Town of 1770 & Agnes Water

After a two-hour train ride, we arrived in Miriam Vale. The train ride was relatively fine. It was a different train that was less comfortable than the previous one. Our shuttle to Agnes Water’s town center was already waiting for us. We were dropped off at our hostel after a warm welcome and many tips. We looked for the reception and checked in. However, our booking couldn’t be found, and we wondered if we were in the right hostel. Given that all the hostels in the area had “1770” (the name of the area) in their names, we started to doubt even more. I quickly ran after the lady from our shuttle, asking her to wait momentarily before leaving. Two minutes later, Inez realized we were in the wrong place. We grabbed our backpacks and got back into the van. Luckily, it wasn’t a long drive.

We arrived at 1770 Southern Backpackers, a bit further from the town center. We booked a shared room with two other people for the first time since our arrival in Australia. We made our beds, securely locked our bags and took the shuttle to the town center at 12 p.m. We looked for somewhere to have lunch and found a cozy place called Codies Place. We visited the beach and strolled through the town center.

Around 3 p.m., we were dropped off at the Kangaroo Sanctuary, where we could see and feed kangaroos in the wild. It is a sanctuary where kangaroos can come and go as they, please. They come here regularly because they know they will get food and care. Sometimes there are ten kangaroos here, and other days there are 60. The smaller ones are kept in enclosed areas to recover and receive bottle feeding. The purpose of this sanctuary is to increase the kangaroo population. Australia recently changed the law to allow hunting of these animals in the wild. Like many other species, kangaroos are also threatened with extinction if action is not taken. Inez was a bit uncomfortable when surrounded by many kangaroos, but she fed and petted some of them in the end.

After having our meal and updating our blog, we had an extensive conversation about our feelings here in Australia. We noticed in each other since yesterday that we were mentally a bit tired and that we were getting a little tired of the repetitive beaches, oceans, and sunsets. Also, everything you want to do and see here costs money. There is a little adventure on our own, and we yearn for our own van and camping. In short, we desire a bit more control over what we want to do and see.

Despite sleeping in a shared dorm, we slept incredibly well! We enjoyed the complimentary breakfast and headed into the city to do our laundry. We consulted our sacred travel guide, “Trotter,” which led us to the Getaway Garden Café. To get there, we had to walk along a lonely asphalt road that felt like a journey to the afterlife. The only things we encountered were the scorching sun and roadkill. Our first encounter with a snake happened, albeit tiny and lifeless.

We savored a delicious lunch and continued our walk to the Paperbark Forest. It was a fairytale-like forest filled with Paperbark Trees, named after their bark that resembles paper. Although the walk in the forest lasted only 15 minutes, we completely relaxed and enjoyed each other’s company amidst the stunning nature.

We are already looking forward to our next destination: Rainbow Beach and Fraser Island.