The abundance of sand here is not so much from that carried by Theodolite Creek, for most is derived from the longshore flow of sand northward along the surf coast of northern New South Wales and southern Queensland.
The dominant southeasterly approach of the waves generated by storms in the Tasman Sea and Southern Ocean generate a flow of sand in the surf zone, northwards along the coast. The sand is derived from the many rivers (Hunter, Manning, Hastings, Macleay, Bellinger, Clarence, Richmond, Tweed, Nerang, Coomera, Logan, Brisbane) that discharge their sediments along the coast. All the while sand accumulates on the southern side of headlands, sweeps around the heads especially following local storm weather, and continues to flow to Cooloola and K'gari (Fraser Island). While some of the sand that supplies the surf beaches dries and is blown into foredunes, the majority of the sand eventually reaches Sandy Cape at the northern extremity of K'gari. Here some descends off the edge of the continental shelf, whilst some is worked into Hervey Bay and across the bay to the differently aligned main coast around Burrum Heads, Woodgate and north to Elliott Heads. Additional sand reaches this area (pictured) having come through Great Sandy Strait, augmented by sand from the Mary River, and then worked by tides and variable waves across Hervey Bay to this coast. The result is an abundance of sand which is then worked and reworked by the incoming and ebbing tides into bars, banks, beaches and fingers.
This estuary and its beaches is a get-away-from-it-all kind of retreat. This is Burrum Coast National Park. One can totally relax at this creek side, shaded by a woodland of swamp paperbarks, blue gums, pink bloodwoods and weeping cabbage palms. Sheltered from prevailing south-easterly winds, it is a delightful place to picnic, birdwatch, kayak, fish, crab and swim. Wading birds and migratory shorebirds spend time at this creek mouth each year.
P.S. A double zoom allows you to see two 4WD Vehicles and two boats being launched into the estuary (far left) and two people walking on the far side of the spit.
