We had never been to Tin Can Bay and were intrigued with its name. We were taking a short break and after 5 days up in the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast, and we decided a few days at the ocean would be the crowning glory. We found a good town on great waterways, and an introduction to the beautiful Rainbow Beach.
Getting There
We were at Tin Can Bay between the 19 to 22 September 2022.
We had stayed at Landsborough for our visits to the Glass House Mountains and the Blackall Range.
Landsborough to Tin Can Bay – 144 km.
Kerry’s commnets in fuchsia
History
Tin Can Bay was known by First Nations people as Tuncunba, or Tun Cun Ba (big fish place). Tin Can Bay was once called tun-kin (aboriginal word for dugong), other names include Tin-Kin (big fish) and Tindhin (mangroves)..
The traditional or subsistence hunting of dugongs and turtles played an important social and cultural role for coastal First Nations people.
The protected shallows of the inlet were ideal for exploitation when the British settlers started to arrive in the area. Dugongs were hunted for their oil, and a dugong station was set up at the mouth of Kauri Creek in the 1850s.
Timber was rafted out for the Maryborough sawmills, and oysters were cultivated and harvested at the mouth of Schnapper Creek, the waterway running through Tin Can Bay township. In 1922, after only a few humpies had been built at Schnapper Creek, township lots were put up for sale. They were bought mostly by residents of Gympie and Widgee Shires for holiday houses.
In the 1930s, the cheap land and plentiful fishing attracted permanent settlers affected by the economic Depression. A school was opened in 1934, and the town was known as Wallu until it changed to Tin Can Bay in 1937. By the early 1950s the population had grown to about 240, with a wharf and fish market (1945).
In 1957 a prawning ground was found, bringing in a trawling industry. Tin Can Bay became a fishing port and ultimately the boating and fishing resort it is today. A sealed access road, a hotel and reticulated electricity followed in a few years. A new fish market was opened in 1971.
Tin Can Bay has a P-10 State school, two churches, a hall, golf and bowling clubs, a marina, a yacht club and foreshore reserves. A 9.5 km walkway runs along the foreshore. There are also a hotel, a motel and three caravan parks.
Tin Can Bay was a simple holiday spot and port until 1957 when it boomed due to the discovery of banana prawns in the Sandy Straits (worth up to 2 shillings each).
Today Tin Can Bay has a population of around 2,000 a small town. It is at an altitude of about 5m above sea level so is likely to be impacted by sea level rise.
Day 1 – Mon 19 Sept – To Tin Can Bay
We left Landsborough at about 9.30, and were quickly back on the Bruce Highway – a 2 lane each way road – heading north to Eumundi. We passed the funny old pub that we had remembered very well.
We had been to Eumundi before but years ago on a trip to Noosa. We managed to get a parking place for the rig. Contrary to the sign just before we got to the town proclaiming it an RV friendly town, we could not see anywhere obvious to park the rig. It is an impressive and busy town and we enjoyed a walk-around. There are some magnificent old buildings in the town… Pity we had to park in a bus zone, so we could only have a quick walk around.
Next we made for Gympie, still on the 2 lane motorway. Nice and interesting drive with an odd mountain or two on the way.
We had thoughts of at least a drive through to have a look at the town. But there was a cheap service station just before the turnoff to Tin Can Bay and as we exited that, there was a break in the traffic. We shot across to get onto the Tin Can Bay road. The Tin Can Bay road is a very good sealed road – its about 50km from Gympie to Tin Can Bay. It’s an interesting drive and the road is often bordered by commercial forests. A lot of beautifully green rolling countryside as we drove through.
We are staying at the Tin Can Bay Tourist Park and we got there at about 11.30 somewhat embarrassed at being so early. But they told us that there was so many vans booked to arrive, they were pleased to see us. The sites are very wide but there is not a lot of room to back in as the internal road is narrow. We were lucky in that the site opposite was empty so we could use that to set ourselves up for the reverse in. That went just perfectly and we were set up against the slab in no time. It was a single slab site. But later we saw the late comers having to reverse in with very little room to move.
The facilities are excellent although there are not so many toilets and showers for a park this size. But everything looks newish, and the camp kitchen is excellent. We could also just get the park wifi for dealing with emails, but not for streaming. Phones were OK but 1 or 2 bars only at times.
After we had set up we drove around to see the town, which looks good. There is an excellent pathway alongside the bay – perfect for my morning walk. Then we got to the end of the point where there is a yacht club – visitors welcome.
Coming back from that is the commercial fishing area. We had a look in the fish sales shop but they did not have much at that time. Further along is the marina. We were finding it hard to reconcile the number of boats, big and small, in what is a relatively small town. And there is also the commercial fleet.
Later we decided to go to the Country Club for dinner. It’s a 10min drive from the van park, and there is a courtesy bus. But we elected to drive with me restraining. The food there is Chinese and the meal was pretty good value.
