Mountains and sea, footy and golf!

Monday 13th June - Thursday 23rd June, 2011

We have had a wonderful time over this last week and a half travelling around and exploring more of this lovely part of Australia. We have definitely taken advantage of the beautiful sunny days! Mind you it is winter and the mornings and evenings have been very chilly! but we can tolerate that as we know the days are going to be incredible!  5 - 23 degree days are the norm at the moment!

The ski season opened the weekend before last with record snow falls, and the snow has continued to fall, even as far up as  Katoomba just west of Sydney. Orange, Bathurst, Goulburn have also been turned into winter wonderlands! Snow has not been seen in some areas for some years!, so the novelty had families out building snowmen and having snowball fights! Happy TV news and pics for a change!

But back to the beautiful days of exploring in the sunshine!

Early last week we had another quick trip down to the Gold Coast for some appointments and had a great couple of days with Di and Graham. The State of Origin Rugby League Round 2 was contested on the Wednesday night and we accompanied Di and Graham for a great night at their Golf Club to cheer on NSW or Queensland on the big screen! NSW won this round, so with each Sate having won a round each, next Wednesday's final round will be exciting! Who will win this hotly contested honour for 2011!
Will keep you posted! Was a fun night with streamers, flags, prizes and of coarse - FOOTY FOOD! Alas I did not have my camera with me so no pics unfortunately!

Love this impressive view of  the Glass House Mountains' Tibrogargan (a volcanic plug 364m)
as you round the corner on the Bruce Highway heading for Brisbane and the Gold Coast

Di and Sasha, with Sasha showing off her winter PJ's -
they keep her warm in this cold night winter weather!

The beautiful and colourful Australian Rainbow Lorikeets love the Grevillia 

in Di and Graham's Palma Sereno gardens.

We had a great day doing the round trip from Noosa up into the Blackall Ranges, along the beautiful hinterland  ridge ,with its fabulous views back across to the coast, and then back down to Caloundra and up the coast through Mooloolabar, Maroochydore to Noosa. 

The Edge Cafe at  Montville in the Blackall Ranges behind the Sunshine coast

Peter enjoying the view from The Edge - a great spot for a coffee and a relax!

This is the life!

The beautiful lush countryside

The view down to Mooloolabah and Maroochydore on the coast

Looking across to Mt Coolum

Stunning views all along the ridge

The Glasshouse Mountains (a line of volcanic plugs named by Captain Cook)
 from Mary Cairncross Park

Majestic Beerwah (556m)

Fascinating Coonowrin (377m)

Towering Tibrogargan (364m) and lumpy Berrburrum (278m)

From Mooloolabah foreshore looking across the rock platform
and beach to Maroochydore

Maroochydore across the silver sea!

Mooloolabah Beach

Main street Mooloolabah - always a hive of activity in the
popular cafe and restaurant strip overlooking the beach and ocean.
Mooloolabah is home of the popular Moololabah Triathlon at the end of March

View of the beach from the cafes

The cafes are always popular and busy

Coolum Beach

The back beach at Coolum

Looking up the beach and coast at Coolum towards Sunshine Beach

We've been doing lots of walking, and besides the Noosa National Park, our other favourite walk is walking on Sunshine! - lovely Sunshine Beach, which is just a stroll down the road. The coffee shops across the road from the beach in the quaint strip of Sunshine Beach shops and restaurants are always enticing us for a visit on our returns from our walks! We are easily persuaded!

The Lifesaver getting ready to take the jet ski out for a spin

Very scenic and relaxing walking to the Sunshine Beach headland
enjoying the sunshine and listening to the song of the sea!

From the headland looking back along Sunshine Beach

The suns great effect on the ocean!

What a great job!

Fun!

The park leading down to Sunshine Beach.
The Surf Club has an ideal location - nice restaurant there!

The quaint and quirky shops at Sunshine Beach -
fantastic atmosphere! 

Fratellini's Cafe 

Luke and Amanda's favourite - Costa Noosa Cafe
They freshly roast their coffee beans everyday!

Hot chocolate, coffee and a read of the Sunday paper at  Fratellini's Cafe -
a great habit! 

And the highlight this week is that after all these years of saying I'm going to learn to play golf (so I don't just have to caddie all the time! lol) I took the plunge and had my first lesson with Coach Pete at the beautiful, manicured Noosa Springs Golf Course. It has a great driving range and practise putting greens which I will be frequenting until the coach says I can be let free on a golf course! Loved the two hour lesson  and I'm happy to say I think I made some progress!, though the concentration of thinking about everything I had to do before I hit that little white ball (if I hit it! lol) was quite mentally exhausting!

