The Queensland towns of Agnes Water and Seventeen Seventy are side by side (just seven kilometres apart) and their names are used interchangeably. Think of it this way: Agnes Water has a surf beach and Seventeen Seventy has sunsets. The township duo are five-and-a-half hours’ drive north of Brisbane.
For the past twenty years the buzz has been that Agnes Water will be the next Noosa. Lucky for us that hasn’t happened (sorry Noosa). Agnes Water and Seventeen Seventy are just a bit too remote and still feel like authentic beach holiday towns: think beach cricket, bushwalks and ice cream.
Walk This Way
The Heritage Paperbark Forest Boardwalk and the Red Rock Trail are both worth checking out. There are two trails on opposite sides of Springs Road. On the inland side is the Bush Heritage Paperbark Forest Boardwalk. This walk takes barely a few minutes to traverse the loop but it’s very Instagram-worthy with a muddy forest of silvery paperbarks and a path of concrete posts to be stepped on one by one.
On the beach side of the road is the Red Rock Trail. It’s not especially well signposted but the great thing about Red Rock Trail is that you move through different environments. There’s the beautiful, sheltered Springs Beach, there’s rocky headlands to traverse and more inlets, coves and beaches.
Sample Size
The 1770 Distillery is a friendly, small distillery specialising in fruit liqueurs. The ingredients are grown on site at the adjacent nursery. The proprietor offered us shots of the liqueur and then the liqueur mixed with a flavourless soda water to create a completely different taste.
We purchased a bottle of Daybreak with an orange and star anise flavour.
Dinner Plans
In the heart of Agnes Water, is Round Hill Road Pizza. The establishment has a garden strewn with fairy lights and picnic tables. We loved our capricciosa. To finish the meal, we wandered just steps away to 1770 Gelato Co which has a delicious range of flavours, made with Central Queensland milk.
Beachy Keen
Of course, this is a beach holiday destination. Strongly recommend Agnes Water Main Beach as the place to go. Google Maps took us on a really strange route the first day. So set the GPS for Tom Jeffrey Park and it will lead you to the beachside parking, toilets and barbeque area. The Agnes Water Main Beach is patrolled by Surf Lifesavers. There is a rocky promontory popular with surfers but we swam between the flags in the gloriously warm water.
Sunrise, Sunset
For East Coast dwellers, the town of Seventeen Seventy offers a rare over-the-water sunset. From Captain Cook Drive up to the Bustard Bay Lookout, there are clusters of holidaymakers with eskies and wine glasses, sitting in groups looking out across Bustard Bay as the sun dips below the horizon. There’s plenty of park bench seating and pergola like structures so raise a glass to this Queensland travel gem.
