Dubai...Briefly

After about a 13 hours flight we arrived in Dubai about half an hour early.  The airport was quiet but that was hardly surprising as it was about 4:00am. The flight had been quite smooth except for a brief period of turbulence around the tip of India. The Premium Economy seats were really comfortable with plenty of space...much, much better than Economy class. The food was quite nice too and the service was good...except for a rough start when they tipped the tray of drinks off the top of the trolley, smashing a full bottle of red wine...not all that easily cleaned up when all you have is a dustpan and brush and a roll of kitchen paper.

Despite all the pluses of Premium Economy, we still didn't get much sleep. The plane itself is still rather noisy and added to that was a baby that cried from time to time and someone nearby that snored...although the rest of the passengers didn't realise it, they were probably lucky that I didn't fall soundly asleep because if I had, I would have probably made things a lot worse with my own snoring...

After a bit over an hour on the ground, it was time to re-board our plane...next stop London.

We're Off On Our Next Big Adventure

After spending the day finishing our packing and cleaning up the house, we were taken out to Tullamarine Airport by Katie. Check-in was very quick...courtesy of a special queue for Premium Economy passengers. Passing through Immigration was painless and so all we need to do is wait until it is time to board the plane...

Our Qantas A3800 - not the world's most attractive plane

On The Way Home

That's it, the holiday is over. Rental car returned, bags checked, sitting in the airport waiting until it's time to board.

So Who Needs To Plan Their Day Anyway...

A lovely sunny morning this morning so time for another beach walk. We started at Sunrise Beach and walked up past Sunshine Beach to the cliffs at the end...roughly 2 kilometres. On the way back, we stopped off for a pounding in the surf between the flags at Sunshine Beach before continuing on to where we started. It was such a lovely day that we couldn't resist going in the surf again at Sunrise Beach.

Looking back to Sunshine Beach

Once we had dried off, it was time for morning tea so we drove down to Peregian Beach to visit the bakery there...again. We walked over to a lookout and eat our morning tea overlooking the beach. When we had finished, we decided that the surf looked that inviting that we would go in again... After another thorough pounding in the surf, we had a little sunbake on the beach before heading back to the Resort for a late lunch.

Looking down on Peregian Beach

After lunch we needed to hide from the so we took the Resort courtesy bus down to Hastings Street to do a little window shopping. We had a pleasant stroll  up and down the street and saved lots of money...by not buying anything!

To Market, To Market...

The Eumundi Market has quite a reputation so we decided to go and have a look. Heading the advice to "go early", we got there just after 8.00 when the market officially opened. We were astounded to discover that hundreds of people were there already but it didn't seem to matter as we were parked quickly and were off to the market.

Wandering around the Eumundi Market

The market was the usual array of things that you see at these sorts of markets; the weird, the wonderful, some really good artwork and handcrafts, some very dubious work, cheap Chinese imports and, of course, food. After a couple of hours wandering around, we had seen it all and left. It was then that we discovered why you needed to come early - the car parks were full and cars were queued for at least half a kilometre waiting to get in.

Time to leave...and cars in the car park as far as the eye could see...

...and out on the road too...waiting to get in

From Eumundi we went for a short drive out through Pomona to Boreen Point on Lake Cootharaba before heading back to Noosa. After lunch we went and sat by the pool for the afternoon.

One Day...Much The Same As The Next

If it seems like one day is the much the same as the next, it is because they mostly are...with minor variations. Another beach walk this morning...but with a little difference. Yesterday I had found all the remaining Geocaches between Sunrise Beach and Peregian Beach...except one. It was too hard to get to from the road and so needed a one kilometre walk down the beach...so this morning's walk had a purpose in mind.

Anita at Castaways Beach

The sand dune I was climbing over to get to the Geocache

We started off from Castaways Beach and headed north. Eventually we reach the point where I had to go clambering about in the sand dunes to find the Geocache. With it successfully found, it was then walk back along the beach to the car and off looking for morning tea. We found a nice bakery in Peregian Beach and then continued driving south looking for somewhere to stop off. After passing through Coolum Beach, we came to a great lookout that looked back up the coast.

Looking back towards Coolum Beach

After morning tea, we continued driving south, past Mount Coolum and "Big Clive's" resort (that's Clive Palmer if you are wondering) before finding our way onto the Motorway and back to Noosa. As we have done one or two times already, it was off to the pool for lunch and to laze the afternoon away.

Quieter Times in Noosa

To help cope with the Christmas Chaos, there had been free travel on buses until yesterday. Would things be much quieter now that businesses are starting to resume after Christmas? This morning we decide to take on Hastings Street in the car to find out.

Surprisingly, it was very much quieter than a it was a week ago. Progress down Hastings Street was easy and the traffic snarls at the roundabouts had gone...along with the Traffic Controllers who seemed to be more interested in watching the traffic than actually controlling it. We drove to the spit where we parked and went for a beach walk back to the main beach. After a swim between the flags, it was back along the beach to our car and back to the Resort. On our way back, we stopped of at Laguna Lookout for a view back over Noosa and the Noosa River.

