5 x 7 Sunshine Coast Capers

So we arrived at the Sunshine Coast after a night at the Tooloogawah Showgrounds, four days ago. It was an easy drive of 126 km via a coffee break in Peachester, so we were set up at the Alex Beach Caravan Park in time for some lunch. Then we walked along the foreshore and had a bit of a look around before having a swim in the pool back at the caravan park.

Our first full day saw us driving south to Point Cartwright which is north of Caloundra. We enjoyed a walk around the point, admiring the murals painted on the otherwise ugly water tank.  Next to the otherwise ugly water tank was a modern lighthouse minus any murals. Minus the character of the old lighthouses too. There were nice views along the coast in both directions. Reminiscent of being back at home we next spent some time getting lost in a shopping mall, picking up some essential groceries and supplies.The kids enjoyed 'hunting' the bush turkeys.

On our second full day on the Sunshine Coast, we decided on a trip up into the hinterland. We had picked up a brochure for the Maleny Botanic Gardens and Bird World.  It looked pretty good. Now this was a lot better than a crowded shopping mall! We got a family photo with us covered in a range of colourful birds.

We spent about an hour inside 4 large aviaries with a guide, telling us all about the different bird residents. In some, the birds freely landed on shoulders, arms and even heads. The macaws in particular were friendly although somewhat heavy! It was a great hour and went very quickly. Many of the birds here are from deceased estates, are injured or sick or generally unwanted… ie sometimes ‘donated’… which sounds so much nicer than dumped.  One character was 80 year old Harry, a cockatoo who outlived its 'owner' and now thinks it can get away with whatever it wants to here... I guess at 80, who could begrudge it?

We enjoyed walking around the botanic gardens part of the property as well, with plenty of subtropical plants and flowers to admire. It was all set on the side of a hill with amazing views of the surrounding landscape including some of the dramatic peaks of the Glass House Mountains.

On the way back to Alex Beach we stopped at McCarthy’s Lookout and at Mary Cairncross Reserve. Both stops were to find geocaches. Mary Cairncross proved to be a great surprise. The forest walk was simply amazing! The trees, big variety, some huge some small, strangler figs with flying buttress root systems, branches entwined around anything nearby that they could entwine themselves with. The forest was so dense that very little sunlight hit the floor. Ferns and other shade loving plants abounded. We glimpsed several cute little pademelons (like miniature wallabys) in the scrub, some just a metre or two away.

At one point we heard some loud noise that we thought was a crying toddler… it turns out it was not a crying toddler – it was a Green Cat Bird… a bird that sounds remarkably like a crying baby, or I guess a screeching cat, given its name.  There was another unusual bird call in reply which I believe was a Wompoo Fruit Dove. If that makes me sound like a well educated bird fancier, then stop reading now, go away and dwell on that thought.

If you did not walk away, then I need to confess that I know nothing of cat birds or wompoos, but the information board and sound effect buttons in the visitor centre are very useful.

The following day it was Saturday and we made a rookie mistake. We decided to drive nearly 50 kms to Noosa Heads. Rookie mistake because apparently everybody goes there on a Saturday. This meant we spent about 30 minutes driving around looking for a parking spot. All we wanted to do was to go for a walk in the national park. Instead we had to park at the bottom end of Hastings Street and walk to the national park which by this stage was 2 km’s away!

The walk helped with the frustrations… although it seemed that lots of the people in town were not just interested in being seen in the fancy cafes and boutique shops, they also wanted to walk around the national park. Surfers ran past us on the tracks, boards under their arms, obviously worried about missing that great wave…

The views were amazing, the waters a beautiful colour. We admired Hells Gates where the wind whipped in from the ocean. Little action down the bottom of the cliffs, no big waves crashing through the gates as we’ve seen on previous visits. Over onto the beach, the kids played awhile before we walked back to town, past the many people happy to be seen people watching in the cafes of Hastings St - all the tables face out to the road so passer-bys can admire the happy patrons.

Alex Head seemed like a quiet back water compared to Noosa, but in all honesty the whole coast is a series of busy towns all merging into a mega city, much like the Gold Coast. There are freeways everywhere and a lot of more freeway works happening. And the large over sized roundabouts, some with forests the size of small national parks in the middle... don't get me started on those!  It’ll be nice to get back out into the quiet country areas again. 

This morning the alarm was set so that some of the family - those who wanted to be out of bed before 6am could walk over to the beach and admire this beautiful sunrise... I think I did well to arrange someone to sail their boat into the shot as it really makes it!

We decided to visit Buderim Ginger to celebrate Father’s Day.  We bought the whole works pass. This allowed us to go on the factory tour and learn all about the world’s finest ginger which is grown and processed here. A highlight of this tour was the tastings at the end, with an assortment of sweet and savoury snacks on offer.

We then got to see a live bee talk – the bee lady was very informative, then she suited up and behind a flyscreen showed us a hive or two and explained some more about bees. At the end of this tour we also got to taste test a range of honeys.

Modelled on Disneyland’s ‘It’s a Small World’, we took to a small floating boat for a slow trip around the world following the hunting down of a ginger bread man by a couple of chefs.

We rode the historic train ‘Moreton’ around the property which included the tropical gardens and working areas of the ginger processing plant.

Finally, we had some lunch which included a beefburger complete with caramelised onion and ginger sauce which really was delicious. I tried a ginger and rum drink – which I wasn’t sure I’d like as I’ve never been a fan of ginger beer – but is was delicious.

Later in the afternoon, continuing the Father’s Day celebrations we went to the beach at Alex Head. The kids frolicked in the water, the parents got their feet wet! A quick dip in the pool back at the caravan park followed soon after.

After dark – the only thing we needed for dinner was some Cold Rock Ice cream – a Father’s Day request by the father of the family. That meant a nice evening walk as it was not too far away. Enjoyed the beach and coastal scenery by the light of a slither of a moon…. And plenty of electricity.

It really was a gastronomic treat of a day… it started with pancakes, maple syrup, banana and melted chocolate and continued on with the ginger tasting plate, then the beefburger lunch… so no wonder by dinner nobody was hungry… so it was just the ice cream!

Tomorrow we begin the journey back inland – this being the only time we bump into the coast on this adventure.