Home Again!

Mum and I had a fun and long trip home.  I was navigator

again; which meant we were going all the way out of our way to see one thing... but we ended up seeing other things along the way too.

First off, we wanted to see Mt Tibrogargan up in the Glass House Mountains National Park.  You can actually pull up at the side of the road and take a photo of the massive thing!  It looks like a crouching gorilla (or man, depending on your perspective); and it's an extinct volcanic mountain... and what a mountain!  We drove around the scenic route behind it before we found the road the led us to the front of him/it.  And Mum got some lovely shots of it.  But we had to be careful as there was a massive nest of angry green ants running around that the people before us had walked all over.

On the way there, we drove to Beerwah where had morning tea of the most delicious coffees in our lives!  My caffe Latte wasn't too hot and came in a large white mug and was just to die for!  And the Hedgehog they served was a little hard, but it was very morish.  Mum had a coffee where she was hoping to get more out of it; but felt it was too small.  This little town was lovely and quiet and looked like a piece of Rochedale South had been plucked up and placed in the middle of nowhere! 

On the way to Beerwah, we passed the Ettamogah Pub.  This place is very famous in this part of the world and I've never seen it until today.  So, when we happened to pass it, Mum pulled over and we both got photos of it.  What a pub... but it's more of a theme park now and not just a place to eat... with a ferris wheel and other attractions behind and around it.  Kind of takes away from the feel of the place if you ask me.

Also on the way to Beerwah was 'Australia Zoo'.  Mum has always wanted to go there; but I've never been interested.  I just never liked Steve Irwin or how he treated animals.  I know it's all about conservation and keeping animals safe; but it's how he did it that bothered me.  I felt as though he was teasing them all the time.

We found our way back onto the Bruce Highway and then finally onto the M1 and we started seeing familiar signs everywhere as we headed towards the Gateway Arterial and the New Gateway Bridge.  And what a bridge!  We noticed great differences as we drove over it compared to its sister bridge.  The massive high rails along the sides and the speed limit signs flashing at us are some of the things.  It's a great

bridge and I can't wait until they fix up the other one to get it working well enough that they both work together.

Now, Little Miss Stevie is home with me and I've gotten most of my gear unpacked, the washing sorted out for tomorrow and the cold goods in the fridge along with everything else in the cupboards, I'm ready to either have a nap or just chill out until dinnertime.  I'm not sure which yet.

And So... It's The Last Night

Since this morning, Mum and I have been doing a fair bit of stuff... only because the weather cleared and the sun came out; and so did everyone around Mooloolaba.  After we stuffed around on the net and on the camera, we thought to take a walk around on The Esplanade and take photos for 365 Project. 

Then,Mum got an sms from Aunty Narelle and Uncle Iain and they had arrived at Mudjimba Beach Caravan Park and the caravan was all up and ready for visitors.  So, we decided to have a quick lunch and go and see them.

Driving to Mudjimba was easier said than done.  What I saw in referdex was a lot different to what

was actually out there in front of us!  The road we took to go into Mudjimba took us in then took us straight out... which was really weird.  So, we stopped and looked at the map and found another way to the van park. And what a place!  There was so much space for the set-up of caravans, plenty of shade and it was very quiet (a far cry from the caravan park we frequent at Brunswick Heads, NSW) and it was full of Bush Turkeys!  Uncle Iain told me that there were about 30 or so of them.  We sat down and had some tea and talked about everything we had done since we arrived. Well, the time came when we had to go back to the hotel and we took off just as it began to rain.

Mum drove us along the coastal road to get us back to Mooloolaba.  Once back here at Mantra, we walked around the tourist strip, we thought to try to figure out what to have for dinner.  So, instead of eating out, Mum offered to make some pumpkin soup here in the room.  She did and we've just had our cup of tea and pieces of chocolate.  In the next few hours, we'll have our gear mostly packed and ready to go.

The next time you'll hear from me, I'll be back in Brisbane.  I hope you've enjoyed reading about our trip to Mooloolaba.  I'm looking forward to putting my photos onto photobucket.

Our Last Day in Paradise

Well... this is our last day here at Mooloolaba.  When I woke this morning, I looked outside and saw what the weather guy on the news told us was going to happen: a wet, cold, rainy day.  The best thing about this is that it's our first wet day of our holiday.  So, that's good!

Last night, we had another home-cooked stir-fry with prawns in it makde by me.  Mum loves what I cook and asked what else I cook for myself.  I told her about my home-made pumpkin, sweet potatoe and carrot soup with garlic... yummo!  And that there was a pasta and veggie bake I make that's delicious and Gabe makes it too from my recipe. 

