Hervey Bay Gossip

It looks as though we’re about to get a rather unwanted tourist attraction in the waters of Hervey Bay for the next few months.

The Shen Neng 1 … the coal carrier that ran aground on the Barrier Reef north of Gladstone … is to be towed south to Hervey Bay and anchored between Fraser Island and the mainland while it’s cargo of coal is unloaded.

Once its cargo has been unloaded it will be towed to an overseas destination … at least that’s the plan. I wonder if anyone really knows how to remove a huge cargo of coal from a vessel that’s anchored out to sea rather than moored to a wharf.

Tiger Airways has recently announced they are establishing a new base at Avalon Airport and have an online poll running for people to nominate where they’d like to fly to from there.

Hervey Bay and the Fraser Coast are on the list of location choices and the Fraser Coast Regional Council would like to encourage everyone possible to register your interest in direct flights and help our chances of success.

Please log onto www.tigerairways.com, where you’ll find a panel on the right hand side that encourages you to “VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITE DESTINATION DEPARTING FROM AVALON”

Please vote as soon as you can.

When most people think about business here in Hervey Bay they think of tourism, building and real estate and perhaps all the small businesses out there working in a variety of areas that service those industries but there’s more to business in Hervey Bay than just those few areas.

Tucked away in some of the back streets of this town there’s some very interesting small businesses doing big things in industries that we don’t normally associate with Hervey Bay. The Australian Paramedical College is one of those small businesses that is taking it’s product to the world.

The Australian Paramedical College provides paramedic training for people looking for employment in factories, mines, construction sites and ambulance services throughout Australia. And they’re even taking their training to the Middle East … and it’s all being done from their training facility down in Urangan.

If you should see this strange looking vehicle driving around Hervey Bay today don’t panic … it’s one of Google’s camera cars that take photos to include in the street view option that you can access in Google Maps.

We spotted it coming into town on the Maryborough-Hervey Bay Road late yesterday afternoon.

Everybody has seen one side of Fraser Island. Even if they’ve never been to Fraser Island they’re almost certain to have seen images taken on Fraser and the side of Fraser Island that everyone sees is the east coast.

Oddly, the side that faces Hervey Bay … the west coast … is the side that very few people see and yet it’s just as picturesque as the east coast. Here’s a video I came across on YouTube that shows some of the scenic beauty that can be found on the west coast of Fraser Island.

What an amazing Easter weekend it was for Hervey Bay. The caravan parks were full, there were ‘No Vacancy’ signs on many of the resorts along The Esplanade and cafes and restaurants were doing a roaring trade.

We haven’t seen an Easter Weekend like that for several years.

Even the sunrises were amazing