About a week after we got back from discovering Hervey Bay in all its wonder, it was time to disappear again for another week. It was a week full of beaches and scenery, that is the stuff of novels (and travel agent TV adverts).
We took off up North of Brisbane to the wonder of the Sunshine Coast. I was told that Noosa was one of the most amazing places to visit from a couple of people, so we started our week off there before heading further South.
We took off up North of Brisbane to the wonder of the Sunshine Coast. I was told that Noosa was one of the most amazing places to visit from a couple of people, so we started our week off there before heading further South.
Everyone was right about Noosa; when we got there I was blown away with the view of the water with the mountains behind. Our hostel did leave something to be desired, sharing with fourteen other people. Also being a beach town and having a sand volleyball court in the hostel itself, the floor was always covered with sand. It's times like that I'm thankful for cheap flip flops to wear around everywhere.
Hostel aside though, the main area of Noosa is gorgeous. Going up and over a hill to get down to the beach, you find Hastings street which is the main shopping and dining area and the pathway leading you to the Noosa National Park. We spent our first day just laying around at the beach for a while, which turned out to be the biggest mistake of the holiday. Unfortunately my brother seems to always burn, even with sunscreen he is just not lucky in sun. That was also the last day we spent on a beach that week due to his painful new lobster appearance. There wasn't much in the way of dining out that was within our cheap backpacking budget, however there was Betty's Burgers. This diner originated in Noosa but can now be found in bigger cities, like down in Melbourne and the Gold Coast - so naturally I've had it more than once now.
They only have one vegetarian burger so I didn't really have the option, but after trying it I don't mind at all. The 'shroom burger is possibly the best vegetarian burger I've ever had. The mushrooms were breaded and so crispy and with the addition of the Gouda and Gruyere cheese, it helped give that extra flavour that you just don't get from basic cheddar. Betty's Burgers also have something called concrete, which was why my brother originally wanted to try it. Although this was nice, I don't think it was worth the money. Concrete is vanilla or chocolate custard ice cream with different toppings that come preset or you can choose to make your own. The ice cream, although nice, isn't out of this world and the toppings and portion size for the price didn't really wow me or my brother. I will happily be back again ad again for some more of the burgers and amazing onion rings though!
Hostel aside though, the main area of Noosa is gorgeous. Going up and over a hill to get down to the beach, you find Hastings street which is the main shopping and dining area and the pathway leading you to the Noosa National Park. We spent our first day just laying around at the beach for a while, which turned out to be the biggest mistake of the holiday. Unfortunately my brother seems to always burn, even with sunscreen he is just not lucky in sun. That was also the last day we spent on a beach that week due to his painful new lobster appearance. There wasn't much in the way of dining out that was within our cheap backpacking budget, however there was Betty's Burgers. This diner originated in Noosa but can now be found in bigger cities, like down in Melbourne and the Gold Coast - so naturally I've had it more than once now.
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| Noosa Beach |
They only have one vegetarian burger so I didn't really have the option, but after trying it I don't mind at all. The 'shroom burger is possibly the best vegetarian burger I've ever had. The mushrooms were breaded and so crispy and with the addition of the Gouda and Gruyere cheese, it helped give that extra flavour that you just don't get from basic cheddar. Betty's Burgers also have something called concrete, which was why my brother originally wanted to try it. Although this was nice, I don't think it was worth the money. Concrete is vanilla or chocolate custard ice cream with different toppings that come preset or you can choose to make your own. The ice cream, although nice, isn't out of this world and the toppings and portion size for the price didn't really wow me or my brother. I will happily be back again ad again for some more of the burgers and amazing onion rings though!
Noosa National Park is definitely somewhere you want to visit if you're up on the Sunshine Coast. There are about five different trails that you can take to walk around with different difficulty levels. Some of them only take about thirty minutes to an hour and stay in the shade of the trees, whilst others can take closer to five hours and will be in the blazing sun. Naturally we went for the five hours in the blazing sun, because the day on the beach wasn't already torture enough for my brother. The start of the path was pretty easy as it was just a concrete path that followed along the cliff side leading down to loads of different areas of the beach. It was very popular with surfers all the way along. After about halfway the path changed to more of a dirt and sand path, before leading you out to Alexandria Bay
I've never seen such a deserted area of beautiful sand and waves before. There were a couple of people hanging out on the Bay, but with how out of the way it is, not many people walked all the way there just to lay around. After walking the length of the bay, you head back up on to another rock and sand path that was pretty steep and I was dying a little. The thing about this walk was that it was about thirty degrees and there's no where to get water along the way. Of course I had my own but it was limited and it was also rather hot, which isn't all that refreshing.
