A Few Days of Sun on the Sunshine Coast

Take one hard-working husband and put him in Las Vegas for a once-every-four-years conference, add in one two-week school holiday, a pinch of chilly Melbourne weather, two live-in dog/house-sitters and...voila...you have one tired sun and salt-water craving Canadian girl with her ever-ready 9-year old bolting for the sun.

That was J and I last week as we spent 6 days seeking sun and fun north of Brisbane on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, specifically, the beach and surf town of Noosa.  It's one of those upside down concepts in Australia that one heads north for sun and heat, and south for cooler temperatures.  It has been a chilly and wet winter and spring in Melbourne, so we were happy to head to the Sunshine Coast hoping it would live up to its name for a few days in September.

We flew early into Brisbane and caught a shuttle for the nearly 3-hour drive up to Noosa.  Note to self or anyone else wanting to head to the Sunshine Coast: fly into Moorychdore not Brisbane!  Once there, however, we settled into our hotel on Hastings Street across from the main Noosa Beach; both were bustling with the school holiday crowd. The sun was shining, the waves were beckoning and we headed straight for the gorgeous beach slipping towels into beach bags, slapping hats on our heads, and slopping sunscreen on most parts.

Noosa's beach is stunning!  Long expanses of powder-soft sand, warm water that we played in for hours, waves, which on one side of the breakwater were perfect for frolicking with abandon, while on the other were perfect for surfing (not that we did any but others certainly indulged).  Wild bush turkeys amused us as they amboled about the sand looking for dropped bits of food.  One day, winds brought jellyfish into the water and the surf fairly boiled with them.  I was stung once but it was mild and nothing like the significant sting I received in the waters off Western Australia.  We played baseball (or jellyball) with the plethora of dead ones on the beach.

 J ate snowcones in the sand, we took long walks out to the breakwaters, and we absorbed sun and salt, life's greatest pair of health elixirs.  Every night, we worked our way through chapters of  "The Magic Faraway Tree" books.  C2 joined us on our final two days toughing out a long 24-hour trip from Las Vegas to Brisbane and carried on to Noosa to join us.  Truth be told, it was perfect timing as J was suffering terribly from missing his Dad whilst still putting on a brave face.

One of the wild bush Turkeys that so entertained us!

Finding zen on a deserted beach along the Coastal Trail

J and his Queensland Inukshuk

Watching sand crabs on a deserted beach off the Coastal Trail

On our final day, the heat cooled somewhat and we hiked the Noosa National Park Coastal Trail, a 10K beautiful track along the open Coral Sea ending at a place called Hell's Gate.  The trail was lined with Pandanus palms laden with fruit, Tea trees, deserted wild beaches, stunning cliffs, and pods of dolphins swimming close to shore.

Hell's Gate

From Hell's Gate looking toward a deserted beach...we had to get there of course

Dolphins!

It was a calming and rejuvenating few days as we readied ourselves for the start of Term 4 next week.  Two and a half more months of school and then Year 3 is done and the summer holidays will be upon us.  Another one of those upside down Australian concepts.