Agnes Water – Town of 1770

On October 5th 2022 Sigi and I flew up to Agnes Water for a couple of nights. As anyone who reads this blog will know, Agnes is one of our favourite beach spots. This time we were able to book the cabins in the Agnes Water camping ground with direct access to the beach. They’re normally booked out months in advance so we’ve been trying to stay there for years and finally managed to book one a few days before departure. Someone must have cancelled.

We left on the Wednesday morning and went IFR because the forecast had broken cloud most of the way. Fortunately the forecast for Agnes Water was a bit friendlier than in Brisbane. It was overcast and grey as we climbed out of Redcliffe across the bay towards Bribie Island but pretty soon we had a clearance from ATC to climb through the clouds to 6000ft.

Emerging above the clouds we had blue sky above us again but it was not to last. Further north there was a lot of stratus and cumulostratus so were in IMC for about 50 minutes of the trip that lasted just over an hour. The photo below was taken somewhere east of Gympie where there were some holes in the clouds.

By the time we passed Bundaberg the clouds were behind us and we descended under blue sky into Agnes.

We did a quick overfly to check for kangaroos (there were none visible) then touched down lightly on RWY14. With MSF tied down and our folding bikes and bags unloaded it was off into town for our first dip in the ocean. Twenty minutes from land to sand!

Lunch at Codies Place just next door to the camp ground was followed by check in to the cabin and the afternoon at the beach.

The next day we did a early morning walk/run along the beach followed by coffee at the Holidays Cafe. This is a top spot within the camp ground and literally 50 metres from the cabin. After a swim we walked along coast to the south through the bush and past a few picturesque bays, enjoying the views of the mostly deserted coastline.

We are very fortunate to have so many amazing beaches in this country.

In the evening we were invited to dinner at Wayne and Debbie’s. They live at 1770 and have built a few houses around the area over the years. As we are thinking of building in Agnes too they gave us some tips about building there. Wayne is a keen fisherman and cook so he made an amazing fish curry for dinner.

On Friday we had another early morning walk along the beach, a swim and a coffee at Holidays then packed our bags and cycled back to the airstrip. After loading the plane there was time for a ride up to Town of 1770 for lunch and to check out the views from the marina. We also inspected a modular home that Wayne had recommended we check out. It’s amazing the sorts of places they can build offsite and bring in by crane these days.

Then it was back to the airstrip and our return flight. Once again there was cloud forecast south of Double Island Point so I submitted an IFR flight plan. There was a light southerly blowing but with a downhill slope on RWY 32 I decided to use the slope and took off with a tailwind. We were off the ground less than half way down the runway and climbed out over the bay. A left turn and orbit over Agnes and 1770 gave us some great views of the towns and the beaches.

It was clear skies at 7000ft over water past Bundaberg, Bargara, Harvey Bay with scattered stratocumulus over the land. The cloud started to build over Fraser Island and Double Island point, and by the time we reached Noosa it was overcast below us. After a quick descent through the clouds we emerged above Roys Orchards and flew the last few miles to Redcliffe where we had a soft landing, put the plane away and then attended the monthly aeroclub barbecue.