Week 45 Noosa, Brisbane, Surfers Paradise - OZ

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The Sunshine Coast was back to living up to its name and was lovely and warm for a couple of days, so I got some great beach time. The Main beach is soft pale golden sand that has been banked to a perfect angle for sunbathing - its so comfortable I even managed some time laying face down, which I normally hate to do. I don’t know why I bothered to spend so much time describing Noosa in the last blog - all I had to do was show the photographs from the Lookout at the top of the National Park.

On the Wednesday I took a half day trip to the Eumundi markets in a small inland village. The stalls in the central section are the Original Market where the rule is that they can only sell items that conform to the rule “Make it, bake it, grow it or sew it”, but on the fringes and in the much larger Saturday market you do get some foreign and mass produced things. There was a huge choice of food on sale ranging from fresh locally grown fruit and veg to ready made dishes representing almost every part of the World. Whilst trying to decide between Spanish paella and Malaysian chicken I bought a German bratwurst to chew on. After pondering the question and dribbling ketchup down my top, I decided to go for more of a grazing approach and tried some corn on a stick followed by hot freshly roasted macadamia nuts and then bought and a small juicy pineapple to take home.

There were some interesting clothes on offer and I bought enough to almost replace my entire case, including a couple of pairs of very comfortable lightweight trousers (yes OK, they are elastic-waisted fat-pants), two cool but smart woven-cotton tops and a couple of ultra light blouses to use when I am staying in decent hotels, so that I can look less like a gypsy. I also got a posh cardigan than can double as a smart jacket. However, I have not yet thrown away any old clothes so I am carrying yet another big extra bag, which is crazy. I spent far too much money and I know a couple of people back home in the UK who would have loved wandering through these markets.

To offset the horribly high cost of the Swamp Hotel and the mad spree at the market, I repacked my growing numbers of bags and moved into a hostel - but this one was a notch above the normal backpackers. Noosa Flashpackers was new, having only been open for 10 weeks, gave free wifi and tea/coffee and if you were up by 7.30am also threw in an hour where you could get free breakfast of cereal and toast. Its being constructed in two stages and is a bit of a building site, but the finished part is good with brand new furniture and beds with 2 pillows for each person (this is amazing for a hostel). They had some lovely elements and some things were not quite right yet. My bed was on castors with a tile floor and no headboard, which meant that you couldn’t sit up and lean against the wall without the bed sliding across the room and unless you turned over slowly and gently, you went for an unexpected tour of the bedroom. When I was taking photographs of the unfinished area one of the builders asked if I wanted him to be in the picture showing his best side and then mooned me. If he had turned around it would have been a true Flash if he had been Packing. (Flash-Packing ? OK, not really that funny).

We were on the other side of the peninsula from Noosa so I went to check out the nearest sand at Sunshine Beach, a 10 minute downhill walk away but a 20 minute hike back up. Its a well known surfers beach and home to many of the rich and famous including the tennis player Pat Rafter. The afternoon had turned chilly and breezy with very little surfer action on the beach, so I stopped in one of the cute little cafes for a coffee but didn’t eat, saving myself for the $8 all you can eat pizza-night at the hostel that was great fun. They have big squashy sofas around the main TV and another screen hooked up to a Wii box, so there was a lot going on each evening.

The sun was back the next morning and I spent it lying around on Main Beach taking in the rays, then had a final look around town. I got the 1pm shuttle back to Flashpackers as a bunch of us had signed up for the $2 tour of the area with Warwick, the genial owner. He took us on a tour for a couple of hours that included a stop at the National Park Lookout that gave a wonderful view of the whole of Noosa and Noosaville. Then we drove high up the closest mountain, Mt.Tinbeerwah and hiked to the top where there was a square viewing platform on stilts on the peak. I couldn’t keep up with the others as it was steep and I was out of breath, but I chugged along at my own pace and reached the top eventually and was wowed by the stunning 360 views of the whole area. We could see lots of lakes that are mostly salt or brackish water, including Lake MacDonald. There was a cool couple sitting on the edge of the steep precipice playing backgammon - they could not have chosen a more beautiful spot but I bet they got cheesed off with all of us ruining their peace and quiet. On the way back down (much easier) we passed a bunch of school kids who were having an abseiling lesson - we didn’t get that kind of fun sport on our curriculum.

