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DonnaJimTravels
Yahoo, warm weather!!!
Our week in Australia was just what it needed to be…a quick visit of Brisbane city and 5 quiet days on the Sunshine Coast just outside Noosa in our own little oasis – a self-contained studio apartment in a quiet and simple resort with a pool all situated conveniently across from a quaint marina.
Although Internet was elusive, we caught up on contacts (blog postings, phone calls, letters), read a book and explored the area in between days of rest.
The Australia Zoo – Steve Irwin and his family's work - was a full day excursion filled with encounters with Koala bears (a marsupial not a bear – a fact I had forgotten since school days) and kangaroos. We actually got to pat them! We saw the huge crocs that Steve was so famous for saving as well as the new Africa section which is still in development – a good primer for the Africa leg of our trip later in 2013.
The local marina was a nice spot for morning coffee and sporadic Wifi, restaurants and a little browsing about the art gallery and shops. One evening at 10:30pm when we were hanging outside the closed café trying unsuccessfully to pick up a signal in order to receive an important email, the kind Canadian owner and her husband took us under their wing and connected us up through their cell phone. Nice.
After 5 weeks of quasi communal living in New Zealand, it was such a treat to have our own space. We even got to watch my favourite seasonal movie Love Actually while sitting in bed drinking wine and munching on cookies. It’s really comforting to connect with an old habit from home even if it's not all that healthy. Oh well.
A 4 km walk to Hastings Street along the Noosa River parks exposed us to the important Australian summer pastime of the 'barby’ in the park. Families, work groups and friends gather together to eat and drink (alcohol is permitted as long as it is accompanied by a ‘substantial meal’) in celebration of the holiday season, school vacation, or just because using the city-provided barbeques. We arrived at what one might think of as the typical Australian scene at the Noosa Main Beach, filling our day with sights, swimming and surf. And a few darned blisters - from walking not surfing.
On our last day we rented a car and visited the Gold Coast taking in a Tap Dogs show and dinner. These testosterone-filled ‘construction site’ tap dancers were as entertaining as the show was loud creating some havoc on my head but still very enjoyable. We played on Broad Beach and roamed Surfer’s Paradise’s night market and energetic night scene till we had to catch our 2:45am flight to Singapore.
Although Australia isn’t our favourite place to visit as it feels so much like the US and we prefer countries where there is more cultural difference from our daily life, we certainly enjoyed this week in the friendly, beautiful east coast.
Now we move into our beloved part of the world – South East Asia!
Our week in Australia was just what it needed to be…a quick visit of Brisbane city and 5 quiet days on the Sunshine Coast just outside Noosa in our own little oasis – a self-contained studio apartment in a quiet and simple resort with a pool all situated conveniently across from a quaint marina.
Although Internet was elusive, we caught up on contacts (blog postings, phone calls, letters), read a book and explored the area in between days of rest.
The Australia Zoo – Steve Irwin and his family's work - was a full day excursion filled with encounters with Koala bears (a marsupial not a bear – a fact I had forgotten since school days) and kangaroos. We actually got to pat them! We saw the huge crocs that Steve was so famous for saving as well as the new Africa section which is still in development – a good primer for the Africa leg of our trip later in 2013.
The local marina was a nice spot for morning coffee and sporadic Wifi, restaurants and a little browsing about the art gallery and shops. One evening at 10:30pm when we were hanging outside the closed café trying unsuccessfully to pick up a signal in order to receive an important email, the kind Canadian owner and her husband took us under their wing and connected us up through their cell phone. Nice.
After 5 weeks of quasi communal living in New Zealand, it was such a treat to have our own space. We even got to watch my favourite seasonal movie Love Actually while sitting in bed drinking wine and munching on cookies. It’s really comforting to connect with an old habit from home even if it's not all that healthy. Oh well.
A 4 km walk to Hastings Street along the Noosa River parks exposed us to the important Australian summer pastime of the 'barby’ in the park. Families, work groups and friends gather together to eat and drink (alcohol is permitted as long as it is accompanied by a ‘substantial meal’) in celebration of the holiday season, school vacation, or just because using the city-provided barbeques. We arrived at what one might think of as the typical Australian scene at the Noosa Main Beach, filling our day with sights, swimming and surf. And a few darned blisters - from walking not surfing.
On our last day we rented a car and visited the Gold Coast taking in a Tap Dogs show and dinner. These testosterone-filled ‘construction site’ tap dancers were as entertaining as the show was loud creating some havoc on my head but still very enjoyable. We played on Broad Beach and roamed Surfer’s Paradise’s night market and energetic night scene till we had to catch our 2:45am flight to Singapore.
Although Australia isn’t our favourite place to visit as it feels so much like the US and we prefer countries where there is more cultural difference from our daily life, we certainly enjoyed this week in the friendly, beautiful east coast.
Now we move into our beloved part of the world – South East Asia!
- comments
Todd my heart is soaring...
Susan MacLeod Amazing photo!