While cleaning up, Mum thought to dry out some of the Corianda in the microwave; like she does at home in her own.  So, she put it between the pieces of paper and put it on the usual temperature.  Almost as soon as Mum turned her back, the whole lot in the machine caught fire!  Well!  Quickly, she opened the microwave and the stuff was still on fire!  From the lounge, all I could hear was her swearing... so I looked around and I could see something was on fire, but didn't know how bad it was.  Mum began laughing saying the microwave must be more powerful than she thought and put the rest of the corianda in the fridge.

Today, I think we'll be hanging around here, writing the last of our postcards, reading a little and then packing for tomorrow; as we need to be out of here by 10am.  

We've had a great time; and the weather's been on our side for a good amount of the time.  Even though we thought the room was quite small at first; it had been good.  And the views have been amazing!  We've taken photos of it every morning and enjoyed ourselves completely.  Even though the bedroom is very small, we've been able to adjust and acommodate each other and each other's habits; no matter how funny they are.  And the habits are funny really.

Today, my Aunt and Uncle from Brisbane are coming up to spend four days at the caravan park down near the water not far from where we're staying.  So, Mum and I might go and see them once they've settled in and once we've packed up a little.  It's going to be an unrushed day today of getting ready to leave here.  Such a pity we have to... but we can always come back.  After all, it's only a two-hour drive north of Brisbane.

We've had a wonderful week of traveling around and enjoying what the Sunshine Coast has to offer in the way of tourist attractions.  The Sunshine Motorway is the best way to travel around the place; but it also means you miss out on the big attractions of what this part of this state offers.  There's Mt Tibrogargan which is one of the extinct

volcanic mountains and I remember seeing it when I was younger and we treaveled around this part of Queensland.

Then, there's Eumundi and its massive markets!  OMG! Talk about huge!  Mum and I arrived there at around 11am, but still didn't get to more than a quarter of them!  So, I guess we'll have to see the other three quarters next time.  But we did see 'Cocoa

Chocolat' which is a place where all the chocolates are hand-made!  If you ever do visit Eumundi, visit the markets and find this shop!  You must taste these chocolates and meet the owner... I swear, they are the best I've ever eaten.

Yandina is lovely little town with a Ginger Factory in the centre of it and this factory has the biggest selection of ginger products around.  Their ice-cream is creamy and delicious as is their ginger beer.  I will drink no other ginger beer without thinking fondly of this one; and no other ice-cream will reach this quality that Yandina had reached.

We even visited 'The Spirit House' and took some lovely photos there.  What wonderful place that is!  A restaurant and cooking school hidden in amongst a forest of statues, water features and seated areas with umbrellas.  I'd love to eat there; if it wasn't so expensive.  Well, one day, when I can afford it, I will.Yes, Mum and I have had a wonderful time here at the Sunshine Coast; and still we didn't see anywhere near enought of the attractions that we'd normally see on a holiday.

Stickin' Around Base Camp

As much as we love travelling around the Sunshine Coast yesterday, Mum and I are very tired and we really need a day off; and so today is the day.  Last night's dinner went down so well that Mum has suggested that I do another stir-fry - this time I add in prawns instead of vegetarian bacon.

But today, I'm going to take you around the hotel room and parts of Mantra that you haven't seen.  It's a small set of rooms, but yet it's good.  This hotel is mainly used for

functions and meetings, so there's mirrors everywhere!  There's one in the bedroom - of course - and one in the living room and one in the bathroom too.  Then, once you're out in the area where the lifts are, there's a pretty decent-sized one there too!

And there's plenty of windows too; so plenty of natural light during the day. The bedroom has a full-length window next to the beds (which are very close together).  Then, there's one big one next to the kitchen, and a lovely big set of doors that look out to the beach and The Esplande.  It's wonderful!  I don't get to see the ocean very much; and just can't seem to stop photographing it!

Once you're out the door of the unit, there's a little corner

and then the lifts; but if you keep walking along and turn left, there's a corridor that runs along and curves around.  Along here is a large set of windows that look out over the back of the hotel and over the back of Mooloolaba.  It takes in the Glass House Mountains and surrounding areas!  What a gorgeous view it is!  It makes taking out the rubbish worthwhile... as this is the same corridor that you walk along to put your rubbish out.

When you want a coffee or something to eat, there's always a place to go.  Once downstairs, there's a lovely lot of restaurants along what's called the Tourist Strip.  It's got everything there you could possibly think of (but I've yet to find a bookstore... maybe I didn't look hard enough).  Anyway, Mum and I had a Bookcrossing meet up there on Tuesday, and the coffee was wonderful; as was the company.  

Well, today, seeing we're just lazying around the place, we're hoping to get in a coffee or a walk around The Esplanade.  Better yet, we might walk out to Point Cartright for a bit; sounds like a nice relaxing thing to do.  I might stick around here and catch up on my reading and postcard writing.

