August 31 to September 2. Tin Can Bay and Rainbow Beach. Sandy Beaches.

This blogging is getting hard. I am trying to not be repetitive and trying to be a little entertaining, but the subject matter is not helping. At 1770 I suggested that it couldn’t get much more spectacular or beautiful, and then we hit Rainbow Beach. Not only with great surf on one side, but towering cliffs of varying coloured sand on the other, make for a dramatic landscape. Hitting the beach for a walk just as the tide gets low enough to walk around a rocky outcrop, you can access this extensive beach along the cliffs and feel you are almost alone. A couple of people a few hundred feet in front, a few people behind and the occasional couple just off to the side in some shade looking for some privacy. Which of course they have … until the helicopter flies over. Then when the tide goes out far enough, 4WD’s go barrelling down the beach and even the 18 seater 4WD bus from Noosa roars up the beach from the other end. Could imagine that the adventure tourists may get more to look at than coloured sand cliffs on occasion.

As part of the cliffs, you can access Carlo Sand Blow which is one of the biggest Sand Blows in the world, and they don’t mind blowing their own trumpet about it. One part of the cliffs is just pure sand dune that crosses 100 meters or so. It is like a scene from Dune, or just like you would expect a desert. The apple watch is counting steps, but not taking into account the effort to walk on such fine sand. Views from the top cover the whole Rainbow Beach area, back to Tin Can Bay.

Next day we do a full day tour of K’gari. OMFG, the sand island obviously lends itself to just being a massive beach, but inland is incredible with rainforests and lakes that are pure rainwater. Crystal clear water, like seriously, crystal clear and bright white fine silica sand. The water is slightly acidic and gives a soft feeling, and you come out of the water feeling like you have just been in with some fabric softener. We also see massive 900 year old turpentine trees, Dingos and got a feeling for how the whole 4WD experience can be.

Another feature are the freshwater rivers, constantly spilling 80 to 100 million litres of water daily from the ground into the sea. You can float down a little river which is a bit like Bitter Springs, but without the warmth and crocodiles. A shipwreck slowly rusting away against the backdrop of bright yellow sands and blue oceans and blue skies gives a dramatic juxtaposition of beautiful nature and failed engineering. Everywhere you turn there is beauty. You will have to see Linda’s photos to try and get some idea on this … just amazing.

Tin Can Bay itself is a very quiet town, no real shops to speak of and lots of boats on the marina. A massive river inlet into the ocean, and huge tidal movements leaving long sand banks. What they are famous for is the dolphin feeding that happens every morning around 7:00am. For $25 you can stand in the water and feed one of them a fish in a blocked off area. We consider the early morning 2 minute drive and decide after the kangaroo feedings at Cape Hillsborough and even thinking a little about Monkey Mia, we figure that this is one manufactured experience that we will leave to others.

Tin Can Bay Caravan Park Google review

We decided on Tin Can Bay over Rainbow Beach as the review for the park was so much better. Tin Can Bay also had an ensuite. The facilities look to be updated and laundry was really good, it was a shame that the ensuite was still 70’s baby blue besser blocks and shower curtain. Yes, it was right next to the van, but the general facilities were far better than the ensuite. Oh, top marks for a heated pool! But we didn’t use it. 4 stars.