Looking down over Noosa and up the river towards Noosaville and Tewantin

A koala at Laguna Lookout

 After lunch Anita went for a swim in the pool while I went off in search of a few Geocaches...

A Day to Recover...

After a couple of hot days where temperature records were tumbling across Queensland, today was much cooler. A lazy day was in order...so after a beach walk at Castaways Beach followed by an ice cream at Peregian Beach, it was back to the pool for a swim, lunch and lazing the day away...after all, that's what holidays should be about!

Hot One Day, Even Hotter The Next...

Record high temperatures throughout much of Queensland yesterday, even hotter forecast in places today. Time for another drive around in an air-conditioned car...

This time we headed south along the motorways until we got to Nambour where then retraced yesterday's route to Mapleton. No stopping there today as we kept on driving south along the edge of the ridge until we arrived in Maleny for lunch...not quite yesterday's standard but close!

Gerrard's Lookout on the way to Maleny

Not wanting to go to Kenilworth again, after lunch we set off along some back roads to wind our way down to the coast via Peachester, Lansborough and Eudlo. Unlike yesterday where much of the driving was through forest, today was through farm land...still very pretty and much better than baking in the sun in 42C.

Looking back to Maleny from a lookout to the west of the town

The Glasshouse Mountains through the smoke haze from the Stradbroke Island fires

Hiding From The Sun

With a temperature of 36C forecast and a certain silly boy getting a bit too pink yesterday, it was a day for hiding from the sun. We set off for a drive into the Hinterland, heading out through Yandina and up into the hills to Cooloolabin Dam. Planning to drive down the Mapleton Forest road, we didn't get very far before coming across sign advising that the road was suitable for "high clearance 4WDs". Figuring that I had already taken a hire car further than I should have, we headed back the way we came to Yandina.

We immediately headed back into the hills, this time going up to Wappa Falls and Wappa Dam. Unfortunately for the falls, the dam was doing its job far to well and only the smallest trickle was flowing. Still, there were some great swimming holes for the locals and they were being well used. We continued on through the forest roads until we came to the edge of Nambour where we turned again for the hills, this time Mapleton. There was no relief from the heat even up in the Hinterland so we only stopped in Mapleton long enough for lunch...mmm, raspberry and custard tart!

Looking back towards Noosa from a lookout on the way to Mapleton

Lunch at Mapleton

 Being too hot to even take a walk in the bush, we chose to keep driving around. We left Mapleton on the Obi Obi Road, stopping briefly at Mapleton Falls National Park. Because it has been so dry, the falls here were also a non-existent trickle. Continuing on towards Obi Obi, we came across a marvelous piece of road construction where it dropped over the edge into the valley below. The road became divided with the down direction becoming gravel and going one side of a hill while the up direction went the other side on a 10% gradient.

The view from the top of the Mapleton Falls

No Go Zone? Are you sure?

From the bottom of the hill we followed the Obi Obi Creek to where it joined the Mary River at Kenilworth. After quickly eating ice creams that were melting before our eyes, we started back towards Noosa Heads...the longish way. We headed out along the Mary Valley Road until we had got about halfway to Gympie. Then we turned towards the coast, passing through Traveston and Cooran where we took another detour along another mountain road to a lookout with some rather spectacular views.

It was now rather late in the day so we went back to the Resort where those of us who weren't too pink went for a swim in the pool.

Beautiful One Day, Perfect The Next...

Well, that's is what they once said about Queensland...

The day started brilliantly again so we set off for another beach walk. This time we took advantage of the Resort mini-bus into Noosa Heads and went for a walk along the main beach. Protected by the headland, the water was very calm and inviting so after walking the length of the beach, we went for a swim.

The main beach at Noosa Heads

With it staring to get quite hot, we caught the mini-bus back to the Resort and took refuge at the pool...for lunch and much of the afternoon. Yes, it was another perfect day in Queensland.

A Bright Start to 2014

Unlike the previous couple of days, 2014 started with a bang...bright and sunny and hardly a cloud in the sky. As usual, we started the day with a beach walk...again from Sunrise Beach but this time heading north. We walked past Sunshine Beach until we decided it was time to head back. The advantage with heading this way was that we were able to take a detour up to the Sunshine Beach shops for an ice cream.

With so bright and sunny, we couldn't leave the beach today without getting wet. Sunrise Beach is a patrolled beach at this time of year so there was a small crowd there enjoying getting bashed about in the surf. After getting bowled over a couple of times we decided we had had enough surf and sun so we headed back to our apartment.

After lunch we were looking for something to do that would keep us out of the sun for a while so we set off for a drive into the hinterland. Using the nice new bypass roads, we avoided the worst of the traffic as we made our way to sleepy Cooroy. From there we just headed into the hills until we found ourselves at the top of Black Mountain where the views were fantastic (and there was a geocache there that I just had to find but it wasn't planned...I promise!). 

Looking back to the coast from Black Mountain

Looking south

Coming off Black Mountain, we continued driving around the hills enjoying the scenery. Eventually we came to Kenilworth which pretty much seemed to be asleep...except for the local policeman who was out with his radar. As I was in "sightseeing mode", my greatest risk was being charged with "obstructing traffic"... As it was now getting late in the, we headed back to Noosa for dinner.

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.