We hadn't yet made up our mind where we would head after Noosa, but we knew it had to be in the northern direction and at least 4 hours further up than Noosa.
The Dennis family had indicated they were heading to Seventeen Seventy (Second place of landing for Captain Cook in 1770) and suggested we join them. The beauty of having fluid plans was that we could change them according to our requirements; we'd heard and read about 1770 previously, so we jumped at the opportunity to meet up with more Roselea people.
The drive to 1770 took us through a multitude of cane fields and macadamia farms, providing us with a real sense of being in northern QLD. On the way up, there were many signs out the front of properties, selling their produce, so we obliged and bought some local pineapples and watermelon.
Jackie was unsure what to expect at 1770 and was keen to book just 2 nights, in case the kids were bored. We opted for the 1770 Camping Grounds, which is right on the water, near the end of the peninsula. 1770 is quite remote, with no Vodafone reception starting from ~100klms coming into the town; Jackie is with Optus and she was able to receive 1 bar of reception. The lack of mobile coverage was actually refreshing, providing a break from smart phone apps and usage.
Despite no mobile reception, it was interesting that Google Maps was still working on my phone; I assume that the app had downloaded map data of my destination and it's surrounds and with the GPS chip was still able to connect to the satellite, connectivity did not pose an issue. It will be interesting to see what happens to Google maps when I head out west, with no reception for a long time, whether it will download the whole route before I lose reception. I may have to manually download maps, if it does not do it manually.
Driving into the caravan park, it was immediately clear that people were here for one thing, and that was crabbing. There were many caravans with tinnies and mud crab pots strewn all over the camp sites. The site itself is right on the water, where people have their boats anchored in waist deep water.
We checked in around 5pm, allowing time to catch a glimpse of the sunset by the campsite.
As we settled in, the Dennis family had just checked in and were setting up their camper trailer. Instantly our kids joined up and were inseparable for the whole time we were there. Having the kids play so well together, along with the company of Maxine and Andrew, made the stay much more enjoyable and pleasant.
Our first full day was spent exploring some of the sites and headlands, whilst Andrew and I scouted out fishing surfing spots. We visited the Cook monument, the headland at 1170 and then spent a good afternoon at Agnes Water beach.
The town looks like it is about to take off population and tourist wise, with a lot of backpackers and travellers milling around. Of course Jackie checked out the real estate prices, and we were surprised at the rate of return from rent on some of the properties for sale. Certainly one to keep in the memory bank, should future investment options come into play.
My struggles with catching a fish continued at 1770. Both Andrew and I fished the inside of the peninsula for no luck at all, a lot of lost plastics to snags. Signposts warning of stingers and stonefish made us wary of wading in the water, so this resulted in a lot of lost tackle. We scouted out a few areas and tried them during certain tides, to no avail. Many of the fishermen (both land based and boat) did not report much by way of fish capture, however many mud crabs and blue swimmers were being caught by the boaties. Thoughts of hiring a boat the next day were quashed, after discussions with many fishos who reported the capture of standard bread and butter fish, which did not interest me at all. Whilst at the local real estate shop, the agent we spoke to mentioned a good rock fishing location, where locals spun lures for spanish mackerel, with reported success in the past week. Excited by the thought of catching bigger fish, Andrew and I thought we would give it a crack.
With loose instructions on how to get to the said "good" fishing spot, Andrew and I headed off to try and find the place that would deliver my first fish on the trip. We'd followed one track, only to find there were no fishable spots due to the rock ledges not being deep enough.
We decided to try another spot, heading in the general direction of where we thought the spot would be. We'd managed to trek our way down some rocky crevices, only to find ourselves too far north of what looked like the "catwalk". As we fixed our eyes on one local fisho, who obviously knew what he was doing, we saw him hook up onto what looked like a fish of substantial size. Based on the size of his rod and reel, along with the bend on the rod and the weight he was putting on the rod, I knew this was a big one. I excitedly jumped up the rocks to try and find way to the spot, however we were still too far north and there was a drop of 15 metres or so below to the spot. We'd have to turn around and try to find the proper track to the location. As I turned back to find the location, the fish had been busted off, well it had been "sharked" (which we learnt afterwards).
After backtracking some more, and climbing through some scenic and treacherous terrain, we managed to find ourselves on the ledge next to the fisho.
He was not keen to relinquish his spot, and the location and type of fishing did not lend itself well to many other people in the same spot. Also, from the outfit he was using, it was clear that the gear Andrew and I had with us, was just not going to hold up, even if we did manage to hook onto a fish. We were content to sit back and watch the locals ply their craft, soaking in the spectacular scenery and atmosphere.
Light was fading and the tide rising, so we trekked it back to the car, fishless again.
Certainly our time at 1770 was way too short, and we'd love to go back there with a tinnie and get amongst the crabs and fish (now we have a little more local knowledge). We had a great time with the Dennis family, adding to the enjoyment of the place.
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