Having a LARC and a Scooter Roo!!!

Location: Agnes Water/Seventeen Seventy, Queensland
Weather: Apparently – Very Queensland. Started with sun then the wind increased then we had rain and now we’re back to sun again! 29°c

Having lived in a coastal village in South Africa for a number of years I love the sound of the waves crashing onto the coastline and can think of no better way of falling asleep but having the Great Barrier Reef to protect Hamilton Island from the incoming swell has taken this away!

So when I arrived in Agnes Water, the most northerly surf break along this coastline, hearing the near-constantly breaking waves outside my balcony felt good again and like home once more. My girlfriend Bre had taken the overnight coach down to meet me in Bundaberg and once we’d met up Trevor from Tourism Queensland drove us north and up the coast to the famous outcrop of land where Captain Cook made his first landfall in Queensland – 1770.

We’re here for three days so instead of the usual hotel to stay in we’ve a fantastic Mantra Pavilions Mirage on 1770 apartment right on the beach in Agnes Water. There’s a couple of bedrooms, open-plan lounge and kitchen, jacuzzi bath and vast balcony overlooking the sandy beach together with a real ocean noise!

The LARC

Our first activity when we arrive is the LARC – a bright pink amphibious vehicle! These things are huge, powerful and a real eye-catcher with the tourists offering tours on and around the surrounding waterways. Neil one of the co-owners and driver invites us on board and there’s no hesitation at all.

The LARC

Originally designed for the U.S. Military in 1960 as resupply vehicles, the pink-fleet have been redesigned to house the sort of passengers who all up for an educational tour and a good laugh at the same time. As the beast of a engine roars into life we take off down the slipway and enter the water…

At 63 feet long the LARC has some serious presence both on the road and in the water, as we leave the far bank of the river, climbing up the steep sad dune, a flock of pelicans and boobies take to the air wondering what-on-earth this bizarre pink machine is all about.

We take to the water again, sending a plume of spray up from the huge sand tyres as we enter the surf. As the water comes over the height of the wheels the propellor kicks up powering us out into open water where a challenge is given to me…catch a fish and the rod and reel are mine! Up for the challenge I take to the rook of the beast, casting into a shoal of baitfish surfacing just off the side…ten minutes later….nothing…we have to leave and I fail in the mission.

After an hour we stop to watch the sun set over the horizon and make for home, Neil lets me jump up front with him and drive the monster for a few minutes – this thing has some serious power but surprisingly only drinks a litre of fuel every km – maybe I’ll get one to drive around Australia instead of a Land Rover?!

Scooter Roos!!!

I’d heard a huge amount of great stories and reports all about these mad little things long before I knew it was even on the itinerary so it came as a great delight when we pulled into the driveway of Rod’s thriving business on the outskirts of town. Being met by a collection of signs, memorabilia and mini-scooters hung on the fence and trees gives you an idea of the sort of entertainment you’re in for!

The fleet of 60 customised scooters look the dogs-danglies! They all have extended handlebars, flame paint-jobs, look like mini Harley-Davidson’s and are a simple to ride as they’re semi-automatic and best of all only require a normal car license to drive them. People literally queue up to do this, it’s a really cheap activity that takes place over three hours and represents one of THE most economical, exhilarating afternoons that I’ve had in a long time.

I lead the group of riders out of the Scooteroo yard, Rod has prepared me a special machine for the afternoons ride with flaming mirrors and bright red paint job….I feel like a mini Hell’s Angel and pull up around 200 metres down the road to have the once-over briefing which makes sure everybody is feeling confident before we head off around the town for real.

The wind in the hair feeling of riding a bike in convoy is something I’ve never done before and I loved it, looking back in the mirrors the trail of headlights disappeared into the distance and the easy-to-ride machines feel great to ride. We wind our way through the countryside around Agnes Water and 1770 stopping off to watch some of the local Kangaroos chomping away on their evening meal in the neighbourhood gardens.

