Holiday Destination: Tin Can Bay
Wayne Kampe.

HOW, pray tell, could a locality end up with such an interesting name ... Tin Can Bay? Informed sources speculate that it was derived from the Aboriginal name ‘tuncun’ meaning dugong or big fish; or perhaps from ‘tinken’ which is an edible grass growing by the water.

With that small issue cleared up, we’ll look at the best ways of travelling to this holiday venue, which is unique in many ways. The town of Tin Can Bay is nestled into the eastern side of the large and entirely sheltered Tin Can Bay inlet, at the southern end of Sandy Straits.

EASY ACCESS

Access is via Gympie, with turn-offs on both sides of the town. As very prominent signs are erected on the Bruce Highway, the visitor to this delightful region will have no problems locating the road to our holiday destination and Rainbow Beach. At around 47km from Gympie, a turn-off indicates that Tin Can Bay is a mere ten kilometres distant. A fair amount of wildlife crosses this connection road and motorists should be aware that kangaroo strikes may occur.

Tin Can Bay is very popular with southern visitors, it seems, and I noted that almost every second Land Cruiser, Pajero or Nissan Patrol bore Victorian number plates. Not surprising really, when we look at the temperatures down there this winter! That aside, this place has a good variety of services and a sound-enough infrastructure to warrant at least a short stay, if not an extended one. From what I saw at the caravan parks in town, some visitors have settled in for a long innings.

A SELECTION OF SERVICES

As one enters town, the Cooloola Coast Bowls Club and Tin Can Bay Country Club are on the left, as is the Dolphins shopping complex, which offers a good mix of facilities including a medical centre, dentist, hardware, bakery, general store plus a handy post office. There is also a branch of the National Australia Bank in this shopping complex.

Bait and tackle outlets are located in town and the travelling angler should not have to search too hard for tackle or other boating gear. I noted a couple of boat hire facilities, such as Barnacles at Norman Point, with accommodation at the Toolara Holiday units near Crab Creek. The boat ramp at Norman Point allows easy boating access to Snapper Creek, as well as the large adjoining Tin Can inlet.

Jim Snee at Barnacle’s Boat Hire – which incidentally has yabbie pumps from six dollars per day – advised me that everything from mackerel through to mangrove jacks are regularly caught in the inlet and feeder creeks. Whiting are as common as fleas on a dogs’ back and both bream and tailor are great throughout winter.

It would be hard to find more sheltered waters, for both large and small boats, than those of Tin Can Bay inlet; yet Jim spoke of thirty metre holes in several areas. These deeper areas harbour big jewies at times. Mud crabs? Well how do you think Crab Creek, on the southern side of the Esplanade, got it’s name?

While a boat of any kind would be useful at this holiday location, extensive yabbie banks adjoining some of the deep-water channels could be easily accessed by simply wading out – with shoes on to guard against the odd stone fish. Working a live yabbie into the deeper water on a making tide, is a useful means of securing a feed of fish.

DOLPHINS ARE STAR ATTRACTIONS

Speaking of feeding the fish, that’s one of the most famous tourist attractions in town. Well, they aren’t really fish but mammals. Yes, that’s right ... Dolphins. Every morning, from around daylight to lunch time, dolphins can be observed closely as they mooch in for a freebie breakfast at the Norman Point boat ramp.

We arrived at ten thirty and, sure enough, a large grey fin was breaking the surface right beside a group of on-lookers at the end of the boat ramp. The view up Snapper Creek was worth the drive, let alone the sight of the dolphins being fed.

APART FROM THE FISHING ...

For the traveller who wants to see a bit more than fish coming into the boat, there are a number of alternative activities, besides those offered by the clubs already mentioned. There are over nine kilometres of bicycle tracks along the foreshores, mostly shaded by large paper bark and eucalypt trees. Very easy walking tracks are also present.

Numerous rest areas and picnic tables grace the foreshores and the pleasant views across the blue waters of Tin Can inlet are easy on the eyes. Only a short drive away is the sand mass of Cooloola. Many visitors make a 4WD daytrip through the forest there, an enjoyable part of their stay at Tin Can Bay.

I noted several interesting tour venues in town, among them, Just Paddlin canoe tours, Shark Cat 1 Fishing Charters, also known as Grey Beard’s Deep Sea Fishing and Scenic Cruises, Fraser Island Bus Tours and Surf and Sand Safaris. Houseboating is also available at Tin Can Bay through Fraser Island Rent-A-Yacht, Luxury Afloat Houseboats and Fraser Island Houseboats. I could hardly imagine a more relaxed or enjoyable holiday than just poking about the large, sheltered inlet or out on the Sandy Straits with a few rods at the ready and the yabbie pump on standby. You could just bet I’d be on the look-out for trevally on the sandbanks as well, with the fly rod as my preferred means of attack.

In all, this is a very clean and attractive sort of venue. Not too large, not too small and it most certainly has a lot to offer. There’s no doubt it’s an anglers paradise, as boats from the smallest tinny to the largest in pleasure craft are evident everywhere. The Tin Can Bay marina in Snapper Creek shelters a good number of very serious pleasure craft. The boating fraternity will appreciate the haven that Tin Can Bay provides, as a stop-over for an extended trip further north.

USEFUL CONTACTS

Some of the more important telephone numbers for visitors to the region are as follows: Ace Caravan Park, Ph. (07) 5486 4152; Kingfisher Caravan Park, Ph. (07) 5486 4198; Golden Trevally Caravan Park, Ph.(07) 5486 4411; Toolara Holiday Units, Ph. (07) 5486 4237; Fraser Island Houseboats Ph. (07) 5486 4444; Luxury Afloat Houseboats, Ph. (07) 5486 4864.