After making it up and over the hill after the bay, we were greeted with an astounding view of Sunshine Beach; can't go all the way to Sunshine Coast and not visit Sunshine Beach.
I've never seen such a deserted area of beautiful sand and waves before. There were a couple of people hanging out on the Bay, but with how out of the way it is, not many people walked all the way there just to lay around. After walking the length of the bay, you head back up on to another rock and sand path that was pretty steep and I was dying a little. The thing about this walk was that it was about thirty degrees and there's no where to get water along the way. Of course I had my own but it was limited and it was also rather hot, which isn't all that refreshing.
After making it up and over the hill after the bay, we were greeted with an astounding view of Sunshine Beach; can't go all the way to Sunshine Coast and not visit Sunshine Beach.
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| Sunshine Beach |
Over all the trek was about ten kilometres so we only really did that one and the small half hour walk through the woods, before giving up for the day and getting Ben and Jerry's ice cream for the first time some coming to Australia five months ago.
After our four days in Noosa, we headed slightly further south to Mooloolaba. We decided whilst we were in Mooloolaba that we could head to Australia Zoo for the day, to save on the bus fare of getting there from Brisbane. (I'll tell you all about Australia Zoo and our day at Sealife Aquarium in another post though).
Mooloolaba again had one of the most gorgeous beaches I've ever seen. Every day we went for a walk along this beach and I loved watching people surfing or trying to hold on for dear life to a rubber ring behind a jet ski. At the far end of the beach, there was also a little pier with loads of rocks on the end. It was a great place to sit and watch the sun setting behind all the resorts that lined the beach. Mooloolaba is quite strange in the fact that it's very secluded. The esplanade area around the beach is cut off from the rest of the town because of different water ways. This meant if you wanted to go somewhere that looked not that far away, because of the small lakes or rivers dividing the area, you had to take a fifty minute round trip to get there. Overall though I was quite happy to stay in my little beach bubble for the couple of days we had.
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Mooloolaba again had one of the most gorgeous beaches I've ever seen. Every day we went for a walk along this beach and I loved watching people surfing or trying to hold on for dear life to a rubber ring behind a jet ski. At the far end of the beach, there was also a little pier with loads of rocks on the end. It was a great place to sit and watch the sun setting behind all the resorts that lined the beach. Mooloolaba is quite strange in the fact that it's very secluded. The esplanade area around the beach is cut off from the rest of the town because of different water ways. This meant if you wanted to go somewhere that looked not that far away, because of the small lakes or rivers dividing the area, you had to take a fifty minute round trip to get there. Overall though I was quite happy to stay in my little beach bubble for the couple of days we had.
It did help that our hostel was only a four bed, rather than the sixteen we had in Noosa. There was no sand all over the floor of the dorm this time either, however there was a giant cockroach in the shower. Between giant spiders, moths and small lizards finding their way in to my flat though, it's not something I'm as squeamish about as when I first got here.
Because the esplanade was quite secluded from the rest of the town, it was pretty peaceful with not a lot of traffic or business people going about their day. You could tell that a lot of people were more tourists or from close by which was nice. The Esplanade has a long row of places to eat as well, so you're never really short of choice for dinner each night.
Because the esplanade was quite secluded from the rest of the town, it was pretty peaceful with not a lot of traffic or business people going about their day. You could tell that a lot of people were more tourists or from close by which was nice. The Esplanade has a long row of places to eat as well, so you're never really short of choice for dinner each night.
The Sunshine Coast was well worth the trip up for a week and has the most wonderful scenery I think I've ever had the pleasure to see.
It was my last trip away before packing up my flat to leave Brisbane for good, after five months making it my temporary home. I'm also really glad we went when we did before the heatwave started, because I've been enjoying not having to leave the comfort of my air conditioning for too long. I can handle the twenty five degree temperatures easy and for most of the day I could also handle the thirty degrees. When it starts consistently going above that though and rarely dropping below mid twenties at night, that's when I have a problem with not being able to function.
It was my last trip away before packing up my flat to leave Brisbane for good, after five months making it my temporary home. I'm also really glad we went when we did before the heatwave started, because I've been enjoying not having to leave the comfort of my air conditioning for too long. I can handle the twenty five degree temperatures easy and for most of the day I could also handle the thirty degrees. When it starts consistently going above that though and rarely dropping below mid twenties at night, that's when I have a problem with not being able to function.
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