On Thursday we went for a drive to Agnes Waters and the town of 1770 which are about 120kms from Bundaberg. The day was cool and overcast when we left, but got warmer and clearer as we went north. The countryside is mainly agricultural land with sugar cane, strawberries and tomatoes being some of the major crops getting harvested right now.
Agnes Waters is a lovely little coastal town with a beautiful beach. It (and 1770) is really a full on tourist town with lots of holiday accommodation and heaps of activities to keep you busy if that’s what you want – such as snorkeling, surfing (it’s the northernmost surf beach on the east coast) scuba diving, fishing etc. The towns are at the southern edge of the Great Barrier Reef, and there are tours to Fitzroy Reef Lagoon and Lady Musgrave Island , There’s a small but good shopping centre there too. We spent most of our time at Agnes Waters walking along the beach and had a picnic lunch in the park.
- 1770
The town of 1770 is where Captain Cook came ashore, his second landing in Australia, and the first landing in Queensland, and the town is referred to as the birthplace of Queensland.
The bay is very sheltered so is a great area for mooring boats. It was nice and quiet when we went there, with just enough people around to make it interesting. The foreshore area wasn’t busy, probably because it was a little cool, and the tide was out, so it was easy to walk around and take photos. The town is quite hilly and if you go for a walk or drive you can see some great views out over the bay.
There’s an annual Captain Cook 1770 Festival held in May with market stalls, a parade, a reenactment of the landing and lots of family activities to commemorate the landing by Captain Cook.
I think it would be packed in the summer months. We’d like to see it then, but aren’t so sure about dealing with all the tourists! We’d like to go back again for a sunset which is reputed to be spectacular – the area is apparently one of only 3 spots on the east coast where a sunset happens over the water.
- Miara
On the way home from Agnes Waters we checked out a place called Miara which a number of people have told us about. There’s nothing there except a boat ramp and the caravan park – and it’s lovely. When we drove down to the boat ramp a herd of cattle were blocking the road, we had to wait for them as they weren’t going to shift, especially the huge bull! They were busy eating some sugar cane – hmm, wonder if it makes the milk sweeter? Anyway they eventually moved after posing for photos 
Sighs, it’s a shame we have to find work, otherwise we’d be spending a few weeks here and a few at Agnes Waters too. But we’ll see what we can do if/when we finish working in Bundaberg.