I had company on my usually quiet and tranquil morning walk today with the wonderful, but noisy and boisterous, company of Ray and Caleb.

It was beautiful and sunny with golden beams streaming across the bay. By the time we returned, we had been gone for close to two hours, walking and using the fitness equipment on the foreshore. Clearly, my morning walk also took a LOT longer than it usually did.

Today we were going to go and take a look at two seaside towns which we had passed along the way to Hervey Bay. We had heard so much about Tin Can Bay and Rainbow Beach from other travellers that we just knew we had to take a look. One of the things that has perplexed us whilst travelling has been the recommendations from other travellers. Sometimes they have been golden nuggets, sometimes flops. I truly believe that this is because people’s experiences of places are not only summed up by the beauty of a place, but also by the people that you meet there, the conversations that you have there and also the wether that you experience there. So, the experience can really be different for everyone. Nevertheless, we had heard great things from quite a few people and we had the time so we packed a picnic and off we trotted.

We reached Tin Can Bay in time for lunch so we ate our picnic in one of the parks. We noticed an area of the park blocked off and a sign indicating that the Army was present for an “exercise”. Caleb grew excited as he saw a guard in a tower with a gun. It wasn’t long before Ray and Caleb had disappeared to talk to him. He came back brimming with information. We could have a budding army recruit on our hands, he said he is thinking about it. 

We drove another 35km to Rainbow Beach, so named for the coloured mineral rich rocks and sand that are adjacent to the beach. We could see Fraser Island from the beach (Fraser Island is the world’s largest sand island and is also known as K’gari) and went down to the water to feel it. It was fresh but got warmer the longer you stood in it. Rainbow Beach had a nice feel and there were plenty of backpackers swimming and milling about. We noticed the National Park close to town so made a quick detour there.

The information board showed 2 possible walks. One was 90km along the coast, the other was 1.2km. We decided on the 1.2km. Caleb wasn’t keen to do either of them and complained all the way, until we came to the end of the trail. Before us were the most magnificent sand dunes just waiting for our footprints. The view across the ocean was lovely and we spent quite a while climbing up the dunes and running down. The photos can’t capture how steep they were, but they certainly were a good workout for the legs!

As we were leaving, a backpacker turned up with a boogie board to plummet down the dunes on. Of course, Caleb charmed him and had a couple of turns before he himself had even had a chance to climb a dune. Caleb didn’t want to leave (a fair bit different from the complaining of an hour before) but the mozzies and midgies were starting to bite hard! The drive home treated us to a magnificent sunset and as we drove along singing to our shared choices of songs, once again we were reminded of our very fortunate lives travelling this magnificent country that gives us a thrill each and every day.