SUNSHINE COAST AND SUNSHINE

We haven’t really moved very far since my last blog; only from Brisbane to Cotton Tree in Mooloolaba with a 12 day break in Dicky Beach, Caloundra. Our campsite in Dicky Beach, which is a northern suburb of Caloundra, was right on the beach. We just walked over a bridge and we were on the sand. It was a lovely beach with walkways along beside it. That is one thing about this country, there are great walkways everywhere and they are very well maintained with seats and lookouts in prominent places and lots of clean toilets. It certainly makes walking a pleasure when you can see blue skies and blue seas. We sat on the beach most days and caught up with our reading and watched the surfers and swimmers. We haven’t ventured into the surf yet but I have got as far as putting my togs on. Lots of you will know this part of Australia really well but for those who don’t, it is a very popular holiday spot for New Zealanders as well as Australians and we have met lots of Kiwis up here. Some of them are doing the same as us and some just over for the annual 2 week holiday.

We drove up into the hinterland one day to the 3 Ms; Maleny, Montville and Mapleton. This is a beautiful drive up into the Blackall Range with fantastic views over the Sunshine Coast and the Glasshouse Mountains. These 3 little towns are full of craft shops, antique shops, cafes, restaurants and bars and the most amazing cuckoo clock shop. They are very busy, especially at the weekends. We visited Lake Barroon where the dam, which supplies all the Sunshine Coat with water, is located. There we saw “Secrets by the Lake” a motel accommodation where all the units are tree houses up high in the rain forest. They looked great. We met a family there who have just returned from a four year trip around the whole of Australia in a huge caravan with a 1 year old baby (when they started the trip) , 2 staffordshire bull terriers, some gold fish and a bird. The now 5 year old is so used to having camp fires, damper and marshmallows, that her parents light one in the back yard for her.

The availability of van sites has not got any better even with the school holidays finishing. We drove up to Maroochydore and Mooloolaba from Caloundra to book into our next stop over and had to visit 6 parks before we could get a decent spot. We heard of one park where people are parked outside at 6.30 in the morning so that they can get a good site. That park doesn’t even bother with bookings. We are now booked up to 4th August.

We are now at Cotton Tree which is on the banks of the Maroochy River and also on the beach. It is a huge park with 453 sites. Cotton Tree is just north of Mooloolaba and Alexander Headland. Again we are only a few metres from the water and the last few nights we have sat out with our bottle of wine and deck chairs on the river bank and watched the sun set. It really is a very tough life!! Erica & Bill Young, friends from Waikanae, arrive up here tomorrow morning for an overnight stay. They are staying in the Gold Coast for a few days after a trip to Singapore and it will be great to catch up with them.

We weren’t too sure what sort of wireless internet coverage we would get while on this holiday but it has been great. Most caravan parks have wireless internet and it is free in some of them. I have had to go to the internet room to get a hot spot in some places but most of the time it works just fine in the caravan. It may be a different story when we start heading back inland though.
The weather has been getting warmer with the nights being round the 12 – 17C mark and the day time temperature in the mid 20s. This may be all changing in the next few days though as the forecast is for “cyclonic conditions” (whatever that means) later in the week. I sincerely hope not as I have got quite used to these summer temperatures in the middle of winter.

We should be up by the Fraser Coast when I do my next blog and hopefully some whale watching.