Tuesday – Day trip to Rainbow Beach (106kms)…HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSEPH!!!

The alarm was on for 6:30am this morning as we had a date we couldn’t miss!  Although both of us had a restless sleep, as it was a full night of torrential rain we got up and after a quick coffee drove down to Norman Point. 

At 7am we arrived just in time…Mystique and Patch the loveable Indo-Pacific wild dolphins were there waiting in the shallow waters of the harbour.  We washed our hands with anti-bacterial wash (as human illnesses are deadly to dolphins) and waded in to meet them.  They are the 3rd generation of the same family to visit these shores every morning for a small feed before heading back out to the estuaries and rivers in the Cooloola coast area to spend the rest of their day. 

We spent an hour before any one else turned up with the volunteers, interacting with the dolphins, we felt very lucky!  As a small crowd was gathering we grabbed our spot in the queue to buy a bucket of fish to feed them (all proceeds went to the dolphin research and conservation centre).  We then took it in turns to feed them.

After saying a fond farewell we headed around to Norman Point picnic ground to have some breakfast, not a bad spot to enjoy some cornflakes!

Next stop was Seary’s Creek, on the way to Rainbow Beach; a small creek with an abundance of wildlife, where we saw a catfish.  Ben decided to take a dip in the calm waters, although judging on his reaction, the water was very cold!

We drove through Sunshine Beach to Inskip Point, the main departure point for Fraser Island.  As our van is not a 4 wheel drive we could not go out on the dunes at Inskip, instead we opted to walk out and enjoy the beauty of the area, and watch the barge that carried all of the vehicles across to the island.

Back through Rainbow Beach to Carlo Sandblow (Sandblow being a local word for sand dune), we walked up onto the dune, admiring the many different colours of sand.  The views out towards Double Island Point were spectacular.

Back into town and we finally parked up and explored, and after a nice lunch time treat of fish and chips we walked along the beach towards the coloured sands.  As the waves crashed against our legs and the views around the bay greeted us, we were in awe of this vast place.

As the rain clouds were moving in we jumped in the van and drove back to the camp ground in Tin Can Bay, straight through the heaviest ran we have had to date in Australia.  Back at the camp ground we decided to go for a walk around the foreshore and call in at the local library for internet use.

After walking back to the van we had a beer and cooked dinner.