Jimi and Mazzy Adventures

Unfortunately, yes.

Although Noosa was a whistle stop tour in many ways, as three nights is only enough to scratch the surface we saw enough to know what a great place it is. It was a great recovery from the dip of the Gold Coast, and probably for me and Belinda Australia Zoo, where the bogun-ratio was off the charts. In many ways, Noosa was exactly what we were looking for and with our brief flirtation it put the spring back in our step. As is the case with the trip, eight weeks is not a long time, so on we must go and today, May 11th 2021 we leave Noosa.

I’m pretty sure we’ll be back. Not sure when, but we loved it.

The only downside was that the site manager was from Didsbury and supported Man United. But that’s ok, after I gave him a good kick in the nuts we were off. Calm down mum, that’s a joke! But we did have a good chat. Small world etc. For the geographically challenged amongst you, Didsbury is smallish town in Mancheter which was often frequented by me and my mates for many years.

Anyway, next on the list was the combo of Agnes Water and the town of 1770. These are two historical places, further up into Queensland and they look pretty impressive (if you beleive the hype).

So good goodbye Noosa, hello Agnes.

The trip to Agnes was a long one. Scheduled at well over four hours and we had noriced roadworks everywhere so far, so we were expecting more. And with four of us in tow, and meals to be considered this had the potential to be five or six hours if we were not careful.

We had looked at a cafe in Childers as the half way stop-off and that worked out pretty well, although we spent a bit more time there than we had intended, as it was a little overrun. But the food was great, as was the ambience.

After the feed, it was the second leg onto our destination at Agnes Waters.

As usual, the scenery and the Australian landscape was gorgeous, and although it was a long drive it was pretty enjoyable.

We arrived at our next Campsite, the Captain Cook Holiday village a around 4pm, which was actually located at 1770, but that is litrally one or two k’s only from Agnes Water so it was no big deal.

It was super-shady, and felt like were nestled into a bit of light rainforest. Not bad at all and very lush too.

We just had time for a quick trip back to the beach at Agnew Waters, and were greeted by a belter of a beach. We were also informed, that swimming was safe here, as stingers are not found in these waters. That was most welcome, especially as we had been informed that Noosa would be the last place we could go for a dip.

That was about it for the day. We made a bbq tea and ended the day pretty chillaxed and glad to be here. It will be interesting to see what we can discover tomorrow, and whether the beach will be anythng as good as Noosa.

Day thirty was immense, and even without advance planning was one of the many highlights of the trip. The beach and the Hastings street restaurant strip was so good, we wanted a bit more of it, so decided to take our friendly bus drivers advice and head down into Noosa Heads.

As luck would have it, we excelled with the parking.

Driving right down Hastings Street, which is likely Noosa’s busiest place, we continued past the end of the street, which we discovered by chance, takes you into the Car Park for Noosa Nationak Park. As it was a Monday morning, it was quitish, apart from the ever-present surfing community (every break in every town).

We secured the required four-bays of parking, headed down the beach path and we were on the beach. Job done or what!

The beach path dropped us probably one K away from Noosa’s imgainatively titled “Main Beach” which was perfect. A short walk admiring the beach ambience and we were back at our new favourite beach.

Having survived the one K walk, it was another great beach session had by all.

Well that was until Jimi lost an argument with a beach-break.

Beach-break one, Jimi nil. Poor old Jimi was enjoying the bodysurfing when he picked a bit of hollow wave to surf which pretty much dumped him head first into the beach. Although it has a comedy element to it, it was actually a fair old hit, and we took him up to the surf lifesaving hut for a bit of a patch-up. Good old betadine saved the day, but it did put an end to Jimi’s body surfing coz everything was stinging. But that’s ok, coz there was food to eat and ice-cream to be dribbled literally metres away at one of the many foodie-icecreamy places on Hastings street.

As the beach day was over for now, we tried our hand at one of the beachy, nature walks that we’d spotted on one of the maps. The coastline around Noosa looked stunning so it sounded like a good thing to do.

It was this one here ….

Unfortunately, we couldn’t find it.

We did have a good walk along the Sunshine Beach track, but where it was supposed to join the coastal walk, it was nowhere to be seen. And by this time, some of the little people on our magical mystery tour were becoming less than impressed and demanding ice creams, so that was the end of that. Bit of a shame, as all of our walks on this trip had so far been great, but this one was not to be. What we did see looked amazing though. There was plenty of surf on Sunshine Beach and more of the stunning coastline. I’m not sure I’ve mentioned it, but we liked Noosa just a bit.

