come across. To be fair both walks were really good. The first was a short one (400m) called Paperbark Boardwalk which was a boarded path through a forest. The forest was like something out of Narnia and had some stepping stones to navigate which were fun. The land is owned by some local residents (more likely holiday home owners, more of that below) who've donated the area for conservation.
We then headed to the Joseph Banks nature reserve. For the many of you thinking is that the same Joseph Banks who was Captain Cooks botanist you'd be right. Cook landed here in 1770 funnily enough and him and Banks was/are kind of a big deal. Apparently Cook stayed here for 24hrs before sailing on but the locals have a three day party to celebrate the anniversary anyway. Fast forward 247 years and the nature reserve is very nice, you walk along the cliffs to a couple of viewing points above the town before heading down through another forest in to the centre of town.

We'd built up an appetite by this point so we went to The Tree, the main/only restaurant in town. It was ok but pricey and they forgot the cheese in my cheese burger (cheese was eventually provided after a request was made to the puzzled waitress).

After lunch we had a walk down the beach and looked at some crabs then it was time for a sunset kayak tour we'd booked. Ran by a really nice bloke called Simon there was two other couples, both Aussies, and us. As noted in previous blogs us working in tandem and in kayaks in particular hasn't always gone so well. We didn't capsize or drown but it did get a bit hairy at one point. Basically you start with paddle down the bay and stop on a sandbank for some local knowledge from
Simon. Before we got to the sandbank we stopped near a boat that is inhabited by a cat called Snickers. Simon said the cat was previously on another boat (they scare off the birds so they don't crap on the boats) but wasn't being fed so he took it back to his place but it hated being on dry land. It was therefore put on the current boat where the owner isn't there much but Simon feeds it and it has the run of the place. Was quite cute as it came running on to the deck as soon as he shouted Snickers.

It was interesting hearing about the property prices in 1770. 90% of homes are worth over $1m Aus but over 90% aren't occupied all year round as they're holiday homes. This is because it's so nice and the views over the bay and at sunset are amazing but also all the trees in the town (it's very foresty) can't be cut down as it's a conservation area so building land is at a premium and means when a house is up for sale there's a lot of demand. I asked Simon how many people live in 1770 and he said 30-60 permanently, I thought he meant thousands which did seem a lot and I was about to ask where they all lived but thankfully had kept my mouth shut before he said that Agnes Water, the town next to 1770, has much more at 2,000 residents. A subsequent google has confirmed there are actually only around 70 permanent residents in 1770.

After the property and population chat it was back in the kayaks to paddle further out in the hope of seeing some dolphins and turtles that live in the bay. This meant kayaking over waves in the open sea which we've not done before. The trick is to paddle fast straight towards them and meet them head on and your momentum takes you safely over. We were doing ok but then met one side on and I couldn't turn us quick enough so we came very close to a full capsize. Think I enjoyed it a bit more than Helen, we were soaked but ok in the end. Unfortunately we didn't see any of the afore mentioned creatures (Easter holiday season means more boats which might have scared them off) but we did see an osprey swoop down and catch a fish which was impressive. We had one more stop on a sandbank for wine and homemade fruitcake then it was a no big waves involved paddle back. Simon was a really good guide and seemed genuinely gutted he couldn't find the dolphins and turtles for us.

It was then back in the box and a short drive back to base camp. We ate at the campsite restaurant again. As Helen mentioned their restaurant only opened yesterday. Not sure why but I ordered another burger (chicken this time) and Helen ordered the roast of the day. The food is served in polystyrene boxes and it's just a takeaway place really but when it turned up the burger was good and the lamb roast was a excellent, tons of it and really nice plus cheap by Aus standards. Helen popped back in and told them how nice it was and they were so pleased! The people that run this site are all so nice and friendly. We'll leave them a good review without being told too.

We then got the local taxi shuttle mini bus for a few drinks in town. There is no pub in 1770 (see population discussion as to why) so Peggy who drives the shuttle round town for $5 per person took us to the Agnes Water tavern. Bit of an odd place and at least two mullets were spotted (hair cuts not the fish). After we'd had a couple of drinks Peggy popped in to give us a lift home. She'd waited for us as she didn't want us to have to walk the 5k back to the campsite!

I'd forgotten how much I like Australia. The people are great and parts of it so spectacular. Shame it's so far away. Another longish road trip tomorrow as we work away towards Fraser Island for Easter weekend.Baca selengkapnya