24.11.2018 | Australia, Travel

Standing next to 5 dolphins and visiting Agnes Water

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After the last surfing days in the Noosa Heads National Park, we moved on further north to a free rest area near Ross Creek. In the early morning, we drove to Tin Can Bay, a popular spot to see some wild dolphins. Although the dolphins are wild and the ladies pay attention to not scare or overfeed them (strict rules of Queensland), I asked myself afterward if it is natural to feed these dolphins with fish. Probably I wouldn´t do it again. However, it is better than a Sealife, where the dolphins aren´t free.

Tin Can Bay – Feeding dolphins

“Barnacles Dolphin Centre” open at 7 am and costs 5 AUS Dollar per person. I highly recommend coming here early, because shortly before 7 am the dolphins swam voluntarily into the harbor. This day there arrived 4 female dolphins and a 16-weeks old dolphin baby. The baby Luna was born at the full moon and looked absolutely cute. Separated in little groups we were allowed to walk into the water next to the playful dolphins. Some women told us about the history of the dolphins: In the past, the fishermen cared for an injured dolphin, since then the dolphins return every day and shared the information with their next generation. Normally dolphins eat 15kg fish a day, the organization is allowed to feed 3 kg. For 5 Dollars we got a little fish. I hold it in my hand until the dolphin carefully took it from my hand. He touched my hand but we weren´t allowed to stroke them. The dolphins played, rotated and blew out some air on their heads. The mother protected her little child. I was impressed by the size of the older dolphins. Facts: dolphins reach up to 45 years in age and one of the dolphins was already 37.

After everyone fed their fish, the dolphins swam voluntary back to the open ocean. The moment we arrived at our car, a nice man from Tin Can Bay came to us and we talked about 2 hours :). He was born in the Netherlands, traveled the world as a soldier, then he was a painter and married a Philippine woman. He told us about the countries he traveled to, about politics in Queensland and to get a visa for Australia. He recommended to take the small roads up to Bundaberg.

Great Sandy National Park

We drove to the Great Sandy National Park to Maaroom. The bid sand formations look amazing on the map. From below it looked like a big sandy desert.

Hervey Bay / Frazer Island

We moved on to “Hervey Bay” passing Marlborough. We drove along the Fishermen´s park to the very long Urangan pier near the “Mary to Rail Trail”. If you walk along the pier you will see turquoise water, loads of fishermen and the nearer island “Big Woody Island” and behind the big sand island “Frazer Island”. If you like to go to Frazer Island you can take the ferry in River Heads in the south. You will need a 4-wheel car on the island, otherwise, you get stuck. They offer a lot of tours where you get an appropriate car. We decided to go to the Whitsundays instead of Frazer Island.

Bundaberg and our overnight stay

From Hervey Bay, we took the highway and left for some smaller roads in Childers until we reached Bundaberg. We took a detour along beautiful fields crossing a wooden bridge over a river. The temperature was hot and the sand was red as in the outback. It was worth it to take the smaller roads passing all the beautiful sugar cane fields. We bought some bread in Bundaberg and took a little country road (number 16) to Avondale. There we stayed on a free rest area next to a hotel. This big rest area was absolutely amazing and very popular amongst campers! The starry sky was stunning, we even could see the galaxy and an infinite number of stars.

Agnes Water, 1770

In the morning we drove to Agnes Water, a cute and relaxed little surfer hotspot at the ocean. It is the last spot in the north to go surfing before the Great Barrier Reef begins. We went shopping at “Foodworks” (a little more expensive then Woolworth). We found a lot of backpackers and surfer at the beach, probably because it is the warmest place for surfing in June. The long waves arise further outside, and the surfers build a line until it is their turn to ride the wave. Then they ride big cuts up and down and up on a wave. We moved on to 1770-Joseph Banks on the Round Hill Head Conservation Park. We took the last parking space and walked the trail through the rocks. You can pass underneath the fence and walk a little further to the place with the best view. In the East there is the ocean with a strong surf, in the west, there are big sandbanks, turquoise calm water, and a little harbor.