The Californians Escape to Paradise
After about two years of trying to persuade my friends Robbie & Alvina to take a visit to this lovely part of Australia, “ the Sunshine Coast”, they finally booked their flight and arrived in Brisbane after spending a few days with friends in Sydney.
After the thrills of seeing them again and giving them a warm welcome we took the hour journey north on the Bruce highway to my home town of Mooloolaba, being mid-afternoon there was still time to give them a quick drive around this lovely area I call home, the beach of Mooloolaba, the Esplanade, Maroochydore, (the next town) plus a look at Buderim on the hill. We called into my sister Nancy and brother-in-law John who live on the slopes of Buderim. Robbie & Alvina had visited them about four years ago when they lived at Bundaberg which is nearly four hours north of here; also Nancy & John took a visit to Calabasas, in California on one of their trips to Europe.
Next day was bright sunshine and a warm 28 deg. C., we continued the tour of local places, being Easter Sunday the beaches were crowded and no parking anywhere, our first available stop was the Mooloolaba wharf and Underwater World and Aquarium. And to take a look at canal living at its best, huge homes, most with private jetties and expensive cruisers anchored out front. We drove a little south to Caloundra city, the main shopping area has lots of shady trees and the usual Sunday markets, the beaches are not quite as nice as Mooloolaba but with lots of high rise apartment buildings and a very colourful recreation area including water spout to cool off it is very popular and makes for a relaxing atmosphere .We had to be contented with take away fish and chips from a small beach shop and was quite peaceful sitting in the shade and watching boats and swimmers. Our return was via the new housing complex called Kawana Island. Beautiful huge homes along well-landscaped Avenues and much bigger homes facing the water. One big problem seemed to be very little space between houses.
A treat for Alvina, a drive into the hinterland to visit the quaint craft town of Montville in the Blackall ranges, firstly a stop for an excellent view the Glasshouse mountains which is a group of odd shapes protruding from the valley below, also there is an interesting rain forest walk which has some rare specimens of ancient trees including huge fig trees and vines which strangle other species. The drive continued among lovely green rolling countryside till our next stop. Montville has many shops displaying a wide range of crafts and some really nice eating-places, also an interesting German Cuckoo shop, a place I love to browse. We drove on to another small town called Mapleton, it has a very old Queenslander hotel with a wooden veranda, which overlooks the sea far below, and they serve very nice fish and chips. We returned via Nambour and the Ginger factory where we took an interesting tour of the process of washing, peeling and rendering the rhizomes which are used in cooking and health.
Another lovely day, Easter is over so it may be a good time to visit the lovely resort town of Noosa with it’s designer shops lining Hastings street and the sea just steps away through walkways between holiday apartments .I decided lunch would be nice at the Surf Club where you can watch the rolling surf and sunbathers, this was not to be as there was a power failure so no food.! Our second choice of a restaurant served very nice food under a canopy of shade trees. We drove around the large homes on the canals and were soon in the quiet waterfront town of Tewantin, which has a backdrop of calm waters and pleasure craft. Our return journey was again along the lovely coast road passing many small towns and lots of holiday apartments, all with a nice sea background.
Wednesday is a work day for me at the tourist centre where I am a volunteer, we still had some time in the morning before I started so I took my friends to a real Australia Icon, “ the Ettomogah Pub”, a replica from a past comic strip which used to be featured in newspapers and books, hard to describe but very quaint. Robbie & Alvina walked around the Mooloolaba Esplanade and shops and spent time watching the sea. then they made a leisurely walk back to my place.
Next day there were showers which we need desperately but not the best for visitors, this was a good time to take them to the largest shopping centre on the Sunshine Coast, nicely set among canals, I soon learned that it was school holidays and hundreds of kids were demanding things from their parents, some having small disagreements, the noise!! We were invited to Nancy & John’s place for lunch; this was a chance to catch up on any news.
Australia Zoo was next on our list; it is about ½ hour drive from my place but we left early, as there is so much to see. It was opened in 1970m by Bob & Lyn Irwin as a private zoo and now their son Steve, ‘ the crocodile hunter” and his American wife Terri have taken over and today it is a huge complex which donates time in conserving the precious wildlife. The new Crocoseum has a live show daily with snakes, crocodiles, tigers and birds; also three elephants get in on the show. We enjoyed the train ride through the zoo having many stops to view kangaroos, koalas, and the new tiger enclosure, a nearly finished Elephant kingdom and much more, we were very lucky as Steve and Terri performed the show for us. A 100-acre increase in size is under construction. It had been a long day with lots of walking so we decided on a nice Friday night roast dinner at the bowls club, $8.95 buys a two course dinner and plenty of it. My usual luck at the weekly meat raffles was in vain (must be the visitors?) but I did manage a small win on the pockey machines.
It is a week since Robbie & Alvina arrived here on the coast, sister Nancy booked the Surf Club courtesy bus to pick us all up for lunch at the Alexandra Club, at least the power was on here and it is a lovely setting looking out over the surf beach and swimmers. I managed to win a few more dollars on the pockies. A lovely afternoon, shame to waste it. Still time for a walk to the Mooloolaba beachfront and Wharf.
Sunday markets at Cotton Tree is always a popular outing, Robbie purchased a leather belt made locally (by kiwis). We took a walk though the large caravan park to the riverside beach, excellent for children. Brother-in-law John was stoking up the barby so we joined them for a lunch of tee bone steaks at their place, very tasty.
Bribie Island was our next little tour, it is about ¾ hours south from my place, it is close to the mainland with a bridge joining them. It is a holiday escape place and growing. We drove through a lovely landscaped exclusive area with huge homes, mostly on canals, there was an open home on a two million dollar monster, Alvina wasn’t too sure about the open plan master bedroom, just a spa bath separating the double showers and vanities, no good for us old wrinkly ones.! We lunched at the R.S.L Club, another roast meal; yours truly had another small win on those machines again. It sounds like I am a gambler but I can safely say $3 is my limit, if I loose that too bad.
Nancy & John left on the Sunlander train to Cairns for a short holiday with some German friends, we took them to the station at Nambour for their 29-hour journey, lucky they had a sleeper. Back home Robbie & Alvina needed to start packing for the start of their trip home again, we had a nice farewell meal at a restaurant just around the corner.
They caught the Suncoast Pacific coach to Brisbane to spend some time sightseeing in this lovely city before their long journey back to America. An email from Robbie on their return explained Brisbane had showers while they were there so no river cruise for them. They did manage a walk around the city and the museums on South Bank. Their trip home by Qantas was just as cramped as the journey here. seems the airlines cram as many seats as possible on their planes.
It was a real pleasure to be able to show my American friends around this lovely part of Australian coastline, they were both marvellous hosts to me on a visit to their home in Calabasas, I think they enjoyed their short stay with me, it was sad to say goodbye, maybe I will get a chance to see them again in their new home in Loomis, California, hopefully I will make one more trip to Europe and call there on my way home.
I am now animal sitting for my sister and brother-in-law, coming to my place just in time for a visit from some kiwi friends.
Robbie and Alvina, thanks a lot for making the long journey here to visit a humble kiwi now living in Australia.
Many Cheers
JIM
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