In honour of the tenth anniversary of that year I spent travelling around Australia (and New Zealand), here is the latest installment of “Stuff to Write Home About”.
Aaaah Noosa. The beautiful coastal town formerly dedicated to the rich tourists. There is definitely still a lot of money flowing in Noosa, but since the arrival of the “backpacker”, things have changed a little. Now, if you want a Margarita or a Daiquiri, you can still pay $15 to $20 for it, but only after Daiquiri Happy Hour. I visited 3 parts of Noosa. My hostel was in Noosaville, the shopping was in Noosa Heads (as was the Bus Terminal), and Noosa Junction was the main part of town. Noosaville is right along the river. I arrived on a Sunday and walked along the river, enjoying all the barbecue smells as I passed. The river bank is dotted with barbecues for public use, and they were being well utilized. I don’t remember what it was that I ended up eating that evening, but I know it wasn’t delicious barbecue. I did sit at the side of the river and enjoyed the late-afternoon sun for a while though.
My first full day in Noosa, I took the bus to the Australia Zoo, the (former) home of Steve Irwin-Crocodile Hunter. On the way to and from the zoo, they played episodes of the Crocodile Hunter TV show to entertain us. Crikey! This guy could get really excited about animals! Especially snakes and crocodiles!! Everyone who works at the zoo is equally excited and passionate about animals. The animals are of course well taken care of, the zoo grounds are nice, and the zoo is not too big. I had a good time at the zoo learning about all the animals. I didn’t interact with any of the animals directly though (it costs extra). Nature has good timing…it was sunny and only poured down rain at the end of the day.
Day two in Noosa consisted of my first surfing lesson EVER. I swallowed a lot of salt water, but it was fun and I was determined to get the hang of it. The way I figure it, the better I become at surfing, the cooler I get. Paddling is sooo tiring, and as I got more tired, I became less and less likely to remain standing on the board after catching the wave, or even catching the wave at all, and therefore actually less cool. After surfing, I walked from Noosa Heads to Noosa Junction and back just to check it all out. It’s amazing how parts of the same town can be so different from each other (hence the different names I guess). I did a bit of shopping in both places, trying to look the part of a socialite in Noosa Heads. I went shopping there because I had a coupon for a store there. Pretend backpackers don’t pay full price for anything unless that’s all there is, and said backpacker might “die” without it. I spent the remainder of my time in Noosa hiking around the national park. The views along the coastal walking track are magnificent, as you’ll see in the pictures I post. The sunshine makes the water look like glitter. Well, I could continue to describe the Noosa coastline, but it wouldn’t do it justice. The pictures help, but you really need to feel the sun on your face, the breeze in your hair, and hear the sound of the waves crashing on the beach. Awesome!
LIVE FUNNY! with Kathryn Reichheld 