Day 2 – Tue 20 Sept – Rainbow Beach
Today we went to Rainbow Beach with no real idea of what we would find there.
But first I walked the excellent track along side the bay, all the way to Snapper Point. It is about 4km from the van park to the Point. The tide was out so it’s a long walk to the water.
I walked back on the track on the other side of the Bay peninsular – along the Wild Flower Walk. Initially it was past the fishing boats and the marina and then onto the track.This was a much narrower track ending about where the shops are. Some lovely views along the main track to the Point, not so many on the other side. Not many wild flowers on show.
It’s 32km from Tin Can Bay to Rainbow Beach. The current name comes from the rainbow coloured cliffs. In a First Nations people legend, the cliffs were coloured when Yiningie (the spirit of the Gods representing Rainbow) was killed in a fight, spreading his ‘colourful’ spirits across the cliffs. To read about the history of First Nations people in this area, click here
After British settlement, Rainbow Beach was originally known as Back Beach and was home to a large sand mining industry until 1976. The town was gazetted as late as 1969. Until that time there was no road to Rainbow Beach, with the only access being via boat from Tin Can Bay.
A cargo vessel named the Cherry Venture ran aground in 1973 during a gale. It was on its way to Brisbane from New Zealand but struggled in the high seas. The anchor cable broke and the ship foundered. She was stripped of her fittings and then left to the elements. Her rusted hull was a tourist attraction and the huge stainless steel prop was taken away and is displayed in Laurie Hanson Park overlooking Rainbow Beach.
Today Rainbow Beach is a peaceful holiday village – although it was mobbed when we were there – great for fishing and many water based activities. The town has a small permanent population of around 900, although 70,000 visitors visit Rainbow Beach annually. It not only promotes itself as the ‘Gateway to Fraser Island’, but as an ‘eco-tourism’ destination in its own right.
It does not take long to get to Rainbow Beach and it’s a pleasant drive. It’s a nice lush landscape, on a good sealed road.
We were very surprised to see such a modern and vibrant town when we got there. A good range of shops and businesses line the main street, and a lovely park extends along the cliff top looking down onto the surf beach. On that day the beach was very busy with so many people and 4 wheel drive vehicles. We were quickly hooked. And Des scored a new hat…
But we still needed someone to tell us what we could do. I spied a man going around picking up rubbish and asked him if there was a tourist information office. “Yes”, he said pointing down the main street. And we soon had a plan – get down onto the beach, walk about 2km to see the coloured sands and then return. Then do a walk near the town to see the Carlo Sand Blow. Then go out to Inskip Point to where people catch the barge over to Fraser Island.
We were tempted to take the Pajero onto the beach but we were aware that the tyres were basic factory tyres – not much good for off roading. In any event we thought the walk along the beach would be a good thing to do. So we walked down to the beach and headed south. The advice was to go at least 2km to see the good sands. It was busy – there were many people and vehicles the beach.
It was an excellent walk along the beach.Initially we made our was over and around some rocks. There is a rocky cave in one large rock.
Walking past the Carlo Sand Blow, we say a couple of kids come speeding down on a boogie board.
The sand cliffs are amazing. How they have stood up against the storms without massive erosion is a mystery. Maybe its protected from really huge seas by Fraser Island a bit.
The colours of the sand change dramatically as we walk south. They certainly are not the colours of the rainbow, just different shades of silver, white, yellow, sand and ochre, with a bit of black in there as well. After about 2km, we were in the fan-like colours and sand formation.
We then turned around as the tide was coming in. It is a lovely walk and we were glad to have done it.
After that we went to the southern part of town to take a walk to see the Carlo Sand Blow. Its a short walk in – a few hundred meters – on a good sandy track. Kerry was feeling the pinch so waited for me at some steps.
The Carls Sand Blow is a massive deposit of sand used for fun and games, particularly sliding down the slope on a boogie board.
It is only 12km to get to Inskip Point where people catch the barge over to Fraser Island. When we got there we saw an incredible number of camping and caravan parks, all part of the National Parks system. It all looked pretty sandy, and quite crowded. In fact, as we walked from a beach we saw one couple with a small caravan hopelessly bogged in sand. I went over to see if we could do anything but they had given up for now. We will just camp here for a few days and worry about getting out later.
We walked around some of the beaches before heading for home. On the way back we took a shortcut through Cooloola Cove. This is quite a large area of scattered houses and developments just waiting to get going. There is even a Woolies up and running.
Day 3 – Wed 21 Sept
Apart from my morning walk, this was a do nothing day for us. Although we did go for an afternoon walk along the foreshore.
We enjoyed our time at Tin Can Bay, but this is really a fisher person’s town. There than fishing/boating there is not much else going on. But Rainbow Beach is different – we would like to spent a few days there some time in the future.
To see the photos from this post, click here
To see a short video of the Coloured Sands, click here