Today is our last day at Cotton Tree, Maroochydore. We’ve delayed our departure several times, and looking at the weather forecast we would love to stay here longer, but sadly all good things must come to an end and it is time to head home to Melbourne. We won’t exactly be rushing though, and hope to explore new territory and have some new adventures along the way.
Needless to say we have been having a great time. The weather has been almost perfect most days with a few cold mornings and only a couple of nights of rain. Did I say we’d love to stay here a bit longer?
One of my big adventures earlier this month was to visit the annual Ford Performance Car show held at the local Ford dealer. There was a huge turnout with a great combination of classic Fords and newer FPV Falcons and several examples of the new Mustang. The oldest Australian Ford on display was a 1965 XM Falcon and there was an example of every model of Falcon since then (only missing the earlier XK and XL models to have a complete set)!
1965 Ford Falcons at the Performance Car Show
Ford Muscle Cars at the Performance Car Show
New RHD Ford Mustang – fully optioned
If you’re interested in seeing more photos from the Ford Performance Car Show please click here to visit my Classic Car Photography website.
We seem to be very much in fun season and last weekend many roads in the Maroochydore and surrounding areas were closed for a huge fun run and we enjoyed a front row seat sitting back with our coffee while young and old huffed and puffed past.
Last Sunday night we enjoyed a larger than usual happy hour gathering to say farewell to Mr and Mrs Downunda who set off home very early on Monday morning.
As is our habit, we have done a lot of walking around Cotton Tree and Maroochydore. In fact we have probably explored more of the local area on foot than we ever did on any of our previous visits. We have found some very interesting retail outlets and an amazing range of cafes and restaurants (yes – we love our coffee but we try to do at least 10,000 steps each day to compensate).
Still, it is a bit difficult to go everywhere on foot or by public transport so we went back to Budget to hire a car and again we were upgraded to the very nice Nissan X-Trail. We had been accumulating a list of shops and other places to visit so with our list, map and GPS in hand we set off.
Last Tuesday we had lunch at the Buderim Tavern. We’ve been there before and the mountain goat like scramble up from the lower carpark is definitely worth the effort with delicious meals and views to die for. Buderim is quite high, in Queensland terms, and a bit hilly, but we enjoyed a good walk around town and a nice coffee at Café Buderim. On the way back home we made a couple of stops including a very interesting camping shop before arriving home just in time for happy hour.
The weather for the following day looked very threatening but never-the-less we headed north to Eumundi to visit the markets. We had a good walk around the older and newer halves of the market but there were a few vacant sites where stallholders could perhaps read the weather better than we could. Prior experience had shown that the weather gets hot and humid before storms, and that was how it was on Wednesday. After a delicious lunch at the air-conditioned Fig Tree Restaurant in the main street, we started to walk up the hill to the old, original market when the rain started.
Eumundi
After a quick, wet dash back to the car we headed down the Sunshine Motorway to the Coolum exit – we weren’t ready to go home yet! We went for a very interesting drive along a narrow winding road through cane fields and a variety of different homes, from older Queenslanders to modern luxury estates, ending at Coolum Beach.
The road to Coolum Beach
Arriving at Coolum Beach
The sky was still dark but it wasn’t raining so we set off for a good walk around town. Before long we had stopped to indulge in a favourite flavour combination coconut and lime gelato ice-cream (to escape the light rain of course). The rain eased so we walked by the caravan park which looked quite inviting being right on the beach and very well maintained with modern amenities. Still fine so we walked along the cliff top and caught sight of quite a few surfers enjoying the choppy seas. The yellow and red flags appeared to be only a couple of metres apart though!
Surfing in the rain at Coolum Beach
We have noticed that the Sunshine Coast councils are constantly tending and refreshing the gardens and park lands which makes it very pleasant for walkers like us. Eventually we felt weary and wet enough to head home.
Still not done with the hire car, on Thursday we drove down to Caloundra. The weather was much better and we had a good walk around town, this time without the Sunday market stalls, before stopping at a Thai restaurant right on the beach front. Apart from the views, we were fascinated by some fishermen right in front of us. They seemed to be walking backwards and forwards along the water-front with unusually long and colourful jigs on their lines. It turned out they were fishing for “black fish” and had been quite successful that day. After another walk we headed back to Maroochydore to return the hire car.
Views of Caloundra
Fishing at Caloundra
Yesterday there was another fun run, this time in support of Juvenile Diabetes. The local park had marquees and gazebos, coffee van, fairy floss machines, live music, game and activities, and hundreds of kids enjoying themselves for a good cause. Fiona the policewoman was very popular with her police car delighting all the children with siren demonstrations and photo opportunities in the police car. The weather was perfect and apart from the fun run there were families out everywhere enjoying the day!
Fun in the park at Cotton Tree
This morning we started the packing up process before joining fellow Victorians Sue and Glenn for lunch at the North Shore Tavern. Wow! Talk about value for money! Great food, great company, perfect weather – what’s not to love!? Still not really committed to packing up, we joined Sue and Glenn for coffee at The Coffee Club across the road from the caravan park. Lucky it’s so easy to pack Bertha ready for tomorrow’s departure, because we would otherwise fail!
Fantastic seafood from the Boatshed Restaurant next to the caravan park
We have relaxed to the point of unravelling over the past few months and have enjoyed loads of fresh, fantastic seafood. This really is a fantastic destination and we have already secured a booking for next year.
Shorty's RV Adventures 