1770 Lookout and Round Hill Headland Walk, Joseph Banks (Round Hill Head) Conservation Park - May 2022

Bustard Bay Lookout on Round Hill Headland.

With our big 2022 North Queensland Road Trip coming to its end Sam and I were now making our way slowly south. Stopping at Bundaberg for a couple of nights so Sam could visit here elderly parents I'd originally planned to do the Cooloola Wilderness Trail, however with so much unseasonal rain having fallen (and still falling) I decided to give that walk a miss. Instead I decided to head up to 1770 and go for a bit of a stroll there. 1770 is a strange name for a town - it comes from the year that Captain Cook came ashore here on his 'discovery' of Australia.

I started the walk this morning at the Caption Cook Memorial. 

Leaving the car park I followed the good track that contoured north along the slopes above the Coral Sea. 

My drive up from Bundaberg had been mostly in the rain so I wasn't really surprised to arrive at the small carpark and be greeted by grey skies this morning. Grabbing my camera I took a half hearted photo of Cook's memorial cairn and set off north to see what I could see. The track now mostly contoured along the slopes a fair way above the water, which was out to the west of me. With the tide being low the sand bar at the entrance to Round Hill Creek was visible through the trees and out in the open water I could see the sets rolling in. 1770 is about as far north you can go on the east coast of Australia and still find a somewhat reliable and rideable swell. 

There were fairly constant ocean views on this walk. 

Looking north towards Bustard Head in the distance.

Nice walking through the Joseph Banks Conservation Park. 

I ended up returning to the ute along the coastline.

The track passed through a couple of lush rainforest gullies. 

Approaching Round Hill.

After contouring along the slopes for awhile, and checking out a couple of nice informal lookouts I arrived at the Round Hill Head Carpark. The carpark marked the spot where I'd climb up to the Round Hill Head Lookout (yes, that name rolls off the tongue doesn't it!) and for the next section of the walk I'd be sharing the good sealed path with numerous tourists. After checking out a great lookout near the carpark with a vista to the east of the surging water crashing into some picturesque cliffs I re-joined the main track and climbed easily up to the headland lookout. With all the inclement weather lately the Coral Sea was crashing into the headland today, the dramatic grey surf a fair contrast to what is more typically a fairly calm blue sea.

There is a nice bolt hole beach just to the west of the Round Hill Car Park. 

Round Hill Headland.

Wave Lookout on Round Hill Headland. 

Round Hill Headland. 

The track up to Bustard Bay Lookout is a sealed job. 

Bustard Bay Lookout. I'm thinking that it would be a lot better on a sunny day. 

Looking out over the Coral Sea from Round Hill Headland. 

After enjoying the Round Hill Head Lookout I set off to retrace my journey back to the ute. With the tide being fairly low I decided that instead of retracing my walk all the way back I'd drop down onto the coast. Once on the coast I had a fairly wide expanse of firm sand to walk on as I made my way slowly south, although as I got closer to the next headland the going got fairly rocky and rough. Looking at the high tide line I'm thinking that this coastal section should be walkable at low to middling tides, although a high tide could make things tricky. After rock hoping my way out to the end of the point I picked up the track back up to the carpark and a short 5 minute climb had me back at the ute. 

On my way back to the ute I followed the waterline for most of the distance. 

I passed by the Joseph Banks Humpy.

Heading back I finally got a little sun. 

Bustard

Bustard Head in the distance. 

The coast was easy to walk near low tide - high tide would be tough. 

The Dirt.

According to my GPS I walked around 3.9 kilometres and climbed about 165 metres on this easy stroll. Now obviously this walk would be infinitely better on a nice day however I had to deal with what I was given on this visit - the positive side of the weather was the surging surf crashing into the Round Hill Head cliffs. If anyone decides on the coastal variant that I did then it is a fair bit rougher than the walking track sections of the walk and as I've already mentioned I wouldn't recommend it at high tide. Swimming would be possible along here although would there would be a serious rip as it's very close to the mouth of Round Hill Creek, so a lot of care and self assessment would be needed. I used my Alltrails App along with my GPS topos on this stroll. 

