Agnes Water / 1770

Sunset at 1770

I spent the last few days chillin’ in Agnes Water located next to Town of 1770. Having gotten in on the overnight but from Airlie Beach, I napped when I got in and then headed to Agnes Water about 30 minutes walk away to get some groceries and check out the beach. As I was started my walk, a lady across the road offered to give me a ride into town. This young grandmother named Mary moved to this small town for its waves. So she took me down to the beach and told me a bit about surfing. It wasn’t enough to get me to try it out, but it was great to finally spend a few moments with a local. I let her join the waves and spent a bit of time looking at the waves on that overcast day. I then made my way back to the IGA and then to the hostel. I joined in the evening’s Mardi Gras themed party at the hostel and met some other guests.

Scooteroo

One of the things to do when you’re staying in this part of the world as a backpacher is to ride with the Scooteroo. There were about 30 of us for this outing on the roads of Agnes Water and 1770. We each got a small motorbike. Having never ridden one before, I took one of those that had lower handles for better control. It took a while to get used to and I don’t think I went much above 50 km/h, but I had fun nonetheless once I started getting used to it. Apparently some in the group saw some kangaroos along the country roads we were on, but I think that by the time I got to them, they had already gone scared by the noise created by the ones riding up ahead. That, or I was too concentrated on the road to do much sight seeing. While riding, I also kept track of the girl behind me, making sure she wasn’t too far even though the company’s van was always behind the last bike. My only regret is that I would have liked to spend more time taking pictures in the mirrors as they can lead to lots of fun shots. I did get one of the staff members to take mine that way though! (And yes we were wearing helmets for the ride but not for the pictures.) Once we got to1770, we had a 5$ box of potato wedges to eat with sweet chilli sauce and sour cream while watching the sunset.
That evening, I convinced a few other guests to go and check out the local tavern where they had a live cover band. The band was so so but I was impressed by their shuttle service. It’s for the whole town and obviously helps prevent drunk driving. You just call them up and they pick you up and then drive everyone home when they’re ready. I was also introduced to a new beer to put on my list: James Esquire…very hoppy and so much better than all the bland stuff!
And on my last day I mostly chilled, read my book on the beach and joined into some evening movie watching.

Eating potatoe wedges at 1770

Tomorrow I’ll be heading off to Fraser Island for a 3 day trek, just hoping the sun will come out for that!