After the failed walk and the rescue ice-cream, we returned back to Noosa Heads.

There was a walk over the headland that we had yet to look at, and it looked good. Unfortunately, Mazzy’s legs were incredibly tired (allegedly), and so it meant the walk was only for me and Jimi.

It was yet more great scenery from Noosa Heads, and the walk was surprisingly impressive.

That was pretty much it for the day. The evening feed was from a local Chinese somewhere in Tewantin. We have noticed, that the better the day, the less we can be bothered with a home-cooked bbq-salad combo. I’m not sure we fully factored that in, but such a great vibe from days like this is fully deserving of a lazy finish to the day.

Tomorrow, we have to leave Noosa. None of us will be too happy about that but also wondering what the next place will be like. We’ll find out soon so stay tuned.

Having left Landsborough and Australia Zoo, it was now time to head into Noosa.

We had arrived a bit later than preferred the previous evening, so did not have time to see any of it, and the Caravan Park we are staying at is actually in Tewantin, a few k’s out of Noosa Heads (Noosa Heads being where most of the action is).

Day 30 was also Mothers day (9th May this year), and so it was extra important to make sure we spolied Mum. No campsite lifestyle today if possible.

The first thing we had to do was work out how we could easily get into Noosa from where we were. Although we had pretty much driven the Maui everywhere so far, Noosa ws notorious for lack of parking, and as it was Sunday and Mothers day it was a decided that driving was a non-starter. After a quick chat with campsite reception we opted for the bus, but were unable to buy any pre-paid tickets so had to take a punt on the bus driver being the friendly type.

Fortunately, he was, and we hopped on board. In fact, the bus-driver gave us a load of advice on where we could possibly park up on future days within reasonable striking distance of the Heads. Nice bloke, thank you Mr bus-driver. He also threw out a couple of snapshots for us showing exactly what he was talking about (he may have sussed my “legendary” sense of direction had a couple of rough edges!).

The bus was only the first leg of the trip, as we then decided to hop on a ferry cruise from the Marina, which would drop us right into Noosa Heads.

It was a great choice, as the Ferry was very relaxing and informative, and took us right behind some of Noosa’s wealthier waterside properties. It was also another day in the mid twenties. Perfect autumn weather.

The ferry dropped us right behind one of the posh hotels on thr water, and from there it was a short walk to Hastings street. This was basically the main drag. Bars, shops, restaurants. Money, lots of money on show, but no shortage of people in boardies either. It seemed like a great mix, and after a bit of a wander round we dropped into one of many restaurants for a well-earned Monthers Day feed.

It was a great feed, and a really good choice of restaurant. Interestingly it was run by some English bloke (those POMS are everywhere) who’s daughters were both celiac, so it was a reassuring chat when we were asking about gluten free options for Jimi. As it turns out, his restaurant was next door to a pasta bar who’s entire range of Pizza’s were gluten free and he gave us access to that menu. So everyone was happy.

Well that was the food and beverages sorted, which meant we had to hit the shops, but only a fleeting visit before we moved to the beach. We were hoping the beach would be good, as since Cabarita we were still pining for a bit of surf and some warm water to dive into. We weren’t disappointed. In fact, the beach at Noosa Heads was fantastic, and pretty much had everything we needed. Cabarita might be slipping down the rankings!

We had a great session on the beach and in the surf. To be honest, the beach was amazing. If we think we get a bit spoilt with some of South Australia’s beaches, this was another level. And the fact that it had a great restaurant and cafe strip just metres away really added to it. And headland walks and great surf. Noosa Heads is a truly great place.

Time to leave the beach meant a quick dry-off, and back on the ferry. If we timed it right, we we would start to see the sunset over the river as we slowly work our way back to Tewantin Marina. Amazingly enough, we were changed, ready and caught the return in perfect time for thr setting sun and the trip back.

Having arrived back at the Marina, there was only one thing left to do – grab a small feed and a quick beer. So we did, before making use of Noosa’s Uber facility.

A great day all round and possibly the best beach day so far. Cabarita was amazing, but Noosa’s Hastings street adds another dimension.

