DAY 4 - OUR LAST FULL DAY AT AGNES WATERS...

As predicted, the weather had turned this morning.  We had a little bit of rain through the night and today it is very overcast.  So overcast in fact that you can't distinguish the horizon when looking out to see, the ocean just blurs straight into the sky.    We were so thankful that we got our washing done the previous day.  

We had a pretty slow start to our day.  Even though the weather wasn't the best, Ian and Kathy managed a quick swim on the beach this morning.  For me, the weather needs to be sunny or the temperature high to entice me into the water.  

Even have parking for dogs in our caravan park...

Most of us headed off to the shops to get a few last minute supplies before we take off first thing in the morning.  The shops were just up the road.  I also had a couple of postcards I wanted to buy to send to the grandchildren.

Once we got back from our shopping, we all joined together for morning tea and then decided to have a game of "Five Crowns".

Enjoying a game of "Five Crowns" together..

It was well and truely lunch time by the time we had finished playing our game.  Barb being a newbi, was crowned our winner.  It seems that most times we have a new player play with us, they usually win the game... Maybe the rest of us are trying to strategicise too much...

By 3pm it was time for us to think about getting ready for our Sunset LARC tour.  As it was due to finish around 5.30pm, we decided to dress for dinner as our plan this evening was to have dinner out again, this time trying the pub at 1770 after our tour.  We were also keen to go for a little walk along the wooden boardwalk along the ocean's edge whilst we were there also....

Our LARC tour started at 4.15pm, so we were advised to be there at least half an hour prior to departure, so we left home around 3.30pm

We arrived in good time and easily found a park.  We then proceeded to enter the shop to present our tickets ready for the tour...

Steve and I were keen to do another LARC tour, more as a trip down memory lane for us, as we have wonderful memories of our good friends, Des & Betty Mergard supporting and encouraging us and always transporting us up the beach to Jenny Lind Creek to take 30 odd students fishing each Easter for more years than I can care to remember...

Des was a visionary and a committed Christian who had a passion to share his faith and particularly give children the opportunity to experience a wonderful holiday in his neck of the woods.  He made it very affordable for us to take lots of children, some of whom had never been camping before to this wilderness wonderland..

A little history of the LARC Tours...  They began trading as 1770 LARC Tours in 1994 in the beautiful Town of 1770 in our beautiful sunny Queensland.  The Mergard family envisaged the share the beauty and isolation of Bustard Head Light Station with visitors.  Two ex-military Lighter Amphibious Resupply Cargo (L.A.R.C) vessels were acquired for their versatility, reliability and low environmental impact.  They are an ideal form of transport to access the 27kms of picturesque coastline in this Southern Great Barrier Reef region.

The LARCs were painted a brilliant pink these 2 vessels can carry up to 64 passengers on tours to enjoy the adventure, natural beauty, cultural experiences and heritage values of Bustard Bay and the Town of 1770 which is the birth place of Queensland..  The LARC's capabilities enable guests to experience these vessels and all that they can do such as sand 4WDing, climbing headlands, and traversing 4 tidal creeks. 

 Whilst we would have loved to have done their signature Paradise Tour as it really has been quoted as a "must do" tour when visiting this region, time wasn't on our side this trip.  It has to be left for another time when we have a longer stay here.

 

Time to board for the Sunset Tour which was about an hour and a half tour which we undertook as the sun approached the horizon, although today there was no visible sun.... During this tour we got to experience the delights of the Town of 1770 as we enjoyed our travel om the unique amphibious vessel.t

Our very happy tour guide...

We set off by entering the famous Round Hill Creek as we took in the magic of the Eurimbula National Park coastline with all of its wildlife and magnificent views.  Our tour guide was very entertaining as he gave us a historical commentary and fascinating history of the local area, the landing of Captain Cook and how 1770 really was the birthplace of Queensland.  

We were also treated to glimpses of the abundant wildlife including stingrays, sea eagles, turtles, dolphins and the very many species of birds found in this area.

On our way back to the Marina, we got the special LARC splashdown, and just because our tour guide was a great guy, he turned around and repeated it so that we had a special extra splash... 

Lots of good fun...

The famous LARC Splashdown...

It is a pity today has been so overcast as I can just imagine how special the sunset would have been lighting up the water as we came back into the Marina with all the different boats moored.  The reflections would have also added to the beauty of the area..

We were back at the Marina and disembarking from the LARC around 5.30pm.  We did manage to get a couple of great photos of us all as we disembarked which was nice for us all as a keep sake of a lovely afternoon.

Both LARCs back in and docked for the night..

We left here and headed into 1770 to checkout the boardwalk and also locate the pub where we had planned to have dinner this evening..

The Town of 1770 lays claim to being the birthplace of Queensland. It is a picturesque seaside village surrounded on three sides by the Coral Sea and Bustard Bay.  It is historic as it is the second landing site in Australia of James Cook and the crew of the Endeavour when they sailed up the coastline in May 1770.  The area is known for its richness in wildlife, and natural beauty and offers scenic views in all directions.  The Joseph Banks Environmental Park preserves much of the peninsula with fauna and flora indicative of the area.  Rugged granite rocky outcrops are also common both an outer surf and inner still water beach.  

In the bicentenial year, a wooden boardwalk was built along the 1770 foreshore Round Hill creek which takes you through to the parkland adjacent to the 1770 Camping Ground.  We follow the board walk along the 1770 foreshore of Round Hill Creek until we reached the Tree Hotel, as this was where we thought we would have dinner tonight.  The walk  was lovely and  allowed you to the natural beauty of Bustard Bay along with observing  the abundance of bird life from pelicans, seagulls and white-bellied sea eagles that are prevalent in this area.  We could tell that this would be an awesome spot to sit and watch the setting sun as it sets over the Bay, but unfortunately for us it was not to be this visit...

We checked out the Tree Hotel, it was jammed packed with people.. We checked out the menu which was displayed on the footpath, and there was not a lot any of us fancied, and the prices were double the prices of the Agnes Waters Tavern so in the end there was a unanimous decision to head back to Agnes Waters to the Tavern for dinner instead...

Dinner at the Agnes Waters Tavern...

Cheers to a great 4 days at Agnes Waters...

  

The meals as usual were  wonderful,  well cooked, well flavoured, and well presented.  Once again Steve and I shared a meal, although we did order a chicken wing entree to share as well as Chicken, bacon and broccolini and smashed tomato main.

Ian ordered lamb meal

Kathy ordered a steak meal

Our meal

John ordered pasta

Barb ordered the chicken like us...

Our chicken wing entree...

Lovely evening out together...

What a lovely way to end our fabulous few days at Agnes Waters.  It is definitely a place we could come back too as there is still so much more we could see...  We've had the best company whilst we have been here also.  Feeling very blessed to be able to holiday with these awesome couples...

Tomorrow we are on the move again heading to the bush this time...