Relevant Posts.

Coral Coast Trail, 2021.

Climbing back up to the Captain Cook Memorial. It would of been possible to continue to rock hop along the coast to the next beach at low tide.

Climbing the last few metres back up to the ute. 

Bicentennial Walk, Airlie Beach - May 2022

Sam and I snuck in the walk without getting too wet.

After finishing my Whitsunday Great Walk a day ago I'd taken it pretty easy on my time up in Airlie Beach. With the weather a little grey and overcast I'd chilled out taking in the views from our apartment balcony and enjoying some of the great cafés in town. With our time in Airlie Beach rapidly running out I mentioned to Sam about a walk called the Bicentennial Walk. With the walk starting around 5 minutes from our front door we figured that even accounting for the overcast skies it would be a nice stroll to do.

While it didn't rain (much) the overhead conditions were a little grey and overcast. 

We started our stroll near the Airley Beach Hotel.

We skirted around the lagoon...

... and climbed the Bicentennial Walkway out of the CBD.

 
Now even though this is a pretty easy walk there was no guarantee that we'd finish this stroll as the clouds were threatening to dump on us at any minute - although they'd been looking like that for the last couple of days and hadn't really delivered. We started the walk at the eastern end of the Airlie Beach CBD this afternoon and from the get go we had rain and wind to deal with, although thankfully the rain stayed intermittent for the time being. After passing by the Airlie Beach Lagoon we continued on along the coast climbing a little to pass through the carpark of the Coral Sea Resort before dropping down a beautiful length of boardwalk towards a café and a marina.

The Bicentennial Walk passes through the car park for the Coral Sea Resort.

Once through the resort the walking was very nice.

The Bicentennial Walkway.

I passed by the Feral runabout which is in dry dock for a bit of work!

Coral Sea Marina.

Heading towards Cannonvale along the Bicentennial Walk.

We copped a couple of squally showers along here. 

The view out across Pioneer Bay through the mangroves.

There was a few pieces of public art as we approached Cannonvale. 

With the sky grey and overcast I was looking else where for colour tonight. 

Pioneer Bay from Cannonvale. 

The stinger nets at Cannonvale marked our turn around point. 

We now were walking past, and sometimes through the Coral Sea Marina and boy are there some flash boats in here, this is real Lifestyles off the Rich & Shameless stuff. After leaving the marina we walked yet another great section of boardwalk, like the last one this one was also cantilevered over the water with views out across the water towards Pigeon Island. We were heading for Cannonvale Beach now and once leaving the boardwalk we walked the coastal parkland for another 15 minutes or so to our turn around point at Cannonvale Beach. With the rain still threatening but mostly holding off, Sam and I didn't muck around on our return walk, arriving back in Airlie Beach just as the last light of the day was ebbing away.

Near the Cannonvale end of the stroll the track passes through plenty of parkland - with all the normal facilities if anyone wanted to have a picnic, find a toilet or let the kids loose in a playground.

 

Looking out over Pioneer Bay.

This is the closest I got to seeing a turtle today. 

Back at the Coral Sea Marina.

Approaching the lagoon again - it was pretty well dark now. 

Airlie Beach Lagoon. 

There is no shortage of rules at the lagoon by the look of it!

 

The Dirt.

According to my GPS we walked around 8.5 kilometres and climbed about 130 metres on this easy stroll. This is a very inoffensive kind of walk, great for a stroll before dinner or after lunch or brekky, although obviously it would be better under blue skies rather than the grey sky we had today. I'm thinking that this walk would be ok for wheelchairs or prams as well. I used my Alltrails App and my GPS topos this stroll this afternoon. 

Relevant Posts.

Whitsundays Great Walk, Day 1, 2022.

Airlie Beach foreshore. 

Airlie Beach.

Back at the Airlie Beach Hotel and the walk was over. It was time to head back to our apartment...

... and watch the numbers come in for the federal election.