The Sunshine Coast

The Pacific coast near Brisbane is noted for two very different communities.  To the south is the Gold Coast, which some have described as the Miami of Australia, all glitter and high rises.  I remember the name from my visit here 33 years ago, but not much else, and we haven’t yet seen that area.

But last weekend we drove up into the other area, the Sunshine Coast, whose reputation is of a more laid back, less touristy place … which is generally what we found.  Our destination was near the town of Noosa, known for its multiple headlands, national park, beautiful beaches, mangrove-lined river, and endless good restaurants.  

On the way up, we stopped in to visit one of the many contacts we gathered in the months leading to our arrival here.  This couple, Carl and Orrawin, were introduced to us by someone we met once, briefly, at a celebration of a colleague’s retirement.  Both are retired – Carl from academia where he was a historian and professor of Asian studies (originally at Georgetown University, but ending his career at Queensland University of Technology), and Orrawin a expert in nutrition who ran an organic restaurant and also taught at the University of Queensland. 

Unfortunately, we missed Orrawin, who was in Thailand visiting relatives. But we had a very nice visit with Carl, including meeting his son and partner who lived in a nearby coastal town and having delicious fish and chips on the beach.

We then made our way up to Sunrise beach to our AirBnB stay with Graham and Carol.  They live in a very open-feeling home that featured a Bali-style gazebo (where I spent every early morning   drinking coffee and reading), a resident big green frog, a family of Australian magpies that begged for food by tapping on the window near the kitchen, and this lovely pool:

We did a four hour hike along Sunrise beach:

and into the Noosa National Park, with its scrub pine and eucalyptus forests, rocky outcrops, and nude beach.  We happily jumped into the water near the end of the hike to cool off and play in the surf, although we did have to fight a very strong sideways current and watch out for the many surfers  riding the waves.

The next day we rented kayaks and paddled up the Noosa river a ways, circumnavigating a couple of islands, including one owned by Richard Branson, owner of Virgin airlines, phone company, etc., which featured various nice-looking residences and this Buddha:

The paddling was fun, especially because we timed it right with the tides, but we did get rained on a few times – you know, that warm, tropical downpour – during which we raced for any shelter we could find, including this wreck of a boathouse:

And, of course, we saw a few birds:

 Australian Pelican … it's huge!

 A wary Whimbrel, checking us out.

Crested Tern