FAR OUT Walkabout:1770

By Kevin Bazooband // 16 March 2011 // Comments: 0 // Related Categories: adventure, agnes waters, Far Out Adventure, Far Out Walkabout, free, Hostels, Things to do, town of 1770, Traveller blog

1770 is a small town on the trip; it gave us a chance to exhale, and recover from the intense few days at Airlie Beach.  Cool Bananas was the best spot for us to 'chill out and get reenergized'. Most people staying at the comfortable accommodation gathered in the lounge area watching movies. I however, found my way to one of their relaxing hammocks and enjoyed the breeze outside. The beach at 1770 was another great spot to relax, with no commercial buildings along the beach, 1770 provided a much quieter setting than busy Sydney beaches.

Don’t let the laid back attitude of 1770 fool you though, there are many activities available for the adventure seekers.  The surf school in 1770 offers three hour lessons for just $17! That is cheaper than surf hires basically anywhere else! The isolated beach is a great place for beginners and more experienced riders, there’s enough room for everyone. If the wind is right, 1770 also has kite surfing lessons, Jordan and I badly wanted to try this, but the breeze wasn’t blowing hard enough.

We still had a chance to feel the wind in our face when we cruised through town with the Scooteroo crew. Scooteroo made us feel like we joined the meanest motorcycle gang (that rode mopeds) around. Once we got to their location they outfitted us with black leather jackets and black helmets. If you were feeling really tough, you could pick out ones with flames. Then it was time to get “tatted up” so we moved to the temporary tattoo station. We couldn’t look like mean bikers without tattoos showing our Scooteroo gang pride. Finally it was time to hop on a chopper. We had choice of over 100 chopper style bikes. Every bike looked like a custom designed real motorcycle, only it was the size of a moped. The amazing staff at Scooteroo then gave us our instructions on riding and a final speech, “you got the badass jackets, you got the badass tattoos, you have the flames, you have the mean biker attitude, now…..” then suddenly out of the speakers blasted the song “boooorn to be wiiiild”.  We all started our engines and we were off to raise havoc on the streets of 1770, honking our moped horns at every car and pedestrian we saw. After cruising around town, trying to look tough, and playing with the high pitched “meep meep” horn, we left for the more open road. Reaching top speeds of 80 kilometres per hour, the more competitive riders jockeyed for spots overtaking each other on the road. Don’t worry though, the Scooteroo staff were very careful. They made sure at every intersection the entire group pulled to the side of the road and they instructed us one by one when it was safe to turn. Participants that didn’t feel comfortable riding the bikes were still able to be a part of the action; riding on the backs of the trained staff and their actual motorcycles.

The ride itself was very scenic, we were able to see wild kangaroos and wallabies grazing on the side of the road. We also had a stop to perform a mini photo shoot. The staff showed us how to take pictures on the bike, making the bike look much bigger than its normal small stature.  Towards the end of the ride we stopped at a park, and watched a beautiful pink sunset over the water. There was a restaurant where many ordered delicious wedges while we took a break from the road.

The feeling of freedom while driving the bikes was amazing, once the ride was over, everyone graciously thanked the awesome staff. All 60 people in our “gang” couldn’t stop smiling as we looked at the pictures the Scooteroo photographer took of us during the ride. We were only in 1770 for two days, but Scooteroo defined our stay. Whether going to 1770 just to unwind, or to have some fun away from the busy hustle of other towns, 1770 was a fun, relaxing stop on our trip.