I was told that the Noosa council are trying to introduce a population cap to retain the area’s exclusivity and this will have the effect of raising the cost of remaining prime building land to even sillier heights. Noosa has a near perfect climate with it rarely exceeding 30 degrees Celsius in the summer with reasonably low humidity and enough rain to keep it looking green and lush (with a little help from hoses and gardeners, Dear) and the winter is wonderful with temperatures in the low 20’s, so it will always attract people who aspire to live here. I know its ridiculously expensive, quite snobby, over-run with tourists in the high seasons (Xmas and the summer), but its beautiful and has lots of things to do both on the coast and in the quaint Hinterland. I could live somewhere like this.

Nest morning I took the Greyhound bus for less than 3 hours to Brisbane. The first stretch up to Maroochydore ran along the coast with a great view of all the beaches and you got a closer look a the huge expensive properties lining the whole route as we were riding high enough to see over some of their fences and walls. Just outside the city we passed an Indian restaurant that was advertising its weekly Smorgasbord with your choice of French wine or Belgian Beer - not sure if they were confused about their native cuisine or just covering the bases. It certainly attracted my attention, so perhaps they were just smart.

The Brisbane transit station is close to the centre of the city so I walked to my first hotel - thankfully most of it was downhill (note to self, get a bus on the way back). I had tried my luck with the online secret hotels again and this time hit the jackpot with a great luxury hotel for the same price as a private room at the YHA. Unfortunately I could not book for the 3 nights I planned to be in the city, because all rooms were taken on Saturday as people poured into town for various events, including a Tri Nation rugby match between the Wallabies and Springboks. I did manage to get a reasonable deal on a studio apartment a bit further out for the next 2 nights though.

As soon as I dumped my bags I went out to explore the city centre and to grab some groceries. I enjoyed listening to the live music being played at several points along the central pedestrianised Queen Street Mall and found the place easy to navigate. As dusk settled many of the older buildings were highlighted with funky coloured contour lights that show off their architecture. The hotel was lovely and it was sad to only get one night there but at least I managed to stock up on toiletries, thanks to a very obliging member of their housekeeping staff.

The following morning I moved my bags to the storage area in the new condo accommodation and got myself all hot and sweaty in the process as I chose to walk dragging all my heavy bags instead of getting a bus or cab. On TV they had been promoting a one-day Regional Food festival, so walked over Victoria Bridge to the South Bank area and spent a very nice couple of hours wandering the 80 plus food and wine stalls, many dolling out samples of cheese, chocolate, bread, pickles, preserves, etc., so I had enough food and booze to keep me going all morning. The only thing I actually paid money for was one of my favourites, a plate of grilled haloumi cheese that was amazing and the best I have had for months. Some of the company names were very amusing, my favourite being one selling hot sauces called Seatonfire. There was live music on a stage at one end and celebrity chefs demonstrating on stage at the other and strangely there was a Lifeguard stand in the middle - nope, I don’t know why. Its the grand finale of Masterchef in Australia this weekend so food and cooking is on everybody’s mind - the series is the most watched non-sport programme on TV here. Apparently a couple of the Masterchef contestants that made it to the last-10 were there too, but the crowds had increased so much by lunchtime that I didn’t bother trying to see them.

Next I wandered through the regular Lifestyle market near the river and found a great massage booth where I had a dreamy 15 minute neck and shoulder massage followed by a 20 minute foot massage at an absolute bargain price and a real treat. It was such a shame that I had to walk back to the city as she had done a wonderful job unknotting me and I was walking on air for a while. I toyed with the idea of going on the Wheel of Brisbane, an observation ferris wheel that is the smaller brother of the London Eye, but the weather was dull and grey so I didn’t think the views or photos would be that great. I loved the vibrant South Bank area with its theatres, cafes and even a sandy beach and clear swimming lagoon. In fact Brisbane was a very nice stop for a couple of days and has good public transport.

Back in the city I meandered through the shops and then checked into the new condo room. It was huge with a kitchenette, a TV and DVD player and was ideally situated just a few blocks from the CBD. Best of all it had a laundry and during my 2 night stay here I went crazy and washed and dried almost every item of clothing I have with me, including my jacket that was rejuvenated back to mainly-white, but was to sadly suffer a jam-spillage just two days later on a boat trip. Thank God I checked the clothes as they came out of the drier, as there was a sock stuck in the hood of my hoody which would have been embarrassing on the street.

