Spotlight: Town of 1770, Qld

Captain James Cook’s arrival on May 24 in the Capricorn Coast Queensland inlet town now named 1770, was perhaps more significant than ours.

For Cook, who had already set foot on the Australian mainland at Botany Bay nearly a month earlier on April 29, it was to shelter his barque HMS Endeavour from a storm in the lee of Round Hill as he continued mapping the continent’s eastern coast.

Our ‘discovery’ of the sleepy Central Queensland coastal town (also written as ‘Seventeen Seventy’) was more low key. We arrived at the 1770 Camping Ground where Cook and botanist Joseph Banks stepped ashore exactly 248 years earlier... near the end of our incomplete search for the perfect beachfront caravanning spot.

Where we stayed last year, in one of the middle rows of the 100 camping and caravan sites, wasn’t it. Our coastal nirvana ‘bucket list’ called for a largish site, with absolute bare feet on clean sand beachfront, a setting sun over easily accessible safe swimmable water and the ability to have an open fire in between the two, and this one missed out on all the ticks.

But we could see 27 absolute beachfront sites in the camping ground that could, so we booked one for a follow-up re-visit after Easter in late April this year.

Site 23 was almost perfect. It was roomy, backed onto the sandy, west-facing beach, with space for a fire. OK, the beach outside our site was a bit scrappy and low tide revealed plenty of toe-stubbing rocks.

But on the plus side, many of our neighbours were having moderate success fishing straight from the beach, with some dragging their boats and kayaks up onto the sand overnight.

This is not a modern ‘deluxe’ camping ground. If it was, it would be out of sync with the town of 1770, which despite a profusion of modern permanent and holiday homes on Round Hill Head that juts out into the South Pacific Ocean just south of Gladstone, is predominantly a coastal backwater.

TV? Forget it and relax. It’s tricky to get. Mobile phone signal? Yes, but do yourself a favour and turn it off.

You also won’t find a kids’ playground or a jumping castle – just sand for their buckets and spades, rocks for crabbing and some nice coastal walks dotted with mangroves. And while you can get excellent inexpensive meals including a range of cooked fresh fish dishes at the camp’s own Bistro Deck restaurant, or at the local pub just a short stroll away, there’s no fine-dining outside what you can produce in your Weber on your own doorstep. That all seemed pretty perfect to us.

The camping ground is not short on amenities, boasting a camp kitchen, a laundry, a clean toilet block and a small basic grocery store, but they are all of the 'old school' variety.

We had a powered site, but needed all of our 20-metre power lead to access the closest serviceable pole. There's water available, but because of restrictions, you can top your tanks, but can’t be permanently connected.

Fires are allowed in individual fireplaces on beachfront sites, which can be as basic as a ring of stones, but not on the beach sand itself for safety and environmental reasons

A recent addition is a grey water disposal area, but for your toilet’s black water, you’ll need to drive about 2km south to a public dump point – an issue if your caravan has a large-capacity macerator unit rather than a 15-20 litre cassette.

Despite being so laid back, there’s plenty to do: safe swimming, fishing, crabbing and diving right on the doorstep to the Great Barrier Reef; or flat and safe cycling on a dedicated pathway to 1770’s gateway town of Agnes Water, seven kilometres south.

Or you can step into the town’s coastal history by visiting the Captain Cook cairn, set appropriately on Captain Cook Drive that takes you to the blustery headland with its dramatic ocean views, with more secluded rock fishing spots on its northern coastline.

Once you’ve done all that, you can take your 4WD on a day trip into the adjacent Eurimbula National Park that Cook and Joseph Banks explored during their visit, with bush-style and basic waterfront camping possible for tents, camper trailers and small off-road caravans at three designated sites.

Or be entertained with a boat trip from the 1770 Marina to Lady Musgrave Island, an uninhabited coral cay in the Great Barrier Reef, where its sheltered lagoon boasts clear waters, an abundance of coral, fish and turtles, just a 1.5 hours boat trip away.

For something different and a big hit with the kids, you can take one of several trips on the distinctive, pink Larc amphibious vehicle to explore the inlet and 1770’s rich history.

Originally known as Round Hill – after the creek it sits on – the name was changed on 24 June 1936 after the town allotments were surveyed in 1935 to recognise the town’s historical importance that is celebrated by its community with a re-enactment of this historic landing in May each year as part of the 1770 Festival.

Will we be back? Probably, but only if we can secure another beachfront site for all my earlier-listed reasons. Meanwhile, the search for the perfect east-coastal beachfront caravan site continues...

1770 Camping Ground

Captain Cook Drive, Seventeen Seventy, Qld 4677
Rates: From $38/night off-peak to $52/night beachfront powered at peak times.
Website: 1770campingground.com.au

Seventeen Seventy, also written as 1770, is a town and locality in Gladstone Region, Queensland, Australia, built on the site of the second landing in Australia by James Cook and the crew of HM Bark Endeavour in May 1770.