Brisbane & Sunshine Coast, Australia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to Australia!  And Happy Halloween!

After a short 3 1/2 hour flight from Christchurch, NZ we arrived in Brisbane, Australia on October 20th.  A large business-focused city with a lovely river area and a botanic garden.  The jacaranda trees were in full bloom and so beautiful, although not native to Australia.     Gary loves visiting cathedrals and so we popped into St. John’s Cathedral and we were shown around by either a volunteer or employee there, and it was magnificent – I’ve never found church history so fascinating and he was such a compassionate person, that it truly was a spiritual experience.  The church was completed in stages over 100 years, but you would never know it as each stage blended in to the other beautifully.  I loved how inclusive the church was:  there were ESL classes going on right in the entrance; and they made sure that they opened up the dialogue so that their patrons could question things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent a couple of days wondering around Brisbane and then met up with Gary’s brother, Bill.  The three of us drove up to the Sunshine Coast and spent four days being guided and chauffeured by Bill (commentary included – sometimes welcome, and sometimes with a little eye rolling from me – but always appreciated).  He was an excellent guide!  Here’s how the itinerary went (loosely, don’t want to bore everyone with all of the details):

Day 1

Lunch at The Spirit House – an absolutely sublime experience.  Not only was the rain forest setting magnificent, but each and every bite was exquisite, and the dishes were presented beautifully – have a look at the whole fish – so yummy I wanted to lick each plate but Bill wouldn’t let me; lucky for me he had to visit the restroom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got to see Bill and Moira’s old haunts (they lived for a short period of time on the east coast for a few years) – one of their homes had been right in the rain forest and completely off the grid.  We stayed in the town of Coolum just north of Brisbane in a lovely apartment.  The ocean was just across the street and it was beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 2

Went to Saturday Eumundi Markets in the quaint and lovely town of Eumundi – AMAZING!  It was a combination of handmade artisan crafts, local fruit/veg and food stalls all in the centre of town; it felt like the entire town was part of the market.  We picked up some lovely cheese, chorizo, bread and olives for dinner.  But prior to that we had lunch at Gusto, a fabulous cafe in the town of Noosa.

 

Day 3

Walked on the amazing beach.  Visited the Macadamia nut factory and then across the street to the Ginger factory.   Drove up to a lovely rain forest and did a short hike, then lunch of course at a great organic grocery store.  Drove to another rain forest and a beautiful hike with a waterfall, and then a view of the Glasshouse Mountains before heading home to plan our own itinerary after leaving Bill.  Bill found it extremely painful watching us book our hotel and car rental as we used most of the mega bites that we were entitled to in our apartment, and went back and forth, and back and forth from car rental agency to car rental agency, from hotel to hotel………..we’ll be flying to Cairns, picking up a car and using Port Douglas as our base for the Great Barrier Reef and other excursions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 4

Another great hike in the rain forest (Bill’s keeping us busy), and another lovely lunch looking out into the ocean.  The temperature was perfect, the water sparkling and the food delicious.  Laundry day (yes, we still have a few domestic things to do while traveling).

 

After spending four days together with Bill he still said “it was fun” – that’s good since we’re going to be spending some more time together later when we get to Perth and staying with him and Moira.

 

And thank you Bill for upgrading us to Business class from Brisbane to Cairns – we could certainly get used to that.