On Sunday I noticed that I have less than 100 days of this trip left - sob, boo. The weather worsened and it was chilly and showery. I dodged the rain and walked around the city for most of the morning to see some of the main buildings, then gave up and went to the cinema to see Eclipse. The evening brought a couple of back-to-back specials on TV, the debate between the leaders of the two main political parties (there is an election soon) and the Masterchef final. Originally they were scheduled at the same time, but the politicians realised that they needed to move their show to have the slightest chance of getting any viewers at all and the cooking programme still ended up with almost 3 times the viewer numbers.

Time to move on to the Gold Coast. Despite the weather being pants, I thought I would stop for a couple of nights at Surfers Paradise, a long strip of surfing beach that is fronted with wall-to-wall high rise buildings, many being hotels or condos offering good deals for a midweek break in the middle of winter. The bus only took an hour and I was settled into a nice hotel room in no time. Its a huge shock to the system being in such an urban landscape after all the natural and rugged beauty further North, but having stopped briefly in Brisbane I had started to acclimatise. In fact it looks worse from a distance and when you get into the middle of everything you realise that there is a huge amount of landscaping and greenery and that most of the skyscrapers are well designed and interesting.

This is another well-heeled area and it reminded me greatly of Florida, with hundreds of miles of inland waterways and canals fronted with multi-million dollar homes, just like Fort Lauderdale - 446km to be precise, which is ten times longer than those of Venice. .Also its the home of the theme parks like a mini Orlando, sporting Seaworld, Movie World, Wet & Wild and many more. Its where Australians come to play but also (strangely) where Arabs come to holiday and bring their families and there are more veiled women on the streets than some Middle Eastern cities I have visited. There are some very posh shops and top-end accommodation on offer with uber-luxurious suites selling for a nightly rate equal to the cost of a family car. I nabbed a mid-range hotel that had just been refurbished with a view across the main area, a tiny balcony and an oblique view of the sea where you could catch sight of the brightly coloured sails of the kite-surfers. It was a good view during the day from my 14th floor room, but it really came into its own at night when the lights from all the high rise buildings and the entertainment strip made you feel as if you were in a city like New York.

I explored the main Boulevard and a couple of the shopping complexes and went for an early dinner. As it was mid-winter and fractionally before 6pm there were lots of restaurants competing with each other to get your business, offering early specials. I found one that served my all-time favourite, so had a great dinner of lamb chops, mashed potato, gravy, vegetables with a glass of wine all for the same price as a sandwich on the regular menu. It was my version of so-so. So tasty and big that I couldn’t walk for 30 minutes after I ate and so great that I went back for exactly the same meal the following night. Yum.

I got up early and booked onto one of the boat trips along the waterways while it was still bright and only slightly chilly, as the weather was due to deteriorate in the afternoon. The trip took us past the multi-million dollar homes, many of which are only occupied for a few day per year, and out to the end of the river where it flows into the sea. The whole area is man-made and if you were canny enough to have bought a plot of land here in the late 1980’s it would have cost you around $17,000 which you could sell today for $2 million upwards. The whole town was built by speculators, having commissioned a study to find the most agreeable climate - 300 days of sun, moderate temperatures and backed by mountains and rainforest. There are miles of these luxury waterways with more being built all the time and the Gold Coast today its one of the most popular places to live or to have a second home. If you had the time and could afford the fuel, you could travel from Surfers Paradise along the inland waterways all the way to the centre of Brisbane.

The cruise included a “Devonshire Cream Tea” with scones, proper cream, jam and tea/coffee, which tasted great sitting on the top deck in the sun but as mentioned earlier, most of the jam ended up on my jacket. We passed by Seaworld where they have just had their first baby dolphin born in captivity and are hoping that their two polar bears get jiggy and have cubs to further increase tourist numbers. Just before the mouth of the river at the end of the metropolis we saw several sand-splits covered in birds and that was pretty much the only natural sight in the whole two hour tour, but it was well worth the price and had an informative commentary.

Internet is pricey here so I am sitting in a cafe with 30 minutes free time to get this loaded, so please excuse that its a bit rambling as I didn’t spend much time editing.

I have been asked for a statistics update for my trip. As at 31 July 2010, I have been away for 317 Nights, using :
43 Hotels
30 Hostels
14 B&B/Guest Houses
5 Condo/apartments
1 Farm
2 Family/Relations/Friends

Travelling on:
22 Flights
141 Buses
23 Boats
29 Trains
1 Helicopter

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