Tin Can Bay (wikipedia)

is a town in south-east Queensland, Australia. The seaside town is located on a deep but narrow sheltered inlet in the Gympie local government area, 218 kilometres (135 mi) north of the state capital, Brisbane. At the 2006 census, Tin Can Bay had a population of 1,918. It is suggested that the town’s name derives from the indigenous word, “Tuncanbar”, thought to refer to the dugongs that frequent the inlet. European settlement began in the 1870s as the point where logs would be floated to the timber mills at Maryborough. Tin Can Bay later became, and still remains, an important fishing port, with a focus on prawns as well as recreational fishing. There is an excellent public boat ramp into Snapper Creek with boat-washing facilities and ample trailer parking.

Tin Can Bay is the nearest town to the Australian Army‘s Wide Bay Training Area and a vehicular ferry operates at nearby Inskip Point providing access to Fraser Island.

The seaside town is a popular holiday destination and launch pad to the aquatic playground of the Great Sandy Strait – a pristine waterway protected by World Heritage listed Fraser Island. The area is a Ramsar Convention Wetland of International Importance. Other recreational facilities include hotels, holiday units and caravan parks, with houseboats and yachts for hire and a marina. Active sports facilities include an 18-hole golf course, two bowls clubs, tennis courts and an outdoor swimming pool. The Tin Can Bay Country Club is the main recreational focus for residents and visitors serving Tin Can Bay, Cooloola Cove and Rainbow Beach areas of Cooloola Shire, Queensland, Australia.

An important tourist feature is the regular arrival of wild Indo-Pacific dolphins which usually appear early mornings next to the Norman Point boat ramp. These dolphins can be hand fed under close supervision.

8^th September, Monday

We did leave very early this morning, in fact at 6.30 (the earliest that we have ever left).  The cyclists were up and getting ready so we hot footed it out of there.  We did however pass 2 cyclists on the way, they must have left super early and both were ladies and had their wet weather gear on as was raining this morning. We drove through the town of Childers (another lovely Queensland town) and then joined the Bruce Highway going through Maryborough and then onto a secondary road to Tin Can Bay.  The secondary road goes mainly through Pine Plantations, narrow roads and logging trucks coming the other way (quite scarey because there is no space to pull over).  We eventually made it and the weather is still chilly and rainy.  The caravan is nice (structured one) and the sites are small.  It took us awhile to back in but once we had and I walked around we realised that we have the best site in the park.  Our own little private garden and privacy, it’s awesome. You will see from the pics.  It amazes us though how some of these oldies live because the minute you arrive they all come out of their vans (like zombies) and stand there and watch you while you are battling to get into your tight little spot and when you are in they are still standing there watching you set up, so the first thing we do is put the screens up……..no more show folks. There is a lot to see and do here.  There are the hump back dolphins that are very rare which come in to be fed.  Fraser Island (we might not do that) and so much other stuff. Tomorrow we will probably go to Gympie for the day.

Gympie (wikipedia

is a regional town in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of Queensland, Australia. It is about 160 kilometres (100 mi) north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city lies on the Mary River, which floods the town periodically. Gympie is the administrative centre for the Gympie Region area. At the 2011 census, Gympie had a population of 18,602.Gympie is famous for its gold field. It contains a number of historic buildings registered on the Queensland Heritage Register.

Etymology

Gympie’s name derives from the Kabi (the language of a tribe of Indigenous Australians that historically lived in the region) word “gimpi-gimpi” (which means “stinging tree”), which referred to Dendrocnide moroides. The tree has large, round leaves that have similar properties to stinging nettles. The town was previously named Nashville, after James Nash, who discovered gold in the area in 1867. The name was later changed to Gympie in 1868.

History

Graziers were the original European settlers. Subsequently, James Nash reported the discovery of ‘payable’ alluvial gold on 16 October 1867. At the time of Nash’s discovery, Queensland was suffering from a severe economic depression. Nash probably saved Queensland from bankruptcy. A memorial fountain in Gympie’s Park honours Nash’s discovery. The Gympie Gold Rush Festival celebrates the event today. The Gold Rush Festival holds 10 days of cultural events in October. Gold mining still plays a role in the area’s fortunes, along with agriculture (dairy predominantly), timber and tourism. The gold rush’s rapid development led to streets that are in an irregular fashion. Gympie Creek Post Office opened on 1 December 1867. It was renamed Gympie in 1868.

The railway from Maryborough completed in 1881. The North Coast railway linked Gympie to Brisbane in 1891. A fire brigade was in operation in 1900. The state declared Gympie a town in 1903. A powdered milk factory began operations in 1953.