Hopefully, we can repeat this tomorrow, so stay tuned.

So Dad’s argument of lets hike up some massive mountain in blazing sunshine, versus go to the zoo, meet Bindi Erwin in person and wrestle a crocodile, somehow did not make it over the line. So Day 29 meant a visit to Australia Zoo. That was kind of expected, but it was probably the first time we had not managed to take a closer look at some of the landscape.

The Glass House Mountains look really impressive, and there is some great Aboriginal storytelling associated with their existence, but on this particular trip we won’t be exploring further. Definitely another one added to the to-do list.

Australia Zoo was as us grown-ups expected. Very commercialised, with some good bits, and some better bits. The highlight would have been the crocodile show, but to be honest, cycling round Dubbo zoo a couple of weeks earlier, in perfect weather and with minimal crowds was going to be hard to beat, and so it was the case.

But the kids loved it, and to be fair the animal show was pretty good.

There was also one unplanned moment of random action, when we were at the tiger feeding session. A snake had dropped out of the overhanging trees onto the canopy providing shade, and could be seen casting its snake shadow as it moved around. Suddenly, it ramped up its speed and and hung over the edge of the canopy, looking into the crowd. I can’t remember seeing Belinda move so fast, but in her defence it was right over her head at that point.

Apparently, it was a harmless green tree snake, but it was amusing for a few moments there and it did make the crowd extremely animated.

There are a handful of photo’s here, but there is a chance the kids will add a few more in.

All in all it was a day out with the kids, at Australia Zoo, and it was Day 29 of our holiday (but I would still have preferred the Glass House Mountains). We checked out of our friendly caravan park and it was time to move on.

Fortunately for us, our next stop was Noosa and it was roughly an hour or so away from the zoot, so we were soon on our way to our next destination. We had three days pencilled in for this section of the trip as Noosa has a big reputation and it sounded pretty good.

We checked into our next Carvan Park around 6pm that night. Just enough time for me and Mazzy to take a dip before we settled in for the night, and tried to plan for the next couple of days.

Day 28 saw us leave the Gold Coast. We were scheduled for another day of catchups with Seena and family, but Mazzy was sick. So we had to cancel the catchup and continue moving on up. In case I haven’t mentioned it, eight weeks is not a lot of time to do what we are doing so we need to keep moving. Thanks to Seena for the intended hospitality and sorry we never got to see your new house (and pool!).

So we adjusted the destination from Brisbane, and moved it to somewhere we could access the Glass House Mountains from. After a quick bit of research we headed into Beerwah for lunch and had a quick look round. For those not in the know, the Glass House Mountains are a cluster of thirteen mountains which rise out of the Sunshine coast horizon in pretty spectular fashion. We had loosely pencilled this in as a bit of a hiking option at some point, but had not added much detail.

Driving through the Glass House Mountain region was as picturesque as most things we had seen, and there was no shortage of greenery. But we needed a feed, so we stopped at Beerwah, which in theory provided us with access to the largest peak.

Beerwah itself was pretty quaint. Another immaculate little town, probably a few too many eatieries which hinted at the underlying tourism. We actually didn’t see too many other tourists funnily enough, but travelling in Autumn and outside of school holidays has given us great access to these places without the usual hussle and bustle that you could expect.

In the end, and in and effort to save a few dollars (something we have not been too good at), we nipped into the local Woollies and had a lunch in the van, with another local carpark being the lucky recipient of our four-bay hogger.

After our morning tea in the van, we spent a while drifting round the area trying to work out the best Caravan Park, with reasonable access to both the Glass House Mountains and also Australia Zoo, which was literally nestled into the same landscape. Landsborough Igenia won that one and we duly checked in. It was an interesting place, set right in the middle of rainforest, with no shortage of swamp-like conditions. But it was a great little site.

The only downside to making things up on the run, was that it had been time consuming, and had probably cost us a chance to walk up up one of the mountains. Which meant there was only one thing left to do – have a cake and a brew! We had found, according to the internet, the Mary Cairncross scenic lookout which was supposed to give great views, as well as cake and coffee, so we stopped there. The minor niggle, was that it was up some mad slopey road which was a bit of a challenge in the van, and the gps was wrong again. We have learnt the hard way, but the van gps is years out of date. Anyway, we eventually found it, and grabbed a feed. After all, It had been at least two whole hours since the last one.

