RAINBOW BEACH-INSKIP POINT (10 SEPTEMBER)

For a number of years now, Liz and I have wanted to visit Rainbow Beach.  During our stay in Caloundra we took the opportunity to just that, and, as I mentioned in my last blog, had an unexpected adventure whilst doing so.

 

Rainbow Beach is a small town located some 65 kms north-east of Gympie and approximately 140 kms by road from Caloundra.  It is so named for the rainbow coloured sand dunes which back the long stretches of pristine sand washed by the Coral Sea.  Immediately to the north lies Inskip Point and directly beyond that, across a narrow waterway, is Hook Point, the southernmost tip of Fraser Island.

   

The drive in to Rainbow from Gympie brought with it a real surprise....expansive pine forests and log trucks.

As we explained to Lyn and Steve who were with us for the drive, we could quite easily have been driving in the south-east of SA.  It was eerily similar and completely unexpected. 

 

We had received varying reports about Rainbow Beach, mostly that it was a tiny holiday village, a bit rustic and quiet.  So for our second surprise of the day.  The place was jumping.  One of the local shopkeepers did tell us that it was unusually busy, but nevertheless, the infrastructure in what is indeed quite a small town, was not what we had expected.

 

 

 

The short, wide main drag hosts a number of shops, restaurants and cafes, including a surf wear store and clothing boutiques which would not be out of place in the more exotic (and expensive) locales such as Hastings Street, Noosa or the rip off dens of the Gold Coast.

 

 

 

 

Large and obviously new holiday apartment blocks, the caravan park and a new, very up market pub are also features of the main street which ends (to the east) on the cliff top overlooking the Coral Sea.  And here I found the local Surf Club and RSL, inspirationally (I thought) both combined in the one building. 

 

 

  

The surf club had been recommended to us by friends who had recently stayed in Rainbow as being the place to go for drinks and a meal.  Good call!  Whilst we did not actually stop for either, a quick look around revealed that the club's bar and restaurant have been the recipients of numerous awards of excellence.  Coupled with the fact that the view from the balcony, perched high above the vast sweeps of the beach to both the south and the north, was nothing short of stunning, this is indeed the place to go.  Next time, and there will be a next time...Rainbow Beach is definitely on the 'must stay' list.

 

A walk to the headland viewing platform at the end of the street provides views to the south which just included a glimpse in the distance of the coloured sand cliffs for which the area is renown,

   

  

and to the north where, given it was a week day, I was quite surprised to see an active surf patrol set up on the beach.

 

With a good eye on the tide, it is possible to drive along these stretches of beach for over forty kilometres. As can be seen from the tracks here at the Rainbow Beach access point, this is an activity which is particularly popular.  In fact, it was interesting to see the number of car wash facilities, both here and in Caloundra, which advertise the capacity to cater for full under body washing. 




Our visit to the headland also provided other points of interest, the first of which was the local returned services memorial.  Whilst the memorial itself is quite simple, as can be seen, its setting, looking out across the Coral Sea and along the beaches to the north and south from this relatively high vantage point, is simply stunning.








Just to the south of the memorial we came across a mounted ship's propeller with an accompanying plaque which briefly detailed the fate of the good ship 'Cherry Venture'.  My appetite for the unusual was truly whetted, and what a tale I uncovered.





On 6 July 1973, the Cherry Venture, a 1,600 ton freighter, was making here way unladen from New Zealand to Brisbane when she, and her crew of twenty four officers and men were caught off Double Island Point in what was described at the time as a storm which was "the worst in living memory".

A 140 kph gale had whipped up sea swells of over 12 metres in height.  Unfortunately the skipper of the Cherry Venture had ventured (sorry!) too close to Double Island Point to make safe passage past it.  His empty ship was at the mercy of the relentless waves and wind.  Attempts to make headway further out to sea were unsuccessful.  With each passing wave the stern of the empty ship was flung high out of the water, the screw chewing at nothing but air.  Both anchors were dropped in an attempt to hold ground, but when the cables snapped in the atrocious conditions, the fate of the Cherry Venture was sealed.
 
The ship was quickly driven ashore at Rainbow Beach where she remained at the mercy of the pounding seas.  Whilst the crew survived the grounding, all the lifeboats were swept away, not that there would have been any real prospect of a successful launch in any event, as this borrowed shot shows.  RAAF Iroquois were launched from the Amberly Airforce Base to attempt a rescue.  The fact that they actually reached the area in the appalling weather conditions is another tale of supreme flying and navigation skill in itself, but suffice it to say that by the time they had arrived the crew had been taken off the ship by using Breeches Buoys rigged to the shore. 
   

