The rain chases us from Burrum Heads to Tin Can Bay and graduates from a few light showers in the morning to full on downpours in the afternoon and evening. Thankfully over night it clears and presents us with a beautiful spring day allowing us plenty of time to explore.

Our first port of call is Rainbow Beach where we take the track up to the Carlo Sand Blow which provides stunning views of the area. From the lookout you can see the beach all the way north to Inskip Point and across the peninsula to Tin Can Bay. As for the name, Captain Cook named the sand blow after one of his crew members ‘Carlo’. We walk down onto the sand blow itself and are rewarded with even better views and also a “moonscape” type view back up the sand mass.

 

Back towards the main township but still near the sand blow we walk the cliff top track that takes us down to a raised board walk above Rainbow Beach. The access to the beach is closed due to the recent weather eroding the stair footings but the board walk is still open and provides a great vista of the each and the surf below. You can literally look down on the surf but also see across to the coloured sands further south of the area.

While we are in the area we decide to make the drive out to Inskip Point as neither of us can remember being there before. With the recent inclement weather, there are very few people on the beach so we wander the sandy shoreline taking in the views across to Fraser Island.

On our way back from Rainbow Beach we stop in at a local spot named Searys Creek which has incredibly clear water and incredible colour contrasts. The tannin in the water provides the redish brown colour and the white sand base enhances the reflections of the trees and reeds around the banks. We are also entertained by a very friendly eel that seems completely at home with people hand feeding it.

The Tin Can Bay area has a beauty of its own but it amazes us how the waterway empties so much during low tide. Dawn of the next morning provides a chance to take a few shots of the local boats beached at low tide. The scene looks dramatic with a little colour from the sun coming up in the distance but this is typically an everyday event. The locals are very lucky to have this view greeting them each day.