Seventeen Seventy, QLD.

1770 Beach

Seventeen Seventy is a beautiful place with wonderful walks and beaches. As soon as we had set up our tent at Workman's Beach Camp Area in Agnes Water we drove to 1770 headland. There is a large car park with parking on the side for long vehicles. Large parts of the peninsular are protected by the Joseph Banks Conservation Park. 

We saw a surprising amount of birds in the vicinity of the main car park. There were lots of Welcome Swallows darting about but our favourite sightings were of a male Sunbird and a Pheasant Coucal.

Olive-backed Sunbird.

Pheasant Coucal, male.

Countess Russell's Anchor

Countess Russell's Anchor, Joseph Banks Conservation Park.

1770 Headland Walk
There are two lookouts on this short walk. Wave Lookout is on the eastern side of the headland.

View south from Wave Lookout.

Bustard Bay Lookout is on the tip of the headland and the views are spectacular.

Bustard Bay Lookout

View of Bustard Head and Bustard Bay

Beach Access Walk
From the car park there is also a beach access walk where we saw families fishing on the rocky shore.

 Access to the beach and the Round Hill Creek Walking Trail

Round Hill Creek Walking Trail (1770 Butterfly Walk), 1.2 km one way.
The northern entry to this walk can be found part way down the beach access walk. From here the walk follows the western edge of the peninsula down to the Captain Cook Monument in the Town of 1770. 

Part way along the walk there is a short detour to the water's edge.

Looking north.

Looking south.

During autumn and winter the walk is transformed into the Butterfly Walk due to large migrations of butterflies; including the Blue Tiger from March to June. Even in our summertime visit we spotted a few Caper Gulls and Glasswings.

Glasswing

There are a few steps just before arriving at the James Cook Memorial and the end of the walk.

Captain James Cook Memorial Cairn.

1770 Camping Ground and Endeavour Park
Just south of the memorial cairn is the 1770 Camping Ground which, as it turns out, is more of a caravan park than a campground. This caravan park has an excellent location right on the beach. 

1770 Camping Ground

Beach in front of Endeavour Park and 1770 Camping Ground.

Endeavour Park is a lovely park with a playground, amenities, picnic tables, electric barbeques and a walking track.

Endeavour Park

1770
The town of 1770  has restaurants and holiday accommodation overlooking yet another stunning stretch of beach. The park has a playground, picnic tables, barbeques and a charming boardwalk.

Beach at 1770

Playground at 1770

1770 Marina and Boat Ramp.
Tours to Lady Musgrave Island and the "Larc" tour to Bustard Bay leave from the marina. There is an excellent boat ramp next door.

Boat Ramp at 1770

SES Grounds
We had heard from a National Parks Ranger that there were "birds" nesting in the ground at the local SES facility. We discovered that the birds were Rainbow Bee-eaters and they were nesting in a large area. The area was fenced off so as to protect the nests but we could see these colourful birds constantly flying in and out of the ground. We saw a couple of their nesting holes outside the fenced in area as well. We have seen Rainbow Bee-eaters nesting in sandy banks before but this is the first time we have seen them nesting in the ground on mass. We were aware that these birds do nest in this way but it was still a thrill to actually witness it.

Rainbow Bee-eater at the SES Grounds 

Rainbow Bee-eater nesting burrows

There were a few other birds wandering around the grounds as well.

Bar-shouldered Dove and Wonga Pigeon