As the sun starts to set once again the convoy makes its way back into the outer confines of the sleepy seaside community, I wonder what the locals think about the daily invasion through the town – all of them seem pretty happy actually, with smiles and waves wherever we go even though half the fleet are almost constantly on their horns! Awaiting us on arrival are the infamous potato wedges which each rider has to replace the energy lost through the adrenalin-filled activities of the afternoon.

Everyone, and I mean everyone looks like they’ve had the time of their lives – from the young to the old, male and female this is a sure fire winner. Having chatted to a few others it materialises that loads of people are actually having their second day on the trot it’s so good.

Now the question is after Best Job do I travel around Australia by Land Rover or motorbike….my mum would kill me here so I’d better say Land Rover!

End of day location: Agnes Water, Queensland

Distance covered: 60kms

Away from the chaos to relax on Brampton Island….

Facts about Kangaroos:

• A male kangaroo is called a buck. It is also commonly called a “boomer” or an “old man”. A female kangaroo is called a doe, or a flyer. A baby kangaroo is called a joey.
• Western grey kangaroo males are known as stinkers due to their strong, curry-like smell.
• On the Australian coat of arms the Emu and the Kangaroo were selected as symbols of Australia to represent the country progress because they are always moving forward and never move backwards.

Location: Hamilton Island

Weather: Ideal for a beach holiday….terrible if you’re sailing though! Blue skies, no wind and the hottest day August day in Queensland on record. 33°c. As they’d say in the English press “ Phew, what a scorcher!”

Leaving the chaos and excitement of Race Week on Hamilton Island far behind my next posting/adventure/escape was to be the relaxing and calming Brampton Island known to many as the ‘couples retreat’. Hmm could be interesting for me then as my better half, Bre, is still down on the Gold Coast training herself up to be the best stuntgirl on the planet!

Headed down to the airport here on Hamilton Island and boarded the smallest plane yet since this adventure started…a little 6- seater so real seat-of-your-pants stuff, hear the roar of that engine and feel every little bump on the runway!

It’s only an 18 minute flight to Brampton from Hamilton but I managed to spot three Humpback whales cruising in the afternoon sunshine far below. The landing strip at Brampton Island is a tiny little one and there’s the added distraction of Kangaroos roaming wild to contend with. Luckily there’s an official ‘Roo-scarer’ who drives up and down the tarmac before approaching planes touch down to shoo any offenders away!

As with the other Voyages resorts I’ve been lucky enough to stay at, Brampton Island offers a format of holiday for relaxing, fine dining splattered with the occasional activity….if one feels that way inclined. The rooms have a great view of the ocean, in fact mine was so close that at night the sound of the waves on the foreshore became the perfect bedtime noise dropping me off into the Land of Nod. I’ve also developed a bit of a liking for one of the Voyages products which adorn the bathrooms – if you have a chance try the body wash with grapefruit, tangerine and coconut. What do I sound like? Hmmm.

There’s a usual way of exploring a new location for me and that involves running around the island to keep fit and to get my bearings for the lie of the land. Brampton’s proximity to Carlisle Island means there’s two to investigate so with a guided tour of the Carlisle’s Melaleuca Rainforest on offer I decided to get one out of the way on the first afternoon.

A short boat ride across ‘The Fishbowl’ (the channel between the two islands and home to loads of rays and turtles) to Swampy Beach dropped us in a totally different environment to that of Brampton. Gone were the palm trees and grass which populate the resort and into the more natural environment of native trees and thick undergrowth which we picked our way through. Carlisle Island has one of the largest peaks in the Whitsundays with a high rainfall and even genuine ‘rain-forest’ in the gullies which drain down to a basalt bowl at the foot of the slopes…perfect conditions for the Melaleuca Tree.

As I walked up a slight slope and down the other side I realised I was dropping into a big basalt bowl formed by an active volcano many, many years ago.  The non-permeable rock holds the rainwater like a basin providing a freshwater sponge for the hundreds of trees contained within. It’s pretty bizarre how the flora suddenly changes from Ring Pines, bushes and scrub to purely Melaleuca and nothing else. The dense cover provided by its leaves doesn’t give anything else a chance to establish and you’re left with a scene like this:

The cover also provides shelter for the hundreds of butterflies flitting between the trees and some rather large spiders who eat them too!

