A Quiet New Year's Eve

The day started quite cloudy again so we decided another beach walk was in order...this time along the nearby "eastern beaches". We drove first to Sunshine Beach to find it a hive of activity around its shops and the car parks full. Being "exploring mode" still, we didn't bother stopping and drove a kilometre down the road to Sunrise Beach.

There are no shops at Sunrise Beach so, in comparison to Sunshine Beach, the place was deserted and had no difficulty parking. We walked down to the beach and set off on our walk...heading south until we had had enough. We retraced our steps until we found our way back to our car and then continued our drive. We kept on driving south through Castaways Beach and Marcus Beach to Peregian Beach. Here we turned inland to pick up the Sunshine Motorway to head back to Noosa and the Resort. 

After lunch we simply lazed the day away around the pool before heading into Noosa Central for some more supplies (it's a small fridge and so you can't buy too much at a time...). We saw the New Year in quietly...one hour later than back home.

Finding Our Way Around

We set off this morning to do a little exploring...starting with Noosa Heads. We made our way to Hastings Street, the main shopping street along the foreshore. Although it was still rather early, everyone seemed to be there already with the overflow parking filling rapidly.

Crawling down Hastings Street, we didn't try to stop and kept on going until we reached the end of the road at Noosa Spit at the mouth of the Noosa River. Here we left our car and went for a walk on the beach. Although the day was cloudy and grey, it was quite warm and the sea was pleasant to walk in.

After our beach walk we set off to take a drive along the Noosa River. The first challenge was getting back out along Hastings Street as it is the only way in and out...clearly the only sensible way of visiting here at this time of year is using the RACV Resort's courtesy bus.

From Noosa Heads we passed through Noosaville before ending up in Tewantin. We stopped here to buy what we thought would be lunch before returning through "peak period traffic" to the Resort. Although the cloud had still not burnt off, the day was now quite hot so a visit before lunch to the pool was in order.

Sitting around the pool was very relaxing...so much so that we decided to order lunch there. Oh well, the "lunch" we had bought would do for dinner instead. 

Lunch by the pool

We spent a big chunk of the afternoon at the pool before retreating from the sun to the cool of our apartment for the rest of the day.

Sunshine Coast - Here We Come

Up early to finish packing and tidy up the house so we can leave it for a couple of weeks. Then it was into a taxi for a trip out to Tullamarine Airport to catch our flight up to the Sunshine Coast. We had a 9:35 flight direct to Maroochydore, flying Business Class courtesy of points I had amassed over several years.

After an uneventual flight, we stepped off the plane into a hot and humid day. I had a hire car booked and, as usually happens, I received an "upgrade"...this time a Hyundai ix35 SUV...somewhat larger than the MX-5 I usually drive.

Coming out of the airport, I took a wrong turn and found myself heading south instead of north. With 3 hours to kill before check-in time and only a 30 minute drive to get there, it didn't really matter so we kept on going. Eventually I found my way out to Yandina and from there we went via Eumundi before turning back to the coast.

We followed the signs to Noosa and arrived there to find the traffic was bedlam...not that I expected anything else at this time of year. We escaped Hastings Street before getting trapped in it and found our way around to the Noosa Central  shops for a little lunch.

Still a little early, we then set out for the RACV Noosa Resort where we would be staying. Our room wasn't ready so we lounged around in the foyer until it was. We have a first-floor, one bedroom apartment overlooking the pool. It is quite modern with plenty of space and everything you need for a long stay.

The view from the balcony

The lounge area - excuse the mess...it didn't take us long

A well appointed kitchen space

The bedroom

After unpacking and a bit of a rest, we finished the day by going back to Noosa Central for some food supplies.