Having spent a few days in Brisbane we decided to come North to the Sunshine Coast for a week's relaxation by the sea. We could just have easily have gone South to the Gold Coast but it has a reputation for being rather tacky with lots of high rise and quite a bit of crime.
Probably one of the easiest journeys we've made on this trip, travel time about an hour on good roads! Found a lovely apartment in the centre of Caloundra (pronounced Kalowndra). (At this time of year it's easy to negotiate good rates if you're staying several nights). Can see the sea from the balcony and walk to it in about 3 minutes, plus (as per previous post) they serve really good Margaritas in the bar downstairs!
Not done that much this week other than relax on various beaches and in the pool. I'm very pleased to say that after nearly 3 months away we've shed our wimps status and finally got to swim. I've swum in both the warm Aussie ocean and the hotel pool and even Mike has ventured into the pool!
We now understand why so many Aussie's surf and body board. Much of the coast has long golden sands but because it's so open, the water tends to be have plenty of surf. Yesterday we went up to Peregian Beach which is long with very soft golden sand and it was a hot 32 degrees. By the time we got there I dying for a swim but the surf was up and the currents were strong so had to content myself with dancing in the shallows!
On Friday we had the pleasure of meeting Blom's sister Juliette, her husband Rod and their delightful border collie, Kenzie.
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| Rod, Juliette and the dog! |
They are Kiwis living in Australia in the beautiful town of Noosa at the top end (the posh bit) of Sunshine beach. Fabulous views over bush and sea from their apartment. Such a great mix in this area - a huge national park with lots of good walking tracks plus endless beaches many of which are patrolled by life guards so it's easy to know where and when it's safe to swim. There are lots of picnic tables with the Aussie version of a BBQ (it's a hot plate) to enjoy your fish, chips and tinnie or whatever in the shade and a great board walk along the coast so we were able to walk along much of it. Thanks to Anne Maree, we even had an "eskie"! i.e. a cooler to keep our picnic cool so we felt very Australian!
A few pics of the area to give you a feel of it.
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| View from hotel roof over Bribie island National Park |
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| And from the roof over Caloundra towards the Glass House Mountains. |
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| Kings Beach complete with swimming flag |
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| Kings Beach version of the "Cobb" |
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| Water fountains close to salt water pool |
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| "Palm" like trees with wierd fruit |
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| Anyone know what this fruit is called? |
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