Noosa

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We flew down from Cairns to Brisbane and picked up our hire car at the airport having decided not to stay in Brisbane. A couple of hours later and the sat nav brought us to the address of our hostel in Noosa that we had booked a few days earlier. Only there is no sign of the hostel, no board advertising its name, just a for sale sign outside of what looked like a shut up private residence. Thinking we had been done we drove to the local information centre who thought they had picked someone up for a tour there some days earlier. They tried the phone we had on our reservation, but it was not answering. Luckily after a few minutes the owner relised he had a missed call and rang back the info centre - not a great start to Noosa.

When we did get into our room its obvious that the guy is selling his house while earning a bit of cash on the side - he wondered why we did not phone the for sale number !! - Bill sort of mentioned that the Noosa River Hostel was not mentioned anywhere - the room is nice

So next day we decide to have a look round Noosa, starting with the main beach for a spot of sunbathing and laughing while Sue gets knocked about by the big waves 😉. After a couple of hours the sun is too hot and we retire for lunch in Hastings Street, the posh restaurant area of Noosa, but we found a cheap bakers for meat pie & pastie ! After lunch its off for a walk in the Noosa National Park - 500m along the cliff path we find a secluded beach and get diverted for a dip to cool down and to see Sue get hit by more waves. Too hot to walk (32 degrees) we retire back to the car and drive to Noosa Marina and find Pelicans asleep on the lamp posts ! Tonight its save money night and we cook an evening meal in a hostel for the first time - burgers and onions in a roll on a barbie 😊

Wednesday we are collected at 06.30am for our 1 day trip to Fraser Island in a 4 wheel drive land cruiser, very comfy. There are only 4 of us on the trip and we drive to Rainbow Beach, view a Nartional Park where we see Roos and Wallabies. Arriving at Rainbow Beach we drive from the sand onto the ferry over to Fraser Island. Fraser Island is made up of sand and we were told it is bigger than Singapore. After driving down the beach for about 30 mins we stop for early morning breakfast - consisting of champagne and cakes.
Then its time for off road driving down sand tracks (very bumpy) to Central Station - the old logging camp. Here we go round a board walk in the sub tropical rain forest, learning about the trees and creatures and getting a warning on how to deal with Dingos. We also looked at the holes of the Funnel Web Spider which are deadly, but luckily are nocturnal as there are more per square metre in Central Station than anywhere else in Australia. They were all asleep 😊

Then it was on to Lake McKenzie - a Perch lake - named because it is 'Perched' about 80 ft above the water table. Apparently the leaf and silt build up in the bottom of the lake over thousands years to bind with the sand and create a waterproof layer which collects the water. But enough of the nature bit - what we really wanted to do was jump in the crystal clear warm water and go for a swim which we did in the hour before lunch. Fantanstic - the best swimming place so far. Time to head back for lunch and Bill saw a huge black spider on a web and couldnt resist taking a photo.

After lunch which was very good, cold meats/smoked salmon salad and beer or wine we head off for more off road sand track driving to arrive back at the beach. We saw lots of sea eagles flying over the beach one had a Puffer Fish is its claws. There was also a turtle shell washed up on the beach. Finally we get back to the ferry which took us back to Rainbow Beach then onward to Noosa. Rainbow Beach is so named because it has several different variations of coloured sand in the cliffs.

Back to the hostel after a fantastic day at Fraser Island to eat in again, jacket potatoes with cheese, oh and a few more beers!!

