Rainbow Beach

About

Although Rainbow Beach is best known as the gateway to Fraser Island (there is a convenient ferry service nearby) this town is worth more than just being a stopping-off point. Local aboriginal Gubbi Gubbi peoples have inhabited this land for over 10,000 years, but European settlement dates back little over a century when loggers operated here. Rainbow Sands only really came into existence in 1969 when a short-lived sand mining industry was set up and a road to the village was built. Nowadays it is a thriving eco-tourist destination pulling in around 70,000 people per year. Many are drawn to the vast moonscape of Carlo Sand Blow, an open patch of dipping sand that bisects the clifftop native bush and provides unrivaled views towards Double Island Point, and the rainbow effect sandstone cliffs (caused by either a rainbow spirit or chemicals, take your pick!) that border the beach just north of the town.