Hello Internet!
For the sanity of my father we are going to take the journey northwards slowly, stopping in lots of places so that a) we can explore more places b) we can all do more fun things c) so Dad doesn’t get totally exhausted and stressed from driving when it’s supposed to be a fun holiday!!
Just another gorgeous beach!
So, stop one on our trip was to be the Sunshine Coast, staying at Maroochydore, where my parents had booked out a rather luxurious suite! I had a room with a bed this time, not a bed in the front room! Very exciting. Since we still had a decent amount of time left in the day we went for a walk over the headland to Mooloolaba, where I had spent Christmas and visited the beach for a little while before grabbing an ice cream and dinner, where we introduced Dad to the world of the schnitzel. After a lovely meal we wandered back over the headland to Maroochydore where we chilled on the beach before playing a few games back at the hotel. It was quite funny being back at the Sunshine Coast so soon after I’d been there for Christmas!
The next morning we were up nice and early to go body boarding in the sea. Since dad travelled halfway around the world, he couldn’t not go in the sea, and at Fraser Island it would be too dangerous, so Sunshine Coast was where we went for a dip. It was really good fun actually, I used to love body boarding with dad when I was younger and we’d go on holidays to Cornwall! So after a little bit of body boarding in the Pacific Ocean we packed up the rental car and headed to a cute cafe for a bit of breakfast before heading off up the Bruce Highway once more.
So, step one done and into the next stage – Fraser Island! That involved a few hours driving north, but to break up the journey, and to see more of the Sunshine State, we decided to take a small detour into the Sunshine Coast hinterland and visit some waterfalls.
My parents first wild goanna
We didn’t really have much luck with the waterfalls if I’m honest! The first waterfall we visited was the Kondalilia falls, which had a small waterfall, a plunge pool and then a larger waterfall, but the access to the bottom of the larger drop was closed off, so we only had the baby waterfall and the pool. To introduce Dad to the proper way to handle an Aussie summer we went for a swim and mucked around, climbing up to the rocks behind the waterfall and diving in again. Waterfall number two had a nice walk, but the waterfall itself was dry! We had just beaten the wet season, despite all the rain earlier in the week, so the waterfalls weren’t yet in full flow! It was a little disappointing, but I guess that’s to be expected in a country that gets so hot and dry!
Me in a waterfall