By Phil Jarratt
Few people were surprised when Noosa took out the Queensland Tourism Industry Council’s Top Tourism Town award six months ago. Noosa was, after all, slap-bang in the middle of a Covid tourist boom that still lingers.
But eyebrows were raised when the QTIC sister award for Top Small Tourism Town went to the remote coastal resort of Agnes Water, an hour and a half north of Bundaberg on the Discovery Coast. Not that the many charms of Agnes and neighbouring Town of 1770 hadn’t been noted over the years by the tourism cognoscenti: it’s just that since it first made a tiny blip on the tourism radar several decades ago, it’s seemed like the perpetual bridesmaid, never the bride.
Frequently dubbed “the new Noosa” by over-excited visiting media, this little slice of paradise has instead had to endure seemingly endless cycles of boom and bust, not to mention bushfires, floods and a series of body blows as a sightseeing plane crashed, killing one passenger, a day-tripper boat servicing Lady Musgrave Island caught fire and sank, and a fishing trawler claimed the lives of six local men when it sank in Bustard Bay. Tourists stopped coming, the bottom dropped out of the real estate market and the permanent population dipped below 2000.
All that doom and gloom had begun to turn around by 2019, with a surge of new residents escaping the rat race, and a steady uptick in visitor numbers. But with the opening up of statewide travel for Queenslanders after the initial Covid lockdowns of 2020, the Discovery Coast was suddenly awash with sea-changers, bucket listers and box tickers whose travel options looked limited for the foreseeable future.
Seems everyone had heard of Agnes and 1770. Now they wanted to experience them. Local tourism operators reported 100 percent increases year to year for 2020-21 and the trend has continued. The 2016 census had the permanent population at 2300, and while we await the 2021 census release, locals quote reliable sources, such as police and post office, at an estimated current permanent population between 5000 and 6000, rising to total population of 10,000 during peak holiday periods.
“Don’t call us the new Noosa,” one of the town’s leading businessmen pleaded with me last week. “The only thing worse than that is the new Byron Bay. We’re nothing like either of those joints. In fact we’re what people from those places are escaping from!”
Still, the town fathers are by no means oblivious to the “loved to death” factor, and to the strains on infrastructure created by such a fast-growing population. I’ve yet to hear anyone mention “population cap”, but growth of Agnes/1770 is restrained by national parks to the south and north of the town limits, and semi-rural single-dwelling allotments kick in about 15 kilometres down the only road in and out.
But from our beachside retreat, the birdsong gets drowned out by bulldozers every morning at seven, as dozens of commercial and residential construction teams go to work. Already happening or slated to start soon are two over-50s resort villages and a 2000 square metre Stockwell shopping centre, with the interest of two retirement resort developers prompting Queensland Health to look for a site for a 12 to 15 room hospital.
Is it scary? Not yet, and probably not in our lifetimes. It’s not what I first fell in love with in 1978, but it’s still a kind of paradise. And, for the benefit of the growing band of Noosa escapees, and those considering, here are just a few things that bring us joy.
• Enjoy the waterways.
I surf at Agnes or The Springs every day there are waves, and when there’s not I paddle my SUP in the beautiful lower estuary of Round Hill Creek at 1770, or chuck a line off one of the sandbars and try to coax a whiting or flathead. Kids and novices, Lazy Lizard Surf School offers lessons at Agnes every day, and SUP Dog Oz opposite The Tree pub at 1770 can teach you, your kids and your dog the art of stand up paddling in an hour.
• Take a hike.
So many options. Three favourites, from hardest to easiest. The Red Rock Trail starts at The Springs Beach car park, where you can take the boardwalk onto the sand and then head south along a coast studded with beautiful bays and coves, often deserted. The Butterfly Walk starts at the Captain Cook monument at 1770 and meanders through the lovely coastal forest to the magnificent views of the headland circuit. The Paperbark Walk is opposite Springs car park access, and over a lazy half hour will introduce you to another aspect of the area’s beauty.
• If you’re too lazy to catch your own, visit Kylie’s fish cart at the only servo in town. She (or Matt on her days off) offer reef fish and pelagics just off the boat, plus local prawns and oysters, at silly prices.
• And if you’re too lazy to cook, head for the 1770 Marina at sunset, where the food offerings are almost as good as watching the golden orb disappear. Rusty Pelican’s excellent fish and chips now has company in the Barraca food truck, which offers Portuguese beef skewers and other Euro delights. You can BYO or grab a cocktail at Karina’s waterfront bar.
• Meet the locals at live music Sunday arvos from 4pm at Drift & Wood, Sandcastles Resort, Agnes. Good music, cold beer, great pizza.
