There's a spectacular place, about a three hour drive from here, where stunning cliffs of rainbow-coloured sands tower over the shore. Of course, it's called Rainbow Beach, after the more than 70 different coloured sands that make these cliffs, and this place, so very unique.
A distant view of the cliffs at Rainbow Beach.
A closer look!
A rainbow of colours in the ancient sands.
Nature's earthy hues.
We are not long home from spending a few days exploring this part of the world. It's been more than twenty years since we were last there and, for our boy, this was his first visit. He found the array of colours in the crumbly sands captivating. Yellow, orange, red, brown, black and white and a myriad of ochre-coloured hues in between.
Deep ochre colours in the rocks.
Ripples of colour represent the passage of time.
The cliffs are rich, not only in colour, but in indigenous and geological history too. While geology explains cliffs shaped and sculpted continually over time by wind and rain, and of sands stained by iron-rich minerals over thousands of years, the indigenous people of the area tell the ancient story of a spirit rainbow who, during a battle over love for a woman, shattered into shards of colour over the cliffs. Either and both ways, they are fascinating and beautiful.
Our days away at Rainbow Beach were filled with sands, from the earthy hues of these cliffs to the magnificent Carlo Sand Blow which I'll show you later in the week. It's an awe-inspiring place too!
Meg
p.s. I found information on the geological and indigenous history of Rainbow Beach cliffs on the websites at the following links:
It's a stunning place that's for sure and I love looking at all the photos of the failed attempts of 4WD's crossing at high tide...what were they thinking!!! Can't remember if they are in the pub or the servo or the local shop. Sounds like you had a lovely few days away.
ReplyDeleteWe did have a lovely time exploring the area, Kathy. We had very tired legs after lots of sand walking; down alongside the cliffs to see all the colours and all over the sand blow. It was great! MegXx
DeleteWhat a beautiful place to visit. It looks deserted, too, which is my favourite kind of place. Oh the colours, just wonderful.
ReplyDeleteHi Christina. Rainbow Beach is a very popular place to visit and especially so during school holidays. We stayed just outside the little township itself, which was pretty busy, and enjoyed our peaceful walks along the beach and beside the cliffs. The colours are amazing, especially after rain. MegXx
DeleteWow! It's really beautiful there. X
ReplyDeleteIt is a very beautiful landscape, Jules. The height of the cliffs reach 80metres! MegXx
DeleteBeautiful! And beautiful photos. I just love nature and have never seen anything like this. Andrea
ReplyDeleteI love nature too, Andrea. This is a really unique place and it was wonderful to visit it again after so long. MegXx
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