Gold and Sunshine Coast spendour

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“To my mind,the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time,to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted”.Bill Bryson.Having absorbed and delighted in the beauty of the NSW coastline,it seemed hard to believe that there was something around the bay,as it were,waiting to upstage all we had seen.Much has been said and written about the Gold Coast and it does conjure up an image of something aligning with the glitter of gold.None of the hard metal there but plenty of golden sunshine and endless beaches lapped by shades of brilliant green and blue ocean waters.This stretch of the coast line is located from Twin Heads to roughly Brisbane and it was not difficult to absorb why so many Aussies and overseas visitors migrate there to soak it all up.What did surprise,however,was how developed and built up many of the coastal towns were…none more so than Surfers Paradise which somehow had a picture in the mind of a laid back,sleepy beach resort inhabited by a few surfers living in mini campervans.Forget it!This is a city of roughly 500000 inhabitants occupying what must rank as some of the most valuable real estate in the country.The real dilemma when drifting into Surfers Paradise is that the developers all seem to have been driven by “skyscraper envy” and as a result it just doesn’t have that idyllic holiday resort feel to it.This is probably a case of small town kick back and there are more than enough people going there to suggest it is a cool spot pumped up on serious steroids.A swift 43 second lift ride took us,along with the McNamara’s,to a viewing platform some 77 stories above Surfers Paradise and it’s surrounds.That alone confirms the developers frenzy to reach the clouds but the views from up there were spectacular.Again water,and lots of it,flowing into beautiful sandy bays and coves providing the ideal parking spots for all those boats which every Aussie owns or aspires to own.Our destination ultimately was Hope Island,on the Gold Coast about 60 kms from Brisbane,where Roland and Pat McNamara live on a beautifully designed and laid out golf estate.Their home is superb amidst eucalypts and the greenery of the golf course close by.Needless to say,Roland did take some heat for the fact that he had left SA a few years back and had chosen to live on a secure estate.Just to make absolutely certain that we would not forget Australia and it’s multitude of charms,we all went off to see a live show by name of “The Australian Outback Spectacular” which cleverly portrays the early life of those hardy people who moved into the Outback to explore and pursue cattle and sheep farming.Having driven through large areas of the Kimberley on our way to Perth,this show had added meaning and the story is masterfully told with some brilliant horsemanship skills on show.A dinner party at the McNamara’s provided an opportunity to meet and interact with a number of their close friends who,on this occasion,were all ex South Africans.It was an intriguing evening with discussion around the many reasons for people leaving SA and how incredibly disruptive this social phenomenon has become for family unity.What was intriguing was the questioning directed at us about what was going on in SA and where the country was headed under a Zuma presidency.My stock answer throughout this journey that Zuma would surprise on the upside and lead the country better than his predecessor may not have been convincing but that’s my view and I will stick with it.There was also confirmation that emigration to Australia is not easy and that for many immigrants a number of really tough years had to be endured before it all came together.Australia is a big country with a small population and this makes it challenging to “earn a crust”…the lack of economies of scale are a lot more challenging than people appreciate and competition is fierce.At this stage of our Aussie adventure we were completing week eleven and the meander from Sydney to Hope Island had been demanding in the sense that we weren’t spending much time in anyone place and time with friends and family was a bit of a blur of sightseeing and late nights.Great fun every step of the way but it was always planned that the final week would be spent in one place just chilling out,reflecting and preparing for the long slog back to South Africa.Noosa on the Sunshine Coast was a mere two hour drive from Hope Island.This stretch of the coast is completely different to the high rise and,just maybe,over developed Gold Coast.The seaside towns are smaller,the beaches seem to have whiter sand and the atmosphere is inviting and laid back.A booking for a full week at Eumarella Shores was spot on as it was a small eco resort set in magnificent natural forest on the shores of Lake Weyba.We have all had that sensory moment at