The cafe was part of a complex which provided access to walking trails, directly connected to the back of the centre, as well as a dedicated viewing gallery overlooking all thirten peaks.

Unfortunately, there was a mixup in the information provided to us, and we were wrongly advised it was open to 5:30pm. It turns out, the cafe was open until 5:30, but for reasons unknow, the viewing gallery shut at 3:30. End result – I managed a few snaps only from the viewing gallery before grabbing a brew and cake meant we missed further photo opportunities. But it was pretty good cake.

And that was pretty much that for the Glass House Mountains.

All that was left, was navigating the downhill section, then we would be back at camp. Fortunately, I had developed a great technique for dealing with these ticky sections, and I had no fear of these b-roads whatsoever.

Camp was interesting and another opportunity to meet some new best mates.

New best mate one had moved down from Penrith, fully sold his house but had been unable to buy one in Landsborough. Apparently there are no houses for sale in Landsborugh. I didn’t question his planning, but he seemed like a good bloke.

New best mate number two, had moved from elsewhere, and him and his missus were looking for full-time work. Interesting that so many people seem to be taking such a big gamble to try and live a quiter life, but understandable when you see these great little towns.

So after I’d cleaned the bbq, that was the end of our day in Landsborough. This was basically an extra day for us, as were expecting to be in Brisbane, but we did ok. Tomorrow will either be Australia Zoo, or walking round the Glass House Mountains (If I can persuade the kids).

We will see how that goes tomorrow!

Day 27 saw the weather improve significantly and a cacth-up had been organised with Chris and Sandra, two friends of Jimi and Mazzy’s who were at school with the kids at Richmond Primary for a while, before they moved away to Brisbane. Chris and Jimi were best friends at Richmond, both with a love of astronomy and robotics, and was a big shame when they had to move to Brisbane. So it was really good when we could finally organise a catch-up.

After a few attempts at organising, it was agreed that everyone would come down to our Caravan Park. That would let the kids play and would be able to make use of the water park style facilities, as well as the spa.

The kids had a blast, like nothing had changed at all (Seena and family had been gone over a year) and it was a big day had by all in and around the pool.

If we find additional pics of the water slides I will add them in. Pretty sure they are out there somewhere.

Although another catchup was arranged for tomorrow, where we would have dropped in to see the Simon’s at their house, Mazzy unfortunately picked up a bug and we had to cancel. So instead of one day in Brisbane, we had once again move on, this time to Landsborough, which gives you access to the Glass House Mountains.

That was the end of our Gold Coast stay, and although it was bad weather, and Mazzy picked up a bug it felt like a bit of karma. So far we had loved all of our days but they were more in keeping with the backroads of Australia. The Gold Coast was insanely busy and on reflection I doubt we would consider coming back, but who knows for sure.

Day twenty-six saw us packup and leave Tallebudgera and move further up the Gold Coast.

This allowed us to checkin to a Water Park themed Caravan Park with massive water slides and access to the Gold Coast theme park attractions. For Mazzy’s birthday she had wanted to go to Wet and Wild, whch is the Gold Coast’s premier water park. Massive slides and chutes etc etc.

That was also one of the main reasons for going to the Gold Coast.

We hit our second day of rain. It was pretty torrential, and meant that anything outdoors was ruled out, which was a bit unfortunate considering we had these massive water slides literally metres from our door. In the end we opted to go the movies. Peter Rabbit 2. This was showing at Harbour Town, Biggera Waters. Ironically, and we were only here by chance, but the shopping on offer was great, especially in comparison to Adelaide. But, we were here for the movie and not the shops. The kids loved it and that was pretty much the day done with, but you can’t expect great weather every step of the way. I also don’t think we took many pictures, largely because it was raining and there was nothing really worth taking. Day 27 next ….

Day 25 meant that we were leaving Cabarita (North Star Caravan Park at Hastings), and heading off to the Gold Coast. Since this drive was not going to be much more than an hour we had time time to milk our Cabarita experience one more time.

This meant a spectacular walk up the headland. So spectacular, that Mazzy has been asking for surf lessons ever since. We will have to make sure that if we ever return to Adelaide, we follow up on this (note to Brad – this could be a winner!).