4:34pm:  As the day has passed us slowly by, the clouds have crowded Mooloolaba from all sides.  They came in over the ocean and from the mountains too bringing rain with them; however they were only light showers.
Even though we went out for lunch along the tourist strip at a bakery past Brisbane Street, the day didn't seem to improve; and we both forgot our cameras.  While at the bakery, a pigeon kept walking in and pooping all over the floor.  The lady behind the counter had to keep washing the floor down every so often keep the place tidy; and the pigeon kept on coming in searching for food and pooping everywhere.  It was so tame that we could corner it and walk closely behind it.  I noticed a tag on its leg; so I thought it may have been a homing pigeon; but I wasn't sure.  So, the lady and I got him out from behind the counter (which seemed to be his favourite place) and I picked him up gently.  Once in my hands, he didn't seem to struggle too much until we were outside.  Then, he flew off a short distance and turned around to begin walking back!  It was so funny to find him back under my feet this time when I went to get off my stool from lunch.

We walked all the way long the tourist strip nearly to the surf club and back.  On the way back, we stopped in to a book store and looked around; such a pity it was so tiny, yet very much full of the most up-to-date books around!  Then, we found this place that was full of Indian and Chinese things.  It was beautiful and the smell of incense hung in the air just a little bit.  There were leadlight lamps, jewellery, hair accessories, bags, bracelets of all kinds, keyrings of all kinds, bookmarks, hair sticks, paintings, fountains, notebooks, Tibetian Singing Bells of all sizes (even one that was massive and cost $395!) and there were little perfume bottles and other beads and necklaces,

statuettes made of jade and quartz ... oh!  So, much was in this little shop and we wished we had the money to buy a lot of the lovely stuff in it.
But I wasn't feeling all that great... actually haven't been feeling good all day... so I was eager to get back to the hotel.  Mum wanted to walk around the place and it was looking like it was going to rain again soon.  It still does.  Now, I'm back here at the hotel and Mum's out at the bank and getting some prawns for tonight.  So, there was our day of hanging out here... I'm hoping I feel better tomorrow.

Our Wednesday Out And About.

Well, Mum and I went out today; but first, we slept in a little because last night was late.  We got to bed at around midnight.  But otherwise, we got away from the hotel at around 10am and onto the wrong highway to Eumundi... yep, we were on the Sunshine Motorway instead of the Bruce Highway.  Silly us.  But we found our way through one of the back roads to the Bruce and was back on our way to the right place; and arrived there at around 11am.

Well, the Eumundi Markets were massive!  They are situated in one of the main parks on the main road; and it just keeps going and going.  Then, they've got new parts that have crossed the road which we didn't get to see.  We didn't even get through a quarter of any of it; so I think the next time we're up this way, we'll be definitely coming back to it to see the rest of it.  At around 1pm, after purchasing some small things (it's not as cheap as you'd expect), Mum and I headed towards a place that was recommended by one of the stall owners called Eumundi Delight.  But Mum bought some pepper first; and I tried out a Spanish Donut made by a Frenchman (and I had my first French conversation.  He was very nice about how little French I knew; and flattered I knew a little and tried to speak it.  He even said that he loves the way English-speaking people have their own accent when they speak his language... it's a particular type of accent and he loves it).  
After a lunch of a Vegetarian

Turkish Toastie, Mum and I took a wander around Eumundi, went to an art shop with the most wonderful paintings where the artist was inspired by Dali and then we walked to the Chocolate Shop. The lady who owns this place hand makes all her chocolate and has worked hard on her shop... and tonight we just ate the most delicious chili chocolate truffles.  They were wonderful, with just enough chili in them that it tingled - not burnt our tongues. 

By this time, it was around 2pm or so and we headed off to Yandina to visit the Ginger Factory.  But we missed the turn off and drove to the next one at Nambour, turned around and came back!  It was hilarious as we had to go through two round-a-bouts and then keep an eye out for the Yandina turn off. 

The Ginger Factory was lovely - if you ignore the
odour of sewage that wafted through once in a while!  We jumped on the train that went around the place and learnt about the place and history of where

its fame came from.  Then, we bought some famous ginger products and some other things that I'm going to send to a Bookcrosser in America who's won my Surprise Parcel.  Then, I bought a Ginger Beer... and believe me, it's the best one I've ever drunk in my life!  And Mum bought some Ginger ice-cream which didn't have any weird effects on either of us (no stomach cramps, no weird feeling or beginnings of ulcers on our tongues this afternoon.  These are the main reasons why we don't eat ice-creams; but with this ice-cream this afternoon, it was wonderful!).

We wanted to see if the macadamia place was open across the road, but it wasn't; it was only 4pm!  Anyway, Mum drove me to 'The Spirit House' - which

was only about 5minutes drive away (and my brother was going to soon to learn a cooking technique) and we took so many photos!  The place was fantastically beautiful and relaxing!  

