Tin Can Bay

Tin Can Bay is a fishing and boating village on a quiet inlet. The main tourist traffic comes for the fishing, as the beaches , which look attractive at high tide, reveal themselves as mud flats once the tide goes out. We came for a game of golf, and to check out the nearby Great Sandy National Park. We had also intended to do a day trip into nearby Gympie, but having been there last week from Imbil when we caught the Mary Valley Rattler steam train, we decided that it really wasn't worth a repeat visit.

The southern section of the Great Sandy NP stretches from Noosa Heads at the north of the Sunshine Coast to Rainbow Beach, a surfing and tourist town about 40km from Tin Can Bay. The park also covers Fraser Island, which spreads northwards from Rainbow Beach. We decided not to visit Fraser Island, but we did go and have a look at the car ferry. The car wash in Rainbow Beach had special cycles that washed and rust proofed the underside of your car, catering for all the beach driving done on the island and also the local mainland beaches. We stayed firmly on the official highways.

The Great Sandy NP proved to be slightly disappointing, as very little of it is actually accessible without embarking on a 5 day trek (or doing some beach driving), however we found a few short walks. The highlight was the Carlo Sandblow, a vast sand dune that is gradually marching inland, swallowing all vegetation in its path. The trek down to the edge wasn't too hard, but wading through the sand back up again proved a very tough test on our calves and ankles!