The
Queensland town of 1770 has a unique environment to explore. With creeks
meeting the sea along this coastline a variety of ecosystems exist. Doing them
all justice as you explore could be tricky unless you go on a LARC. “A what?”
you say? Read on; I will explain.
The Town of 1770
sees large differences in high and low tide levels so Lighter Amphibious
Resupply Vessels (LARC) provide a simple solution as they can be operated both
on land and through water. Originally used as military transport in coastal
areas (not painted neon pink presumably) the LARCs of 1770 Environmental
Tours now devote their days to showing visitors the local sights.
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| View over Jenny Lind Creek and back towards 1770, Queensland, Australia |
Several
tours run but the day trip is the most comprehensive. The tour starts by
heading north along Bustard Bay, past Eurimbula National Park. Morning tea of
Billy Tea and damper is offered at Jenny Lind Creek, so named after a shipwreck
occurred at the mouth of the creek. The damper was tasty and there was even some local entertainment in the form of a squad of bush turkeys trying to thieve damper from
unsuspecting tourists.
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| Morning tea and lunch spot, Jenny Lind Creek, Queensland, Australia |
Bustard
Head Lighthouse was the first lighthouse built in Queensland and the next stop.
Several points of interest sit high on top of Bustard Head. The lighthouse is
open to the public and it is possible to climb up to the top of the lighthouse.
It is only a small lighthouse but still offers views north to Gladstone and
south to 1770. Since 1868 lighthouse keepers diligently lit the lighthouse
every day but it was automated in 1986, and its abandonment left it vulnerable
to vandalism.
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| Bustard Head Lighthouse, 1770, Queensland, Australia |
The
Bustard Head Lighthouse Association was formed in 2002 and has restored the lighthouse
keeper’s cottage. It is now possible to walk though the restored house and
explore the lighthouse artefacts and historical photos. If one of the volunteer
lighthouse keepers is in residence you can chat with them and ask them
questions.
Bustard
Head also has a small cemetery featuring the graves of people who lived there
in years gone by. The LARC tour operators tell visitors the history of Bustard
Head and the stories of the families that called it home, including tales of
murder and intrigue.
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| Bustard Head Lighthouse, 1770, Queensland, Australia |
After
visiting Bustard Head, and escaping the hard sell attempt of one ex-lighthouse
keeper turned author, we lunched on sandwiches on the shoreline of Jenny Lind
Creek, and slipped the mistakenly chosen curried sandwiches to an obliging bush
turkey.
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| Bush Turkey: Keen as mustard (or should that be curry?) Australia |
The
afternoon was spent hurtling down the impressive sand dunes inland from Bustard
Bay on small bodyboards, sandboarding.
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| Sandboarding, 1770, Queensland, Australia |
As
we made our way back to 1770 it was initially a concern to see a local pleasure
flight operator land his light aircraft on the beach. When the pilot invited
people to go for a quick flight volunteers were a bit slow to come forward but
when he returned looking for more there were several. The second round of
volunteers however was never seen again. We were told they would land at the
local airstrip. Hmmm.
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| Impromptu pleasure flight, 1770, Queensland, Australia |
The
LARC tour offers a fun and informative day out for those wanting to learn a bit
about the area and experience the multifunctional LARC vessels. The only thing
that would have made the day more fun was wearing a sports bra (it’s a bumpy
ride).
