Sunny Coast break

We set out last Thursday, heading north in search of some sunny beaches and warmer temperatures than winter Canberra. We had our usual overnight stop at Park Beach (Coffs Harbour) along the way, arriving at beautiful Kirra Beach, just across the border in Queensland, in time for an early lunch at our old fave "Cotton Living", just opposite the beach.

It was a slow trip from there to the Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane - heavy traffic all the way and lots of hold ups where lanes were merging. It was around 3.00pm before we got to destination Mooloolaba. This is the view from our 9th floor room at Mantra Mooloolaba Beach!

We didn't take too long before setting out for a walk, heading north along the beachfront, to stretch out the long drive stressors.

........ as far as Alexandra Headlands ..........

Saturday morning dawned cloudy, but with some patches of blue sky. We decided to set out walking south towards Point Cartwright and the mouth of the Mooloolah River.

Closer to the river entrance there is a very gentle protected area of beach for kayaks and canoes.

The end of the Mooloolaba Spit.

We walked quite a way around the harbour area, stopping for a coffee on the river and checking out the best seafood suppliers (Rockliff!!). Mooloolaba Beach looked quite inviting on the way back to the hotel.

We walked back to Rockliff later in the afternoon and picked up some locally caught Pacific Oceans prawns for our dinner. Superb! - and well deserved after clocking up at least 10klm of walking today!

We woke early this morning - there was a lot going on outside. I took this picture from our balcony at about 6.00am. The Sunshine Coast Marathon had started and there were crowds of runners on the streets below.

We set out walking ourselves an hour or so later - up towards the start of the race alongside Alexandra Headlands

The crowds were intense around the start and finish lines - not surprising with over 5,000 runners. There was a great vibe on the streets this morning with so many serious runners but plenty of not so serious runners too doing the 20k, 10k and 5k versions of the race, alongside the marathon runners. The positive Aussie spirit around the Paris Olympics contributed to the vibe today too I'm sure.

We eventually walked as far as Maroochydore, and Cotton Tree, bordering the Maroochy River.

Our coffee stop this morning was at The Silva Spoon on the Esplanade at Cotton Tree. The coffee was great, the pastries were superb and we had a front row seat to watch all the runners working hard outside.

We had a bit of a paddle on the way home - water cool but perfectly refreshing!

This afternoon Rob drove me up to Coolum Beach which we both remember fondly from family holidays in the late 1950s and 1960s. Of course it's changed a lot since those times.

But that beach hasn't changed at all ............. 

Looking towards Point Arkwright .......

We set out for a nostalgic walk around Coolum Beach, but a rainstorm came over and we got semi soaked before making it back to the car. We ended up driving down our Greenoaks Drive. All the original beach shacks (60-70 year old by now) were still standing but our family's looked the saddest of them all today.

The old remaining shacks were surrounded by much more substantial looking houses and quite a few luxury villas further up the street - such a contrast! I'm glad Mum and Dad won't ever see what their little holiday house has become.

We made it back toMooloolaba in time to order more wonderful seafood from Rockliff. The cooking and dining facilities are very limited in our unit - but we produced a stunning meal tonight with these superlative ingredients.