 

Despite all attempts to refloat her, the Cherry Venture remained high and dry.  As could be expected, she became a significant tourist attraction for many years, until the deteriorating condition of her rusting hull posed a real threat to those who insisted on climbing all over her.  Her skeletal remains were finally removed from the beach and her prop mounted were we found it .   Another one for Lloyds of London!

 

And the saga of 'sand and stuck' continues, but this time much closer to home.  Rainbow Beach lies on the southern end of a relatively narrow sand peninsula which ends some 10 kms to the north at Inskip Point.  The road to the Point is bounded for much of its distance by tracts of bushland on which myriads of caravans, camper trailers and tents were dotted, all taking advantage of the free camping on offer.

 

 

 

And I have to say this all looked very appealing until we later saw many of these 'scrubbies' lining up at the water point near Rainbow Beach, all armed with an array of water containers of varying shapes and sizes, patiently waiting their turn at the tap in a scene which resembled something out of a third world country.  I was reminded of camping trips I made many years ago with my wonderful hockey team mates to the wilds of southern Yorke Peninsula, where we pitched camp on a sand covered limestone cliff overlooking Investigator Strait at a spot where our survival depended on humping all we needed by way of food and water (and other liquids) with us.  I must now concede to having become somewhat captive to the relative luxury of our van and the amenities of real caravan parks.

 

But I digress...on to Inskip Point and the extraordinary ferry which transports vehicles from here to the southern tip of Fraser Island.  And to a tale of the unwary.

 

The sealed road to the Point gives way in its last few hundred metres to a gravel surface which itself terminates at a sign warning that only four wheeled drive vehicles should venture further.  "No problem", thought I.  We are in permanent 4x4 drive.  Off we charged onto the wide sandy flats of the Point.  Or should I more correctly say the wide, deep, soft sandy flats of the Point!  The track out towards the embarkation point of the 'Mantaray' was deep and insistent.  Despite the fact that I had (naively) not let down our tyres (a must for really soft sand driving), we were committed.  All attempts to move out of this track onto what looked more forgiving territory, whilst maintaining sufficient speed to prevent bogging, were fruitless.  So, with a significantly increased heart rate, your correspondent piloted the trusty tug right across the flats to a point where to continue would have seen us ram a vehicle awaiting the arrival of the ferry, here seen in the distance in a rather unfocused shot as it made its way across the passage from the Fraser Island shore.

 

 

 

Frankly I had not been aware until this point that I was actually in the 'ferry line'.  There are no lanes, no docking points, no ticket men, nothing.  One simply drives across the sand and waits on the shore until the clearly purpose built and extraordinary looking 'Mantaray' drops its ovesized loading platform onto the beach and on you go!

 

 

 

The distance from which I took this shot, and the fact that the sand flats drop away at the water's edge, means that the front landing platform cannot be seen in its lowered position on the sand, but by looking at the rear platform, which is obviously still raised, hopefully you can gain some idea of how this thing works.

 

To me this whole landscape was surreal.  Four wheeled drive vehicles were scattered right around the parabola of the Point.  All were serving as the base for activities ranging from family picnics to those of clearly dedicated and well equipped anglers.  What a scene.

 

After coming to a halt I did then manage to escape the clutches of the track ruts.  We slowly made our way back towards the road entrance when, as you have undoubtedly guessed by now, the inevitable happened.  I could argue that my planned route of escape from the clutches of the Inskip sand was stymied by another driver who came charging onto the flats from the entrance road and forced me to slow when I was trying to maintain way, but that is really just an excuse.   By this stage our forward, wheel spinning, sand churning  progress had been steadily declining and the inevitable finally happened.....we were well and truly bogged.....to the chassis.  And, as I then discovered, the location of the Cruiser's spare wheel under the chassis frame, results in it acting like a ploughshare in conditions such as these.  Another lesson learnt. (the Mantaray is just visible in the middle distance in this sad shot)

 

  

The adrenalin of my annoyance proved a boon as I then stripped off and set to with my trusty travelling shovel.  As Steve helpfully pointed out, at least we weren't racing an incoming tide!  "Thanks mate".  Twenty minutes later, after the removal of (in my mind in any event...all the non combatants will dispute this figure) at least fifty tonnes of sand, with tyre pressures reduced considerably and all passengers disembarked, I steamed out of the sand in what Liz described as a spectacular display of rearward flung particles. (Silly duffer forgot to take a photo!)  I intend to return to Inskip Point, this time properly prepared.  Despite my ineptitude driving dispaly on this first visit, I found the entire area absolutely fascinating and completely unlike anything I had ever seen before.  And they were catching fish!