Stephens Family Vacation - Australia 2025: 2025-04-30: Tilt Train to Hervey Bay
| Travel | ||||||||
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| Type | Name | Service Provider | Origin | Destination | Cost | Notes | ||
| Train | Train to Hervey Bay | Tilt Train | Rockhampton | Hervey Bay | $0.00 | We've got 2 full days there (3 nights) then take the Tilt Trail out at 06:45 on the 30th Depart: 06:45. Arrive at Maryborough West station @ 11:00 and catch the complementary shuttle bus to Hervey bay Station: Stockland Shopping Centre 1/6 Central Ave. +61 7 4124 4000 | ||
| Accommodation | |||||||
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| Type | Name | Service Provider | Location | Cost | Notes | ||
| Motel | Main St Motel | Booking.com | Hervey Bay | $206.99 | 44 Main St, Pialba +61 7 4124 3044 | ||
| Tip | |||||||
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| Type | Name | Description | Service Provider | Cost | Notes | ||
| General Info | Advice from WikiVoyage | Hervey Bay (pronounced Harvey Bay) is a string of beachside towns located in south east Queensland, around 3 1/2 hours drive north of Brisbane. Its main attraction is an 868 meter long pier that extends into the ocean. | $0.00 | The town (population approximately 50,000 and growing fast) is a centre for whale watching. People flock to Hervey Bay every Whale season, which starts late July and goes through to early November. It is also a gateway to K'gari and the southern Great Barrier Reef. It has fantastic weather and consequently draws 'sea-changers', backpackers and those who don't like living in houses. Its offshore protection provides beaches almost free from waves. The large bay is formed by K'gari and the coast. Hervey Bay is not so much a single town, as a few seaside towns merged along the bay, Urangan, Torquay, Scarness, Pialba, and Point Vernon each have their own shopping precinct, parks and playgrounds. Hervey Bay was discovered by Captain James Cook in 1770 while he was travelling the east coast of Australia. He wrongly assumed that K'gari was joined to the Australian mainland and the sheltered waters behind it were a bay. The waters of the Great Sandy Strait are very shallow and he did not proceed far enough south to find the passage between K'gari and the coast. He named the bay \"Hervey's Bay\" after Lord Augustus Hervey an admiral of the Blue, the Earl of Bristol and Captain Cook's boss. There is 18km of waterfront cycleway, starting from Urangan and going to Point Vernon, and there is never a need to cycle on the Esplanade roadway. If you want to make better time the back streets tend to be wide, flat and quiet. A bicycle is quite an ideal way to see Hervey Bay, because with the towns spread over about 10km, it is a little far to walk, and a car seems unnecessary. The two bike hire places make prices competitive. The layout of the cycleway should inspire even the most lycra-averse to get on a bike, with possibilities of stopping for coffee, ice-cream, a swim or a beer, every couple of kilometres along the path. Public amenities on the foreshore cycleway include free BBQ's, drinking fountains, toilets, shaded seating, and information boards at regular intervals. Take a detour at Margaret St/Esplanade or Elizabeth St/Esplanade and ride up to the Botanical Gardens Hervey Bay Botanic Gardens and Orchid House on Elizabeth St for a shady sojourn. The mobility corridor runs along the southern border of the Botanical Gardens and provides another easy access option. Take a walk, rollerblade or rent a bike and ride along 14km of shared pathway along the Hervey Bay Esplanade from Urangan to Point Vernon and return via the 6km Link Mobility Corridor, a purpose built pedestrian and bike path through the centre of the city. See the map for details: Hervey Bay Recreational Trails Explore Urangan Jetty (980m long), if only for its \"pier rats\" and their local dialect. A variety of fish can be seen from the Jetty, as well as many people with a line trying to catch them.Hervey Bay Regional Gallery, 161 Old Maryborough Rd, Pialba, ? +61 -7-4197-4210. The exhibits are updated every six to eight weeks. editCoral Viewing Boat Tours. View coral from a glass bottom boat. Both day and night viewing coral tours are available. Enjoy the natural beauty and also see a variety of fish. edit Burrum District Museum, ? +61 7 4197 4201. A collection of natural and cultural artifacts. The emphasis is on the history of mining in the Hervey Bay region. edit Hervey Bay Historical Village and Museum, 13 Zephyr Street, Scarness, ? +61 7 4128 4804. This museum has 19 buildings that take you on a tour of Hervey Bay's past. Also has blacksmith and woodcraft demonstrations. editBlue Dolphin Marine Tours, ? +61 7 4124 9600. Go on a dolphin boat tour to see the bottlenose dolphins and the indopacific humpback dolphins. Boat departs at 8AM from the marina Whales are around from August to October. | |||
| General Info | Maryborough West Station | $0.00 | Rhonda: Maryborough Station - where is this? Google Maps shows me a placenear Melbourne, and I'm sure that's not right Brent: The station is Maryborough West (no ‘s’) and is between Bundaberg & Gympie North along the Spirit of Queensland line, about 250 Kms north of Brisbane. | ||||
| To Do | Things to do in Hervey Bay | $0.00 | |||||
| Blog Entries | ||
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| Our trip is winding down. Today we’re taking the Tilt Train from Rockhampton to our second-last stop, Hervey Bay. The scenery is more interesting than the scenery on our other legs of the journey. \n\n We looked up why it’s called a tilt train. Here’s what the Google AI had to say: A train is called a \"tilt train\" because its carriages are designed to tilt inward on curves, counteracting the centrifugal force that pushes passengers outward. This allows the train to travel faster on existing tracks with tighter curves than conventional trains.
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