Town of 1770 is named after the year Captain Cook discovered Australia. It is still a very small place but has now become popular with backpackers. 1770 is the original town but because there isn't much there we actually stayed in Agnes Water, which is slightly bigger and is where all the hostels are. They are pretty much the same place though. We arrived early evening when it was already dark, and it looked like there was nothing there because it was so small. We thought the bus driver had made a mistake! Luckily our hostel was just over the road from the bus stop so we didn't have to find our way around in the dark. The hostel was called 'Coolbananas' and is by far of the better ones we have stayed in, although smaller ones are usually nicer. The rooms were all along long balconies with hammocks and there was a really nice outdoor area. The bathrooms were also the cleanest I have seen. The only down side was that everyone who worked there seemed to be really moody! That night we just went to a cafe down the road to grab something to eat (where the staff were also miserable - maybe it's something in the water!) and then just chilled out and watched some DVD's in the TV room.

We spent all of the next day down at the beach after grabbing some breakfast first at another of the slow cafes. The beach there was gorgeous and very quiet which was great. In fact the whole place was much more quiet that I had expected, but also very pretty. Not everyone liked it because it was so small, but I thought it had a really cool, chilled out atmosphere. Everything and everyone was really laid back, but you probably couldn't stay there much longer than a couple of nights. That night we went t the one and only pub in town. It was actually really nice though and surprisingly cheap considering there wasn't any competition. It was big compared to the size of the town it was in and it made the nicest food! We all had a good night there but unfortunatley it shut quite early as it was Labour Day weekend. We also had something to celebrate - exactly 6 months since we started travelling (our 182nd day!) Whoo! It was quite creepy walking back to the hostel in the pitch black, but when we arrived at the hostel we had another drink there to clam our nerves!

The next morning we checked out but as we weren't actually leaving until that evening we still had the whole day to look around. After going to a cafe with the slowest-service ever for breakfast (an example of 'Agnes Time' apparantly) we went on a guided bus tour to the old town. It was actually really good because the driver showed us the sights and went to a few good look-out points so we could see some brilliant views of the town and beaches. He then left us for a couple fo hours so we could have an explore on our own. We saw the Captain Cook monument, then walked along one of the beaches and the harbour. It was all very picturesque. At the end of the bar was a very cool bar, which was little more than a shack really, where we spent the rest of the time until we got picked up. It was called the tree bar and started out as an illegal bar when the first setllers arrived. It had a nice chilled out atmosphere and was a good spot to have a drink and relax in the sun. We spent the rest of the day at the hostel waiting for the night bus to take us further on up the coast. Next stop - Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands!