Mooloolaba to 1770

Sunrise walkers.  The Mooloolaba light and bar can be seen between the trees.

Elliot and Robert make a pre-dawn departure from Mooloolaba sailing Bristol Rose to Fraser Island.  I'm driving to my sister's home at Carters Ridge, just a couple of hours away.

Fraser Island is such a special place it would be a shame to rush through.  Over the next five days Bristol Rose makes her way through the shoals of Fraser Island, stopping to fish and rest at Snout Point, Garrys Anchorage and Bennett Creek, then up the Burnett River to Bundaberg.

Daisie and I are at the lookout on Round Hill to watch the sailors bring Bristol Rose into the anchorage at the small town of 1770.  1770 is the first of Captain Cook's landing sites on the Queensland coast (the second in Australia).  Cook's ship The Endeavour was anchored about two miles off shore.  There is a stone monument in honour of the event in 1770.  The inscription reads:

Under the lee of This Point, 

Lieutenant James Cook, R.N.

Landed

on 24th May 1770

Robert and Elliot did well navigating their way in, which should only be attempted on high tide.  We noticed most of the fleet anchored at 1770 were smaller vessels.  The creek is shallow with a lot of shoaling and most cruisers bypass it for Pancake Creek, the next inlet north.  Pancake Creek is very popular with cruising boats, perhaps because it feels so remote, so peaceful and protected.  We met a Canadian cruiser who bypassed Pancake and 1770 in favour of Rodds Harbour where he was alone in the quiet anchorage.  

I found the local people to be some of the most friendly.  1770 is a popular fishing destination.  Fishermen bob about in tinnies, looking hungry for a bite.  The mangrove creeks of 1770 are so peppered with crab pots we're not sure if that's good or bad.  Turns out it's good for us.

Elliot has caught an astounding variety of fish in the area including Bream, Flounder, Whiting, Cat Fish, Flathead, a few we don't recognize and a mud crab.  We caught enough keepers to feed the three of us in style.  Miss Daisie has never fancied seafood much so it's dog food again for her.