It was just a hop, skip and jump from Fraser Island to Rainbow Beach. On the way we had our first experience in car washes that specialise in washing the sand from underneath the car. Jets of water stream out from under a grid and wash the car from underneath. Cool!
We unpacked our bags into our small but gorgeous room and met "Mrs Sparkle", the owner of the accommodation with an obsession with cleaning and talking. She was lovely but stand still long enough and you'd get a polish, a bleach and a one-way conversation at the same time!
John has stayed in Rainbow Beach as a kid and knew that there was a great sandblow there. The Carlo Sandlblow lies a kilometre or so behind the town. It was really cool and the views were great, especially at sunset.
Behind us, a paraglider flew gracefully against the colours of the eastern sky.
We decided to get up early the next morning to check out the sunrise over the beach. It was amazing!
Rainbow Beach is called this because it has a huge variety of coloured sands in the cliffs that line the long beach.
As the rising sun hit the cliffs they seemed to glow.
There were often many different colours in the one section of cliff.
We spent quite a bit of time here catching up on things as we had good internet and the best office! It was just a small patio but it was beautifully surrounded by garden.
That night the Tiges were playing. It was a must-win game if we were to have any chance of making the finals so we went to a pub to watch it. Unfortunately, they had three large TVs side by side, all playing different sports. To top it off, right beside where we were sitting was a guy singing and playing his guitar! We left after quarter time and raced back to watch it on John's computer. Sadly, we got thrashed. We are out of this year's competition. We decided we needed some cheering up so we went to the local sports club where we had been told a singer would be performing. It was a classic place. About a dozen very drunk people were listening to the most talented singer we'd heard for ages. We quickly got talking to a couple of ladies who were good value. It was a fun end to the night.
It was time to move on which was a bit sad as I really liked Rainbow Beach.
To get to our next destination we decided to do one last drive along the beach - part of the Great Beach Drive. There is one part that can only be passed at low tide. We had to be on the beach at 6am to make it, so we saw yet another spectacular sunrise.
Our first destination was Double Island Point. The two hills looked stunning against the dawn light.
There was a lovely walk up to a lighthouse here. As we were walking along the track near the cliff just before we reached the lighthouse, we heard a really weird whooshing noise. I thought it was a strange animal, John thought it might be a blowhole. It turns out that we were both kind of right. It was a whale! We found this out a minute or so later when we reached the top and a guy there told us that the whale was almost directly below them and only a few metres off the cliff's edge. We then looked and waited but didn't see it! I was so disappointed. There are also supposed to be dolphins around here but we didn't see them either. Anyway, the views and the lighthouse were cool.
We then drove the 50kms or so along the beach to where we had to turn inland. It was Sunday and there were soooo many cars on the beach!
At one stage I was just looking out the window and suddenly I saw a whale! It was actually just inside the line of surf, so quite close to shore. We drove backwards along the beach for a bit to watch it. It was travelling surprisingly fast. We soon realised it had a calf too! Wonderful!
We stopped for lunch in Noosa then headed to the nearby town of Boreen Point, on Lake Cootharaba. Oh my goodness - what a place! It's tiny, quiet and so beautiful. Lake Cootharaba contains salt water and is very shallow. On our first walk along the foreshore we saw a leopard ray in the water. Apparently there are many rays here. Like some of the lakes on Fraser Island, tannin and tea-tree oils have tinted the water.
There was a lot of activity around the lake - well a lot considering it's a really small place. People sailed, kayaked, drove boats, fished and rode stand-up paddleboards. Kids and some braver adults swam. The water wasn't really that cold as it's really shallow.
Our little house was sensational. It was quite old but the view over the lake was outstanding.
The rivers that flow to the lake form one of only two everglades in the world, so we had to check them out. The best way is by a boat trip so we luckily managed to get on one at the last minute. It was a bit underwhelming but pleasant enough. The rivers are known for being like mirrors - they reflect everything above them.
The boat driver who was giving us a bit of info was incredibly Aussie and so laid back that we wondered if he might have smoked something beforehand. I asked him to explain what an everglade was but none of us really understood his answer. It's something to do with rivers and grasses we think!
They gave us some bubbly on the boat and by the time we got off it we were best mates with a younger couple who spent the whole trip telling anyone who would listen about their caravan rental business. Part of the trip included nibblies afterwards at a bar and we had a lovely time meeting people there.
We had an early night so were up early again and saw - you guessed it - another spectacular sunrise!
One day we were in our little house and John saw a snake in the bushes below us. It was massive - perhaps about two metres long and really thick. I googled it and we think it's a Carpet Python. Totally harmless but very impressive! It's mostly obscured by the plants here. It curled up in the sun and just snoozed for a while.
One of the main reasons we came to Boreen Point was because Lonely Planet described the local pub as one of the most atmospheric in the country. On Sundays it does a big smoke-house lunch and has live music so we timed our visit around this. We weren't disappointed. For a tiny town, the crowd there was incredible. There must have been more than 200 people there. They came on motorbikes, in cars and on foot. There were families and friends all meeting up. To cut the story of a long day short, we met two other couples who lived nearby, a dog called Casper, a local war veteran, the owners and most of the kitchen staff. We spent the day with the two local couples and finally staggered home an incredible nine hours after we arrived there! It was great fun!
The original pub was moved to this site. It has 12 foot wide verandahs and 14 foot high ceilings. It's set in a beautiful spot where people can picnic and kids can play on the huge lawns.
The smokehouse was pumping. Nearby were huge old trees that were full of birds in the day and very active possums at night.
Our new friends - Chris, Helen, Mick and Joy.
We had only booked two nights at Boreen Point and it simply wasn't enough. It was the first time on the trip that we had underestimated the time needed. I wanted to stay here for a week and learn how to ride a stand-up paddleboard. I wanted to canoe across the lake and look for stingrays and leopard rays. I wanted to just hang out here. Oh well - next time!
Stay safe.
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