Somewhere Over the Rainbow...

Somewhere over the rainbow, 

Way up high,

There's a land that I heard of,

Once in a lullaby...

This is the "dinky di" (original) song sung in The Wizard of Oz by Judy Garland in 1939. It's seventy years later and I know that this place really does exist in Oz. Today I am going to let you in on a little secret... it's an amazing place that we have to visit every few months because it is just well, "bonzer!" (Excellent) Too right!

Rainbow Beach is a town on the coast in Queensland about 1 1/2 hours from where I live or 3 hours away depending on how you intend to get there. This quaint little beach town has 999 people. (What? Do they purposely keep it under 1000? They are saving a place for me.) The town's name comes from the multi-colored rainbow sand dunes in the area. Kabi legend has it that the dunes were colored when a spirit represented by a rainbow, named Yiningie, fell to his death into the cliffs after battling with an evil tribesman.

The rich content of the minerals zircon, rutile, ilmenite and monazite that are found in the sand give the sand their spectrum of colors. Rainbow Beach was founded in 1969 and was originally a sand mining community... oh, I am so surprised at that! But now the town relies fully on tourism to keep it alive.

Okay, the brilliant sand colors are very cool, but here's the coolest thing about Rainbow Beach. If you have a 4-wheel drive you can get there by driving on the beach. This can get really amusing because the beach "drivers" have their OWN road rules on the sand and are "as game as Ned Kelly." (daring).

It takes about 40  minutes to get to Rainbow Beach on the sand but you can stop along the way and "take a squizz" (take a look) at the breathtaking scenery.

Be sure to bring along some plastic Ziploc bags or bottles so you can take some sand home and make a sand art bottle! And don't forget your "togs" (bathing suit), "Esky" (Eskimo cooler) and a nice picnic lunch because there is a beautiful lighthouse point called Double Island Point that is a must see.

Pods of dolphins frolic around below in the surf while you sit and gaze out across the azure sea and that's "as rare as hen's teeth" in the U.S. You can also visit Fraser Island from Inskip Point, just north of town. (Fraser Island is where all of the dingoes are.) Stay tuned in to my blog for more info on the dingoes.

One thing to remember... it is crucial that you check the tide charts and choose a day that has the largest window of opportunity for you to get there and get back.

We have seen heaps of people that got "bogged" (stuck) or didn't allow themselves enough time to get back and are now in the "Rainbow Beach Parking Lot" where the Pacific Ocean gives their car "a gobful." (a lot of abuse.)

Don't worry though, if you visit us, we'll take you to Rainbow Beach with our unofficial "guardian angel" who always takes very good care of all of us!

For more information about Rainbow Beach visit the official tourism website.

Gympie Cooloola Tourism

Facts today are from Wikipedia... Thanks Wiki!