some point in our lives when arriving at an unknown holiday destination and being knocked out by the location,charm and beauty.This was it!For the first time on our long journey the bird calls early morning were a chorus provided by raucous parrots in the tree canopy offset by the melodious whistling of the butcher birds.For good measure we had a highly territorial kookaburra dropping onto the veranda rail looking for a bit of tucker.An impressive bird with a bill designed to inflict damage.Using Eumarella as a base,Noosa and surrounds were explored.There is much to wax lyrical about in Australia but if ever the Elliott clan were to leave the shores of an equally beautiful South Africa,then Noosa would be the one place where roots may have to tap into Aussie soil.It is an unpretentious seaside resort which sits astride yet another beautiful estuary with inlets and sandy coves tapping into many corners of the village.The main beach is on the town’s edge and would not have been out of place if located somewhere in the Greek Isles.Across the estuary mouth lies a beach of some 70 km’s in length which is accessible for 4x4 vehicles.If one drives that full beach you can then catch a ferry and continue driving an equally long way along Fraser Island’s beaches.The McNamara’s spent the second week end up there with us along with Kaye Miller(Sue’s long time,very good friend who flew across from New Zealand).Roland has a 4x4 so a trip up the beach was undertaken and as one would expect in Australia,driving on the beach is very well regulated with 50 kph speed signs located along the way.Wonderful fly fishing water and my efforts yielded a number of small darts(our spotted pompano or wave garrick).Just inland of Noosa are a number of splendid smaller towns such as Montville and Maleney which attract a fair number of visitors.They are typical of so many small inland towns we have visited in different parts of the country……clean,well laid out and each with it’s own distinctive drawcard.For cyclists and walkers the choices are endless and impressively Noosa has a wildlife park at it’s northern edge which has a path hugging the shoreline showing off some picturesque sandy coves and beaches.After the Noosa week,batteries were recharged and the prospect of the long journey home didn’t seem quite so daunting.Remembering that we had thus far visited all the major cities it seemed right and fair to take a quick peek at Brisbane.With just an afternoon there this seemed like a hopeless challenge but the river on which Brisbane nestles has a superb City Cat service which enabled some great viewing of much of the city and it’s special charms.All along the waterway were seriously smart apartment buildings and a number of pubs and restaurants providing solace for all the city workers.With a facility to hop on and off as one likes,we were able to also walk alongside the river sharing a wonderful pathway with fellow walkers and many cyclists.The opportunity of being able to cycle to and from work must make a day in the office just that more pleasurable.It is probably not fair to compile a list of best cities in Australia based on our short stays in some of them but Sydney and Adelaide remain the two stand outs.There are many clichés that signal the end of something…..the curtain coming down,end of the road and so on.The allure of travel,however,is that the journey somehow never ends.The early morning view of Brisbane from the Virgin Blue flight headed for Perth somehow summed it all up rather neatly.A shimmering city and waterway caught in the morning sunlight was not unlike a gemstone with so many angles and colors catching the eye.In similar vein Australia is shaped like a rough precious stone with so many shapes,colors and places brimming with natural beauty and intrigue.There was no traveler’s sadness at leaving but more a sense of immense satisfaction that we had managed to scratch the surface and experience a fair chunk of Australia’s spectacular mystery.After all no journey is ever at an end but merely the launch pad for the next.THIS IS THE FINAL BLOG AND FOR THOSE WHO HAVE READ AND ENDURED…THANK YOU.THE COMMENTS AND MESSAGES HAVE KEPT US REMINDED OF WHERE OUR TRUE ROOTS LIE AND WE CAN’T WAIT TO GET BACK TO OUR MUCH LOVED SOUTH AFRICA.

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Comments

[Mark Howard-Browne]

Farewell
Hi Tim and Sue, Thank you for you informative blogs on your Aussie travels - in a space of 3 months you've seen more of Oz than I've seen in 12 years. I was a delight to catch up with you in Sydney: have a safe flight home and I'll see you on the 1st at Mt Edgecombe sometime soon. Regards Mark

[Timgray]

HI FROM SA
Hi Mark Thanks for your message...it was really good to spend that day with you and catch up.Hope all well.So the Poms have some fight in them....the Aussies are looking poorer by the day?Keep in touch.Cheers,Tim