Next day Bill decided he wanted to take a jet ski out and I was pursuaded to go on the back. There was a choice either to go on the river or be escorted out to the ocean. Bill wanted the ocean so we were briefed by the escort, life jackets on and off we went. The sea was very rough and were surprised we managed to stay on. We did see a Dugong out in the ocean. After about 20 minutes we decided to be escorted back to the river, where it was much calmer and were taken quite a way down river, full throttle, which was much more enjoyable as salt water wasnt continually slapped in our faces!! After lunch we went out on a fishing and crab boat for the afternoon. Not very successful fishing, Bill caught a tiddler, a bream and a large stingray, which had to go back in the water as they cannot be eaten. Our guide showed us where its sting was in its tail. We also collected crab pots which our guide had put out, there was only 1 crab which could be cooked and eaten as only male crabs, which are called bucks can be eaten, all female crabs which are called Jennys have to go back in the sea. Mud crabs freshly cooked are very tasty and we all got to try some. A very relaxing afternoon fishing .

Friday, Bill has booked to go diving on HMS Brisbane, while Sue sunbathes on the local beach. HMS Brisbane is a purpose sunk warship, which was sunk about 3 years ago. Bill did 2 dives and there was plenty of fish life down there. 1st dive was orientation with a guide and Bill saw 3 eagle rays and the biggest lion fish ever. There were also lots of scorpion fish. 2nd dive Bill buddied up with a guy from Brisbane, this dive was to penetrate the wreck, down to the engine room and all the deck levels. Bill enjoyed this dive more than the Great Barrier Reef, it was simillar to The Scylla in Cornwall.

Saturday we decided to go to Emundi where there is a large open air market. Very busy and lots of stalls to browse. Very similar to Camden Market, but selling boomerangs and digeridoos!! We then went back to Noosa to spend a while on the beach but it was quite windy and after getting covered in sand gave up and went for a drive. We drove to a town called Montville in the Blackwater Hills. By the time we arrived the heavens had opened and what was a very pretty area didnt seem quite so appealing. We did get out of our car and found a nice cafe, called Poets Cafe and Sue had tea and warm christmas mince pies, first mince pie this Christmas!! After drying off in the cafe we went back out in the rain looked around a few shops then bought some loose chocolates to eat on way back, very tasty honeycombe chocolate. Missed out on the views as cloud cover had come down, when we approached Noosa again we found it had not been raining there and the sun was out!!

Next day we were due to go on full day trip to The Everglades but tour did not have enough people so ended on a half day tour instead. We were on a small boat but moved quite fast up The Noosa River through salt water via two lakes which were both very shallow and some boats get stuck there. We eventually come to The Everglades which is fresh water and appears very dark. When the water is calm it provides a mirror like surface. We continue up the Everglades and arrive at Harrys Hut, looks like a tin shack and not very exciting. This was our stop for afternoon tea which was champagne and cakes and the leftover cakes were fed to the Catfish. We make our way back down The Noosa River and have a very relaxing afternoon on the boat.

Monday, our last day in Noosa and we drive to Steve Irvins Zoo for the day, this is now better known as Australia Zoo. We got to see many different Australian animals such as Kookaburras, Cassarwary birds, Emus, Dingos, Wombats, Koalas, Snakes and Kangaroos. We also saw many different types of Crocodile, fresh and saltwater, which were mainly lazing by pools. We both got to feed an elephant some fruit.

After lunch it was time to get ready for our Cheetah walk which we had booked some time ago. We were taken by buggy to the back of the zoo where only staff are allowed and were introduced to Cleo, a 40kg female cheetah, she was light brown with dark brown spots. We had to approach her from behind and were allowed to bend down and stroke her back. It was amazing to get so close to such a large animal and could feel her heartbeat when you touched her, and you could hear and feel her purring! We followed the Cheetah where ever she wanted to walk for about 30 mins, the staff who look after her were fantastic and Cleo obviously knew and trusted them completely.

We had a fantastic day and the Cheetah walk will be something we will not forget. 😊

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Photos

Hands On
Please Don't Bite Us

Comments

[Debbie]

What a trip
It feels like we are sharing your trip , only at a fraction of the cost!! You both look like you are having a great time. x

[Chris]

How jealous am i, the zoo looks amazing and i can't beleive you got to stroke a cheetah! Have fun. chris x