Hervey Bay QLD – Tagalong22

About Hervey Bay

Hervey Bay exists for two reasons: it is the most popular access point to Fraser Island and, in season, it is central to the whale watching industry because large numbers of whales come to the bay to breed. Essentially a string of interconnected villages – Urangan, Torquay, Scarness, Pialba and Point Vernon – Hervey Bay sprawls along the shoreline in a series of small shopping centres and a seemingly endless run of holiday units, motels, caravan parks and flats. A true holiday suburbia.

Beyond whale watching, Hervey Bay’s tourist attractions include fishing, walking, water skiing and scuba diving. There is also an aquarium, an interesting historical museum and a memorial to the kanakas who worked the sugar fields in the area. Hervey Bay has boomed since the 1980s. It was once a series of quiet and sleepy villages. It is now a city (officially proclaimed in 1984) where modern project homes have sprung up to provide accommodation for people (many from Victoria) eager to retire to the sun. The result has produced an unusual settlement where the foreshore is taken up with Caravan Parks (it once boasted that it was the “Caravan Capital of Australia”).

There are shops on one side of the never-ending Esplanade, then the Caravan Parks, then a narrow hard sand beach. It is a town designed for short term holiday makers where retirees have settled permanently (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).

Getting there

It’s another non-eventful trip from Mudjimba to Hervey Bay (or so we thought). One of our travelling group had pulled over in Gympie and caught one of their caravan tyres on a piece of broken kerb ripping a 6″ hole in the tyre. So we pulled up to help out before continuing on, stopping off in Maryborough for lunch.

Accommodation

The Pier Caravan Park in Hervey Bay is only a few years old and it was such a relief to finally get into a park with modern facilities, flat sites and easy access to power, water & grey water (compared to our last park in Mudjimba.)

The caravan park is the newest in Hervey Bay, being opened in June 2018. It’s been built on what used to be the old railway maintenance yards, which explains why it’s a rather longish shape. There’s a beautiful bench seat near the swimming pool with a plaque which reads “Who’s vision to create this park was inspired by the romance of Hervey Bay where they met, and to provide a landscape to build positive lasting memories for families and community alike“

The Office
Our Site
Our Site
Camp Kitchen #1
Camp Kitchen #1
Amenities

Half day Whale Watching Cruise

The Tagalong22 organising team had arranged for the whole group to do a half-day whale watching tour from Hervey Bay, with Whalesong Cruises. It was great day out on the water and the crew on the boat were fantastic. We managed to see several whales, with a few mother and calf sightings.

There was heaps of flipper splashing and tail flapping. We came across one calf who wanted to show us their latest skill of breaching. Fantastic!

Flipper Action

Tail Splashes

Breaches

From the boat

While returning to Hervey Bay I unfortunately lost my Akubra hat, which has travelled all over the place with him, when a gust of wind sent it flying over the top of the boat and into it’s wake (and they would not go back for it) but, apparently my brother in-law saw this on Channel 7 news in Melbourne that night…

Whale finds my hat

Hervey Bay Pier

We took a stroll out along the (used to be 1.1km – now 868m long) Hervey Bay Pier, which is a “must do” whilst you’re in Hervey Bay. Stopping at the entrance to the pier we joined in with the “Young boy and fish singing the Happy Fisherman’s song” statue for a song.

History of the Pier

Urangan Pier is a former deep-water, cargo-handling facility originally built to facilitate the export of sugar, timber and coal. Construction began in 1913 and to reach the deep water channel, it was required to extend 1.1 kilometres out to sea. The Urangan railway line also began construction in 1913 and branched off the main railway line at Pialba. Once it was completed, the Pier served as one of the main ports of Queensland facilitating the transfer of cargo between rail and ships.

The Pier was closed after the last ship docked in 1985. It was in serious need of repairs and a decision was made by the Queensland Government to dismantle the entire pier. 239 metres of it was demolished, however, due to large public outcry, rallying and petitions, the demolition was stopped. In late 1985, the Queensland Government handed the pier to the council, and the council pledged to restore the pier. Restoration commenced in the late 1990s and included removing the rail tracks from the pier, encasing the wooden pylons with steel, repairing sleepers, repairing hand rails, and repairing lights. In 1999, the pier was restored to a length of 868 meters and re-opened.

Summing up…

Accommodation – Pier Caravan Park (07) 4125 4499
- Cost per night – $36.00 (@ 1-Sep-2022)
- Stayed for – 5 nights (probably could have done 4)
- Facilities – Fantastic – very newish and modern
- CP Location – 11 Pier St Urangan
- Our rating/score – 8/10
Was it a nice town to visit? – Definitely
- Activities & places of interest – Plenty to do here, but we’ve visited before.
- Tourist info centre? – Hervey Bay Tourist Centre (07) 4125 9800
- Would we return? – Yes
- We rate the town – 8/10
Overall thoughts – Loved our stay here. Great CP and would probably stay here next time as well.