8th July till 28th July
After leaving Childers we decided to head to Seventeen Seventy. Unfortunately it was booked out so we stayed in a cheaper camping ground about 6 kilometres to the south called Workmans Beach. It is only 1 kilometre from the township of Agnes Water which is a twin village of Seventeen Seventy. This campground was really nice and we found a great spot, which allowed plenty of sunshine in, but also protected us from the sun with some shady trees. There are two beautiful beaches only a short walk from this site and we took the opportunity to take both tracks and were rewarded with lovely views. It is a very popular spot, because of the cost and each night a lot of campers arrived to spend just one or two nights. Although we really enjoyed our stay here, we were champing at the bit to get to Seventeen Seventy. For two reasons, one, it is a very beautiful spot and two, our friends from Geelong who had been holidaying in Cairns, Shirley and Gary, were going to meet us there and stay for a couple of nights.
As it was only 6 kilometres from Workmans Beach, we arrived nice and early at the Seventeen Seventy campground. This campground has excellent facilities, but is not like a caravan park in that the sites have a bush feel about them and they are on a gorgeous inlet which feeds in from Bustard Bay. Seventeen Seventy was named of course because it was the first landing place of Captain Cook in Queensland. It really is a tranquil seaside retreat and remains mostly unspoilt. It is also extremely popular and most visitors struggle to get a site unless they have prebooked early enough. Fishermen are very attracted to this spot as well because of the abundance of fishing opportunities available.
We arrived to stay 5 nights and ended up staying 15 nights. We did have to change our site twice, but it was well worth it as our third site was on the beachfront. We were lucky enough to have six nights on this site. These are prime positions, as you could imagine, because not only do they give ease of access to the beach, they give you the best position to witness the stunning sunsets and campfires are allowed only on these beachfront sites. Fishing, kayaking and just sitting in the sun were our main activities while here. A place like this really does rejuvenate the soul.
Gary and Shirley arrived on our first Thursday here and it was really great to see some familiar faces from home. We had a fabulous time with them while here and were sad to see them go. We had a lovely meal at “The Tree’, the local pub, which overlooks the bay and from where you have a wonderful view of the gorgeous sunsets.
We met some fantastic people as all our neighbours in each of the three sites we set up were wonderful. There were lots of people from Geelong staying here, some of them very regular visitors. Although we didn’t know each other, after chatting realised we had mutual acquaintances. A couple camped next to us on the beachfront, Hommy and Greg, from Ararat, surprisingly knew another couple we met on our travels in Victoria, who are regular visitors to Seventeen Seventy and also knew friends of friends from Geelong.
We also met Paul from Sydney who had just come back from Cape York, and was kind enough to give us heaps of information on the road conditions and the camping spots to prepare us for that part of our journey. We are really looking forward to going to The Cape via the Old Telegraph Track now.
The wonderful people we met, the fantastic weather we had, the boating, the kayaking, the relaxing and the brilliant sunsets all contributed to a wonderful two weeks in Seventeen Seventy. If we ever again get the opportunity, we will definitely visit this gorgeous spot again.
We are currently staying in a place called The Caves in the Capricorn Caves Tourist Park, about 20 kilometres north of Rockhampton. This wasn’t our original intention, but has worked our really well. Our first night here, we went to the local pub for a meal as we were late setting up and too tired to cook. It turned out to be a fortuitous decision. This pub is your real country pub, no pokies, no keno, no TAB, just a lovely pub with great meals and a wonderful atmosphere. While there we started chatting to a couple of young lads who were in for a counter meal, Mick and Dan. They are brothers who work in the district, and who gave us lots of information about the district and Yeppoon, on the coast nearby where they grew up. When we mentioned that we prefer cheap or free off road camping by lakes or rivers, their eyes lit up and they told us about a private spot near Yeppoon where we could do just that. Not only did they tell us about it, we exchanged phone numbers and the next day they called us and took us to the exact spot. After going into Rockhampton to get plenty of supplies and then visiting The Caves today, tomorrow (Thursday 28th July) we are going to set up camp at Lake Mary Creek, which is on private property and is very remote and beautiful. This spot is truly away from the madding crowd and we are looking forward to spending a week or so there.
Local information is really invaluable, so it always pays to go into the local pubs and start chatting. Thanks Mick and Dan for not only striking up a conversation with us but for showing us this great camping spot.
After this we are heading to Mackay, finally, to meet up with my old workmate, Tracy who now lives there. We are really looking forward to staying with her for a while and catching up on old times and new times. My next post will most likely come from there.
Cheers til next time.
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| Lake Monduran |
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| Workmans Beach |
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| Workmans Beach |
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| Kookaburra at 1770 |
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| Greg, Me, Shirley and Gary at The Tree |
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| View of our camp at 1770 from The Tree |
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| View from our campsite at 1770 |
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| That's Greg and Gazza in the boat |
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