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Published: August 6th 2007
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Hanging Out in Trendy Noosa
From the Gold Coast to the Sunshine Coast Continuing our beach experience in northern Australia we left Surfer’s Paradise for the trendy part of the Sunshine Coast. Noosa, located about 120km north of Brisbane, marks the far northern tip of the so called Sunshine Coast. This stretch of coastline consists of small towns and beautiful beaches which acts as a weekend paradise for business people from Brisbane and a summer holiday spot for Aussies from all over the country. Unlike the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast has fewer high rises and less kitsch. It is more refined with nice restaurants and upscale shops. Think the Malibu or Boca Raton of Queensland, Australia.
Since we didn’t have very far to drive from Surfer’s Paradise we got a late start on the day. When traveling from one hotel to another you tend to have to play a game with check-in and check-out times. When you can’t check in until 2pm at your next hotel then you have to take your time checking out of the first hotel. Luckily we had an 11am check out in Surfer’s Paradise and just about enough distance
to travel to be in Noosa at 2pm.
We arrived in Noosa and checked into our unserviced apartment which came with two couches, a decent sized TV but only a double bed, ouch! I guess we shouldn’t complain too much because this is what we will deal with, bed wise, in Europe. We’ve been spoiled by big beds in Australia/New Zealand.
The weather in Noosa was gorgeous so we decided to play it cool and just hang around the apartment for the rest of the day. We stopped off at the local grocery store, bought a bunch of stuff for dinner and breakfast for the next couple of days and then returned to “home” for an afternoon of lounging. Kel and I sat on the porch and read books until dark and then Kel cooked up some stir-fry which was delicious. Home cooked meals are always a treat!
More Zoos!! YEAH!!! Our first full day in Noosa was spent with Australian animals. Since we are always suckers for a good zoo we headed about a half hour south to the Australia Zoo. This zoo, which has been in existence since the 70’s, is owned by
the Irwin family and totally privately funded. Yup, you heard correctly, the Irwin family. The most famous member of this family is well known around the world as Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter. Steve’s parents started the zoo as a shelter for animals and a place to help endangered species and Steve and his wife Terri joined in the conservation work in the 1980s. Since Steve’s death in 2006, his young daughter has risen to fame around the world. Bindi Irwin was recently voted the most popular face of Australian tourism. Not bad for a girl who isn’t even a teenager.
The zoo isn’t all that great compared with some of the zoos we’ve seen but it’s still pretty nice. We got to see all of our favorite Aussie animals: Roos, Echidnas (my personal favorite), Emus, Koalas, etc. Kel and I were really interested in the koalas. Never before had we seen so many koalas in one place. They really are incredibly cute animals that look like you could pick them up and cuddle them. It’s too bad that they can be vicious because they were all curled up sleeping looking just like teddy bears.
After a few
hours perusing the wildlife we took a quick stop in the nearby Glass House Mountains to check out the view. These huge rock spires are covered with lush green vegetation which makes them stand out as you drive through the area. Each peak stands alone surrounded by trees. The rock climbing here is supposed to be great but rock climbing is not something Kel and I are versed in or interested in for that matter so, after taking a few pictures we headed back to Noosa.
The end of our day was much like the previous one in that we read, chilled out and enjoyed the beautiful Noosa weather. (If you haven’t noticed there is a trend here that you may see over the next few blogs!) For dinner we headed to one of Noosa’s gourmet restaurants and had a wonderful meal before crashing for the evening.
Beach Time
For our final day in beautiful Noosa we headed up to Noosa Heads which is directly on a point jutting into the sea. The beaches here are some of the best in the area and attract crowds from all over the Sunshine Coast. Being Saturday, many of the
locals were out to enjoy the rays and do some surfing.
Kel and I found a spot near the tree lined edge of the beach where Kel could lie in the shade while I sunned myself like a seal. During the next few hours we read and enjoyed watching the locals surf. Surfing here is like a religion which attracts people from around the world. The Queensland coast has some of the best surfing in the world and it shows. Everywhere you turn someone else is walking up the beach with a surf board or running for the waves. While most of the people in the surf aren’t that good, some of the surfers were really fun to watch. Kel tried to talk me into taking surf lessons. I don’t really see myself as a surfer boy type, but who knows, maybe I’ll give in and give it a try.
After sunning ourselves until early afternoon, we grabbed some lunch in Noosa Heads and then drove back “home” for an afternoon of relaxation. We ventured out in early evening for sushi and lucked out. Most of the sushi we’ve had on this trip has been indifferent at best
but Noosa’s sushi joint lives up to the Noosa culinary reputation. Kel and I stuffed ourselves on some of the best sushi we’ve had since leaving home. Yum!
Tomorrow we are off to Fraser Island, an all sand island, which is about two hours north of here. It’s supposed to be really great!
Hope you are all well at home!
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