I’ve been trying desperately hard to restrict the amount of rich food I’ve been eating over the last few weeks in order to save my ever-expanding waistline, avoiding my favourite rare-steak in favour of fish and other less fattening alternatives…but here on Brampton I faltered. The decision was taken out of my hands as soon as I sat down for the ‘Sea-Salt Experience’ – an eight course culinary extravaganza!

Brampton Sea Salt menu

Now don’t write back saying that only I get treated like this as anyone who stays here can do it…and it’s totally worth it. With five other couples also dining there we were treated to a very unique feeling experience, personal service and a cracking chef Adam, who at 26 years old has a real way with the customers both with the cooking and the presentation he gives before each course to summarise the plate before us. I went to bed defeated, much heavier but very content too.

If you want to sit around the pool, of which there are two here; one fresh and one saltwater, you can do. Being considered a retreat for couples there’s a whole load of it going on and rightly so but I can’t do that as you also know so activities filled my days again and the jetski safari was one I’d been looking forward to.

The Kawasaki 150 machine before me had disgusted me in the past….was I about to become one of those marine terrorists who destroy the peace and quiet of island life? Fortunately not. These are eco-jetskis with lower power output, extra silencers and low emissions which meant that even with me racing up and down the ocean any couples happily relaxing on the beach could continue to do just that. I would not become an irritant today.

After a safety briefing and familiarisation session out in the open water I felt ready to take on anything; full throttle turns, figure of eights, wide arcing spray turns – I had it in the bag. Let’s go! The safari’s a chance to see the island from a different perspective, at nearly 10kms around its perimeter its a big place to take in by just walking it so getting out on the ocean and seeing it from afar isn’t only great fun but also a chance to take some different pics too:

The group of us led by Stu (with one of the best beards I’ve seen in ages) powered in and out of bays, spotted turtles, found caves and explored the beaches which are difficult to get to overland. After a quick freestyle session which almost threw me off twice, the two hours were over and we headed back to the beach. I will have sore arms tomorrow from holding on so tight!

With Hamilton Island race week happening just 50kms away, sailing is still coursing through my veins, so I took another Hobie Cat out for a play in the bay ever optimistic of another whale-moment like that on Lindeman Island (but came home disappointed.

Ok then lets try my luck at fishing instead, something I haven’t tried since arriving here in Australia and love. The last time I did was in Port St Johns, South Africa when I might as well have thrown 200 rand’s worth of tackle into the ocean I lost so much on the rocks!

My group of eight hopefuls, led by the ever chatty Glenn, headed out to Helvellyn Rocks to the south of Brampton to join the other Sunday morning hopefuls. Squid on hook, line over the side and wait….and pull….and wait….and pull….and wait and a bite!! But then nothing.

This continued for nearly an hour until we all conceded defeat, started the engines and made for the resort hopeful that the chef had been a little more successful in his bid to find something edible for the lunch table.

Sometime soon I will catch a fish and eat it and love it. To any fishes out there – be afraid, be very afraid. In fact you’re all pretty safe if it’s me doing the fishing!

Brampton provided for me a welcome break from the madness that is race week on Hamilton Island. I personally prefer a little more energy and excitement but if you’re looking to find that idyllic, palm tree and sandy beach resort where time appears to stand still and the days slowly drift by then look no further than here. Even the kangaroo’s which roam across the golf course seem to be on exactly the same vibe – relaxing and eating very well.

The food is superb and I can whole-heartedly recommend the calamari, one of my personal favourites, whilst the Sea Salt Dining Experience is well worth splashing out on. Do freak out the staff though when they disappear to the kitchen by moving all of the individually placed tables together to form a line – Courtney our waitress’s face was a picture!

I will always remember Brampton Island for one other thing though – the place a stayed up until two o’clock in the morning to watch England beat Australia in the final Ashes test to secure the series! Sorry I just had to get it in there…..

End of day location: Brampton Island

Distance travelled: 72kms