There are a few pics included, showing the “cove”beach alongside the headland, as well as the headland walk, and finally some of the surfing. For the surf afficionado’s amongst you, the days we were there it was around three to four feet, and it looked pretty good quality. And in warm water. People in Adelaide woud be tripping over themselves to get conditions like that.

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and so for us that was the end of our couple of days at Cabarita. It had been eventful, filled with great times and catchups, lots of fun for the kids, and for us grown-ups the discovery of a fantastic place on the coast. Having said that, I think me and Belinda visited here a long time ago, and we probably have a few pics stashed somehere, but the memories are a bit vague. All of us were sorry to leave, but as the enduring storyline goes, we only have a few weeks and we need to keep moving on.

The next stop on the list was Tallebudgera, which is a town on the Gold Coast. This is where things on the trip can potentially get interesting, because so far everythng we had loved was nature related, catch-up related or an appreciation of the b-road flavor of Australia. The Gold Coast is as far removed the most of these things as you can imagine, so we will see how this goes.

Tallebudgera was less than an hour from Cabarita and we made pretty good time before we checked into Tallebudgera Creek Tourist Park.

We picked a great spot overlooking Tallebudgera Creek (which was big) and spent the rest of the day doing not much else. Apart from relaxing with a cuppa, watching some of the weather roll-in over the creek and a quick walk to the beach.

It was definitely noticeable that we were in bogun-land, and it felt very different to previous Caravan Parks. Although the view over the creek was great, it’s worth noting that the creek, and obviously the beach, are public land so the Caravan Park was not as private as we had been used to. A minor issue but there were a couple of quirky things which happened with regards to the lack of private land which were accessing. The Caravan Park was not a bad place, but it was a bit of a change of environment to the previous locations.

That was the day summed up at Tallebudgera, which was pretty good, and the spot we picked was extremely picturesque. We actually pulled up a few chairs and had a brew or two whilst watching the activity on the creek, so all in all it was pretty relaxing.

Day 24 was Monday. We were still in Cabarita, Craig and Dawn were working, which left us with a day to explore Cabarita, so we did what always works best – hit the beach.

We found an amazing spot, just inside of the headland, where there was a small cove, great surf and a walk up the headland. All in all it was an absolute paradise, and possibly the best beach of all time. We spent hours in the ocean, catching wave after wave on the boogieboard, or simply body surfing. The small cove that was the beach provided shelter from the wind, so even with temperatures in only the low-to-mid twenties it was plenty warm enough for a big beach session. We only have phone-pics for this day, but they are not too bad.

And that was Cabarita Beach. A seriously idyllic location.

We finished off the day with our final catchup with Craig, Dawn and Griff, which down at Cabarita RSL, where we had a Pizza and a couple of beers. Another day in paradise for sure.

Cabarita beach was the next of our scheduled catchups, this time with Craig and Dawn, who we hadn’t seen since before the kids were born and we were all looking forward to it. For the record, Craig was an Aussie who spent a few years at Stretford Cricket club and he married Dawn who very sensibly left Urmston to go and live in the colonies.

We managed to book into North Star Holiday Resort in Hastings, which was a stones throw from Cabarita and managed to squeeze in for a two-night stop (three-night minimum was apparently required). The park was extremely busy, and it turns out that the Monday was a Queensland public holiday. So although we were in NSW, it was close enough for the Queeeenslanders to make use of it.

The park was pretty plush. Sites were on plastic grass, there was an onsite restaurant, loads of water-play stuff. It actually felt like a bit of a pseudo-carvan park, as we weren’t used to those kind of “luxury”facilities but it wasn’t such a bad thing, relaxing with a brew on fancy sun-loungers whilst the kids were playing.

On the way to Cabarita, we swung past Lennox Heads. Great beach, but it was a only a quick stop unfortunately. But it did give us time to stretch our legs, and almost the hammy’s.

We arrived around lunctime, and arranged a catch up with Craig and familly a couple of hours later. Where else, but down the beach. The kids had a big swim and a body-surf in the ocean, got on like a house on fire with Griff, their new best mate, and we bumped into a load of horse-riders. Us grown-ups had a great catchup, so much so that photo’s were almost skipped but luckily Craig managed to sneak in a cracker of a group-selfie.

We finished off the evening with another great catchup over at Craig and Dawn’s who threw us a feed, and we chatted away until it was time to go. It was a great catchup and a top day all round.