1770 / Agnes Water – Philipp's TravelBlog

Around 2pm we arrived in Agnes Water. The driver gave us a quick tour through the town then dropped me off at 1770 Backpackers. I checked in with a few scottish people that were already in my dorm in Rainbow Beach. We dropped our luggage in the room and went to the beach to sunbake. I was the only one who went for a swim. Later in the afternoon I went back to the room, showered and went back out to buy some food.

And then I was shocked! The prices for groceries were twice as high as in Rainbow Beach. I only bought the basics that I really needed for the next 2 days, then went back. Luckily the hostel has a free BBQ every night. I sat with the scottish people again, and it was good practice for my listening comprehension. The scottish accent is really hard and I needed all my concentration to follow the conversation.

The next morning I slept in, had breakfast and went to the beach for a nice swim. Then I went back to the hostel, showered and had lunch before I got ready for “The Ride of my Life”: the ScootaRoo tour. I was picked up at 2pm and driven to the ScootaRoo premises. Everybody got leather jackets and helmets with flames. I already wore my own leather jacket so I refused the other ones and only got a black helmet. Way more authentic and not so tacky because I wear that jacket all the time.

Then I noticed that Sepp was there, too. Surprise! Not. I keep running into people I know, it’s nothing special anymore. He was with another girl we both got to know in Noosa. We took some photos, then were called for instructions and assigned to the bikes. Then one by one was instructed how to drive and we had to go around a test course. Those who seemed stable enough were picked out and sent to the road. I only needed one round, although I have never driven a bike before.

We had to queue along the street until everybody was ready. 2 or 3 people didn’t make it, they had to sit in the back with guys from the crew. That’s not too bad because they went on real bikes that were faster, but they could not drive themselves. I was happy with my bike that made up to 80 km/h.

The group consisted of about 40 people plus staff and it was a really cool scenery. In the beginning we went slow, later on we were allowed to go full speed and overtake each other responsibly. I loved it! In one of the stops between they showed us how to take photos that looked really cool.

A few times we saw wild Kangaroos, but it seemed they were watching us rather than us watching them. That huge group of ridiculous looking tourists was an awesome image.

The last stop in the late afternoon was in the town of 1770. We had snacks and drinks and watched the beautiful sunset before we drove back.

All in all it was an awesome trip, especially for somebody who had never rode a bike before. Going up to 80 k was a great feeling 🙂 and driving on the left was not a problem. We didn’t even have to blink because the ScootaRoo crew controlled the crossroads for us. In addition there were a few guys on bikes in front and along and a van at the end.

It was really an awesome ride! I’m still flashed.
In fact, the ScootaRoo tour counts as one of the top 5 things to do on the East Coast. Can’t agree more.

From 2011-07-06 1770 ScootaRoo. Posted by Philipp Hübner on 7/06/2011 (31 items)