Noosa Here We Come!

Today's blog brought to you by guest journo Bruce The Masseuse (sic) Johnston

It was with heavy hearts we bid farewell to Jon, Janine and their family after such a wonderful stay in Bris-vegas. 

Their hospitality was awesome and it was wonderful to spend some time with an old mate from Army days.  The Army seems to bond people in such a way that time and distance does not weather.  But the most distinctive change we noticed in Jon was that he has faster cars.  Much faster.  The drive up the highway today was a bit numbing after the thrill of driving in Jon's Tesla yeserday, the fastest street registered car in the world.  0 to 100kmh in under 4 seconds and a center of gravity 9 inches above ground level .  I felt like I was in the movie Tron zooming 'round the streets of Brisbane!  So, as good as the 'Santy' is, there is certainly no comparison.  Well, not with the caravan latched on the back end anyway...

So after our farewell hugs and kisses and getting the van safely out the back gate without destroying anything we headed north, once again, towards Noosa.

 

A mandatory stop at the Ettamogah Pub, now called The Aussie World Pub after the original magazine owners of the Pub sued over the rights to the name.  But their cold coffee and a bunch of bikies smoking cigarettes next to us had us back on the road rather quickly.

 

 

Noosa was manic with traffic and people, and with all caravan parks and campgrounds fully booked.  The Visitors Information Center pointed us in the direction of Cooroy, in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, about a 20 km drive west of Noosa.  Here we found a terrific little 'RV' park hidden in a small valley where there was just the one powered site left, so we grabbed it.

The 'powered' site has become a mandatory requirement for us given the unusually low overnight temperatures we have encountered and the inability of some of our family members to sustain sufficient body temperature overnight in order to maintain a reliable heart-beat.  The alternative of simply using a portable defibrillator each morning instead of heating the van was voted out.  So 'powered' it is with the air conditioner set to STINKIN' HOT.

Once we were set up and had our little home organised we took a short trip into Noosa for a walk along the famous Hastings St shopping precinct with its cosmopolitan cafes, alfresco dining, ice-creameries, bakeries, high end designer wear and funky gift shops.

At the end of Hastings Beach we took off our shoes to talk along Main Beach - one of the few northern facing beaches in Australia.

 

Here you will see an excellent example of photo sabotage!  Regardless, it was a very pleasant late afternoon stroll and we got to see some pretty cool sand art.

 

There were heaps of people out and about and we enjoyed the terrific vista along the white, sandy beach with the Noosa Headlands as the backdrop.

The following conversation occurred just prior to dinner, when Bruce was setting up the satellite dish

Jack:       "Why is Dad setting up the satellite dish if we have power?"
Andrea:   "The satellite dish doesn't provide power, it provides a signal."
Jarrah:    "But the sun's not shining."
 
Tomorrow's home schooling lesson - (a) purpose of a satellite dish
                                                          - (b) purpose of a solar panel

Poor little Fletch didn't quite make it to dinner.  His tank ran out in the car on the drive home so he was transferred straight to bed, shoes and all.  Jack and Jarrah quickly scoffed down some pasta and an ice cream spider for dinner while I caught the tail end of the Wallabies' devastating loss to the 'Awl Blicks' on the telly. 

And so ends another day on our wonderful johnstonstouraus, snug in our little home away from home. Comfortable, fat, happy AND warm.