The entrance to lovely Noosa Springs Golf Club

The Golf Shop

Looking down over the course from the Club House

Noosa Springs Golf Club Club House

 The start of my golf career!

Lesson One

The driving range and putting greens -
my stamping grounds until I'm good enough to let loose on a
golf course! Coaches orders!

End of lesson 1 - the pleased coach carries my clubs!

Home and still on the move,.... and still adventuring!

Monday 06/06 - 13/06/2011 Brisbane - Gold Coast - Noosa, Sunshine Coast.

Home again......and  still on the move and adventuring!

We have been back in Oz a week today!  Missing the fun and adventurers of the beautiful USA but looking forward to having some fun and adventures here in Oz!

Having no permanent home of our own at the moment gives us the freedom and  opportunity to do some travel and adventuring in our own homeland!  

We had a lovely stay with Jacque and Glenn in Brisbane, culminating in a great night out at the Lighthouse Restaurant on the shores of Moreton Bay. Delicious seafood meal!

Pete and I  at the Lighthouse Restaurant.

Jac and I shared a Seafood Platter - delicious!

Enjoying our dining with Jac and Glenn
Thanks for the great evening!

From Brisbane we headed south to the Gold Coast, to our old stamping grounds, picked up our cars and caught up with our good friends Di and Graham and met the two new additions to the family while we were away - grandson’s Liam and Lincoln, who were fortunately visiting Nanny and Poppy.

Lincoln, Lisa and Louis's son, having a joke with Nanny

Di and Lincoln enjoying a game

Lisa with Lincoln, and daughter-in-law Clare (Andrew's wife) and Liam

Liam snuggles with mum.

Thursday we headed up to Noosa and took over our new abode for the next few months - Luke and Amanda’s unit which we are house sitting! Love Noosa and its lifestyle!

Besides enjoying some sleep-ins, relaxing, reading and walking have been on the agenda!

Luke and Amanda are lucky enough to have the Noosa National Park on their doorstep, so we have been enjoying the Aussie bush, secluded  beaches and beautiful scenery the park trails have to offer.

Luke and Amanda's street with the National Park on their doorstep 

Noosa National Park and trails

Entering the Alexandria Bay track near Luke and Amanda's unit.
Great walking and sightseeing!

The trails wend their way through the beautiful Australian bush

Banksia trees with their golden brushes!

Black boys and Banksia abound

A huge Pandanus Tree

 Beautiful Alexandria Bay and Beach - only reachable by walking the National Park tracks.

The northern headland of Alexandria Bay

The south end of  Alexandria Beach and Lion Rock

Lion Rock

Walking the beach. Go Pete! I followed his tracks!

Surfs up!

Looking back along the beach before we climb up to the headland 

Alexandria Bay and Beach from the headland.
Glorious day!

Click to enlarge

Hell's Gate on the headland

Walking out on the headland before returning to Hasting's St, Noosa
via the Coastal Track

Hell's Gate and Alexandria Bay and Beach.
Stunning!

The wildlife
Click to enlarge

It is whale migration season but alas, no sightings today!

Walking the Coastal Track in the Noosa National Park

Beautiful vistas along the Coastal Track.
Picnic Cove and Winch Cove, Granite Bay

Lots of surfers enjoying the beautiful weather and waves!
Picnic Cove, with Dolphin Point in mid ground

Surfers at Dolphin Point, Tea Tree Bay

An Osprey keeping a keen eye on the water below -
a bit of fishing perhaps!

Tee Tree Bay

Looking across Tea Tree Bay to the Boiling Pot on the point.  

Surfers enjoy the Dolphin Point rides

Looking across Laguna Bay to the Hinterland

Laguna Bay and Noosa Beach

The boardwalk from the Coastal Track to Noosa Beach and Hastings Street 

Noosa Beach

It has been the Queen’s Birthday long weekend this weekend, so Noosa has been abuzz with visitors enjoying the beach, the river, restaurants and cafes and all the other great things Noosa and the Sunshine Coast has to offer. 

Leafy and trendy Hastings Street, Noosa Heads
The beach and boardwalk run behind popular Hasting Street

The traffic stops in Hastings Street for the Bush Turkey ( local residents here in Noosa!)
to cross the road

Popular cafe, Aromas, in Hastings Street

Strolling the Noosa Beach boardwalk

We enjoyed a Sunday lunch at  Elvis's Cafe (introduced to us by Luke and Amanda) and then a leisurely stroll along the riverbank path of the Noosa River, Noosaville. It was back to shorts and T-Shirt weather after a few days of cold-freezing winter weather where the fleecie trackie was required!

The Noosa River, Noosaville.

We’ll certainly be taking advantage of the area’s attractions and report on them, so stay tuned to our travel blog!