The Mary Valley has a stunning landscape of rolling green pastures and many beautiful forests. The countryside is spectacular with an abundance of curves, gradients and bridges. Steep slopes portray a patchwork of pineapples, macadamia nuts and other crops. The towns of the Valley include Dagun, a pretty little ten house town and Amamoor which hosts the National Country Music Muster, held annually in August. The Muster is held over six days and nights in the Amamoor Forest Reserve. Featuring 13 venues full of diverse music The Muster is the largest outdoor country music festival in Australia. The Mary Valley Scenic Drive also travels through Kandanga and Imbil.

9^th September, Tuesday

This morning the sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky.  We had breakfast and then took off to Gympie (about 50kms) from Tin Can Bay. Part of the way is through Pine plantations (huge plantations here). After the plantations the landscape changes and gets really beautiful.  Mountainous, valleys and so green, it really is very pretty. Gympie is an old town and charming.  The town centre runs through one street.  Nothing is over one storey high and everything is there.  It’s very pretty and has a lot of character.  There are a lot of old buildings here which is my love as you have probably all noticed and we really liked this town. We came back to Tin Can Bay and took a drive around to suss out where the fish and chip shop was etc. (important stuff).  Just a reccie for today.  On the way back to base it was a bit rainy but not too bad, they say that the weather will clear tonight but we are not that fussed as it’s all good. When we got back we found out that there was a Muso doing some stuff at the camp kitchen at 4.  We took our chairs and some drinks and most of what he did was 60’s.  It only lasted about an hour and a half because all of us old farts had to get back to our vans to do dinner.  Seriously though, it was good.  Tomorrow we will explore more of the area.

 

 

 

10^th September, Wednesday

The sun is shining again although it is quite windy.  It’s a warm beautiful day.  We took a drive to Rainbow Beach, from there you can take the ferry across to Fraser Island.  It’s a pretty little seaside town with the usual coffee shops, boutiques etc.  There’s an awesome bakery there that makes awesome pies which we had for breakfast.  From there we took a drive to Inkskip Point.  There are caravan, camper trailers, tents, boats, you name it, it’s all there.  The place is crowded with campers and boaters. It’s quite nice there as the camping is all on the water but it is very busy, busier than the caravan park in fact.  There is another point we went to (Bullock Point) and that is so pretty.  There is another ferry that goes from there to Fraser Island.  The place was quite and it looks like some people launch their boats from there, but not many.  Perhaps it’s a well kept secret as there really were not many people there and it’s on a sand road, sort of out of the way from the main action.  It was a good find. From there you can see Fraser Island.  We are not going to do this Island this time as we have to find somewhere for Hugo to stay as it’s National Park and also we couldn’t be that fussed and from what we’ve seen before and from hearsay it’s all sand and dingos and we have done that before on several occasions.  We decided to come back to Tin Can Bay through Cooloola Cove and we stopped off for a toilet stop and we spotted this awesome Goanna, when he saw us he decided to go up a tree but I still managed to get a picture of him (I think they are awesome). We were going to see this place tomorrow but it was on our way back.  Cooloola Cove is quite a fair size with loads and loads of houses and one small shopping centre.  There is no Industry and we wonder what people there do.  It’s quite a boring town really. Tomorrow morning we will go and feed the dolphins and we are looking forward to that.

11^th September, Thursday

It was very misty this morning in fact is was so surreal and quite beautiful. The sun eventually came out and burnt it all away and it turned out to be the most beautiful warm sunny day. We went to the place where they feed the dolphins and had to wait around for awhile so we had some coffee and fruit toast for breakfast while we were waiting. The dolphins, only 2 of them were swimming around waiting for breakfast.  Apparently there are quite a few of them but they only come in 2 at a time, not sure why.  They are hump back dolphins and quite unique to this area.  The shags and pelicans were hanging around as well waiting for a feed and they take them around the back to have a feed while the dolphins are getting fed as they wouldn’t get a look in because they steal the fish.  We get a fish each to feed them and go in one by one.  They are so gentle the way they take them and you can’t help but fall in love with them.  We filled up with fuel after that and posted some cards then came back to the park for awhile.  We took Hugo for a swim later in the day and then had fish and chips on the Esplanade.  We leave in the morning for Maroochydore so need to pack up etc. I know that I have put up a few pictures of the misty morning and I really did cull them and so I was left with these few and I couldn’t chose. Night all and will catch up with you in the next port of call. xxxxxxxxxx