Glass House Mountains

Sunset at Carlo Point

Inskip Point

The peninsula north of Rainbow Beach ends 10 km away at Inskip Point. Impressions: large beaches, strong winds and surf fishing. Two barges carry 4WD vehicles over to the southern tip of Fraser Island.

Pelicans and Dolphins at Tin Can Bay

Saturday morning, we hopped in the car at 6:40 for a half-hour drive to Tin Can Bay. The attraction: wild dolphins who appear daily at a little patch of sand to meet with and eat fish from human visitors. The alpha male dolphin, Mystique, was there with one of the females from his pod. They hung out with the 50 or so human visitors for about an hour before the feeding began. The operation was managed by several handlers (two in the water, one providing history and guidelines with a microphone, one selling fish). The dolphins seemed to be especially attracted to children. After eating (one fish from each of about 2 dozen people who had bought them), the dolphins stayed around for another 15 minutes before heading off back into the bay. Apparently, this interspecies exchange happens almost every day and the history of the interaction dates back more than a half century (and through three dolphin generations)!

Rainbow Beach

Carlo Sandblow and Double Island Point

We walked 19 miles today, through the Great Sandy National Park. Our goal was the Lighthouse at Double Island Point. After more than three hours of steady walking through sometimes scruffy eucalyptus forest and undulating sand hills we emerged at the Double Island Point North Beach. The lighthouse was another 3.7 km across open beach and that would have meant only a 15 minute lunch break before starting the long trek back (limited by an early sunset), so we decided to declare victory and stop at the beach. The day's visual highlights were spectacular: the massive Carlo Sandblow near the beginning of the walk (seen in the first image and the last three of this set), the innumerable blue crabs of North Beach, and the combination of a sweeping coastline lined by colorful dunes, blue water, blue sky, and dramatic clouds. Indeed it was a feast for our eyes!

Passing through Maryborough

It's been a wet Wednesday in eastern Australia. We made a short drive, 120 km in all, from Hervey Bay to Rainbow Beach. Along the way, we stopped for a brief look around Maryborough, a quaint town with a (relatively) deep history. One highlight: It is the birthplace of PL Travers (1899-1996), the author of six Mary Poppins books. The huge banyan tree was in a park bordering the Mary River and near the central business district.

Hervey Bay