On the way home, Mum drove us to
Coolum Beach, which was the first European settlement in 1871 (there was
a sign just before you drive into it).  We drove through

to the beach and up to Perry Point where we watched the surf roll in and found the sky had turned a lovely pink-violet colour.  The lights were reflecting off the

water and the wind was cold as it came onshore.  But the photos we took was worthwhile.

We took off from there and were back onto the Sunshine Coast Motorway before long; then back to Mooloolaba.  Tonight, I made my famous vegetarian stirfry for Mum and she loved it!  I'll make it for my whole family one day.  Well... it was a long day; but we've both had fun and will definitely sleep well tonight.

Bookcrossing Meet Up

Well, this morning was a lovely surprise of warmth and sun; as last night was quite chilly and when the sun went down, the skies had scudded over with cloud.  I was up early and showered before breakfast readying myself to meet up with some Bookcrossers in the foyar of the Mantra hotel.  Mum was eager to meet them as well; and we were there on time with our books and cameras.

We ended up at a bakery-cross-cafe on the Espanade and spent a few good hours chatting and swapping books with each other; and I gotta say, there was a great selection between us all!  I chose a couple of Nicholas Sparks books and one book on The Big Bang Theory put into simpler terms for anyone who doesn't have a physics degree to understand and who really does want to.  Then, I picked up a John Irving one too and another of short stories.  Mum picked up two books she's interested in as well.

After we parted ways, Mum and I had to find a post office to send off some postcards and found the closest one was quite a walk away; down to Brisbane street and along it a bit.  And if that was a bit of a hike, we had to quickly get back to our hotel room to use a loo; as any toilet we wanted to use was either being fixed, cleaned or was a customers only place where you needed a card or key. Pretty useless if you need a toilet and you haven't been using a cafe or restaurant's facilities; and the 'Loo With A View' is out of order (like it was today for us; it was being fixed up).

I photographed some very cool outsider art of a control box and a glass ceiling with a very cool pattern on that covers the whole Esplanade footpath.  Very pretty once the sun hits it; as it leaves patterns on the ground.  However, I found no statues anywhere that were classed as outsider art here.  It's a very upper-class area; and very much made for the tourists in mind.  I do enjoy the fun of being the tourist and today has been fun; however I did find it hard to get to sleep last night until all the lights were turned off.  

Tonight, we are going out to my Aunt and Uncle's house to have dinner at Pelican Waters.  It ought to be lovely.  I'm looking forward to it.  Then, tomorrow, we're hoping to go to the Eumundi Markets where I'll probaby pick up something small for myself as a reminder of my trip.

Mooloolaba!

At last we're here!  Yep, Mum and I made it to Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland.  Yesterday was an amazingly sunny day for travel, but it didn't start out that way.

I had my bag packed the night before and had to only put in the last bit and pieces.  Then, what I had to do was look for my phone charger; well, that was something I didn't want to panic about but I ended up doing.  So there was I was in my living room yesterday morning pulling apart my carefully packed 'Hawks' bag looking for a plug... silly really.  I decided to pull open one of my curtains and when I did, the whole curtain came off the rod!  I swore and got the ladder and tried to get it back on.  When it didn't work, I tossed it up onto the rod and the whole lot - rod and all - fell down!  All I could do was burst into tears!  So, when Mum came to pick me up, we had to use a sheet and let Dad to know to come and fix the curtain.  

The drive up was really good.  There were no traffic jams or accidents.  And being a new highway, we by-passed Mt Timbrogagan (which looks like a massive crouching gorilla to me; and it covered in trees and moss).  The old road used to go straight past it.  I missed seeing it as it used to be a part of the experience of being up in this part of the Sunshine Coast.  Mum said we might come back down the old way and see it on the way home.  

We had lunch at my Aunty Marge and Uncle Terry's house at Pelican Waters before coming to Mantra here at Mooloolaba.  They had a gorgeous Siamese cat called Missy who loved sooking up to everyone around her.  And she's being minded by them.  Actually, Missy is their day cat.  The neighbour owns her; but she hangs out at their house for the day and goes home at night.  They've lived up this way for around a decade now and love it.  

The Mantra is a lovely hotel with a big spa in the bathroom, fantastic views of the beach and up the coast and the hotel has lovely shops, an indoor pool, gym and secure parking (our car is locked in with a big secury gate).  Then, to get into the hotel and rooms, we have to use our room key to go up and down the lifts too.  The hotel is just lovely; and we will come back sometime in the future.

Today, we're meeting up with some Bookcrossers here at Mooloolaba.  Then tomorrow, we're hoping to go to the Eumundi Markets... how wonderful would that will be!