Sunshine Coast Part 3

We arrived in Noosa on Friday 6th March at lunchtime and luckily the YHA hostel was right opposite the bus station! Halse Lodge was up a steeeep hill and looked really pretty, with much of it still remaining in its 1880’s timber frame.

Noosa Heads is surrounded by lots of beautiful beaches, some within the National Park. We took a walk along the popular Hastings Street where it all tends to happen. Feels like the most touristy spot that we have stopped off at on the Sunshine Coast, there is plenty of surf and lots of activities including canoeing the Noosa Everglades or the Pacific to spot dolphins!

We spent the afternoon chilling on Noosa’s Main Beach which was pretty busy as it was the start of the weekend but the ocean was so clear and warm, it was lush! We had free wine back at the hostel in evening and got chatting to some other travellers....there is talk of Cyclone Hamish heading south from the northern Queensland tropics so lots of us we’re discussing our next move! Lots of people (us included) are heading north towards the cyclone!

We woke up on Saturday ready for an action packed day of activities! I noticed a big blotch of bites on my right forearm and we are pretty convinced I have had my first experience with bedbugs . Darren never gets anything....so he is fine! They are really itchy and uncomfortable, bedbugs is a massive backpacker hostel problem everywhere, I guess we are lucky we have gone 4 months without getting them!

Anyways to the action packed day ahead...we booked our first surfing lesson which included a 2hr free kayaking trip! We decided to kayak in the morning around the Noosa River where we passed many big mansions on the water edge. Worked our upper body and was good fun......three hours later we had a 2hr surfing lesson with Merricks Surfing School. His advert says he was a world champion, we’ll have to google that one! We met him in the morning when we did the kayaking but we had different instructors in the afternoon! The waves weren’t too big, perfect conditions to learn in! Daz went into a slightly more advanced group because he’s kind of done it before and I went with three Canadian girls, all of us bran spanking new to the waves!!!

It was so much fun....we learnt a bit about the ocean and then the 1-2-3 step to getting us to stand up! I thought I’d never be able to stand up but i did...all be it a tad wobbly!!! Our instructor pushed us into the crest of the wave and we practiced! We had the beginner foamy boards which weighed a ton (Darren had a special board!) We pretty much did this for more than our hour! It was hard work getting the board back out over the waves to start all over again!

We learnt about paddling and trying to ride the wave without any help but us girls were hopeless! Darren did it a couple of times, he was not too bad actually! It was such good fun, hard on the arms especially after kayaking but we’d definitely do it again, maybe when we reach Byron Bay in a few weeks. As you can imagine we both slept like babies that night!

On Sunday we woke up early (still in the camping sleeping pattern) and went downstairs to watch the news. Cyclone Hamish is now a category 5 and heading pretty much straight for Hervey Bay (Fraser Island) by Monday. Our tour is on Wednesday so we had to make a decision whether to head up to Rainbow Beach today or postpone it. We decided to catch our Greyhound and hope for the best. The cyclone is currently 100-200kn out at sea and may not hit land, so we decided that by Wednesday is should of gone!

Before we caught the bus at lunchtime we took a walk through the Noosa National Park which is located on the headland. There are plenty of walks to do and if you’re lucky you can spot sleepy koala’s in the trees. Unlucky for us we didn’t see any....we took an easy walk along the coast (both of us we’re still tired from yesterday’s activities). We passed a few secluded beaches like Tea Tree and Little Cove, however because it was the weekend, they were already busy with families and surfers.

By spending a few weeks on the Sunshine Coast, we have come to realise that surfing is a way of life here. There are heaps of great surf beaches, many lifeguard patrolled seven days a week all year round. Its definitely a lifestyle out here, young or old and although we are lucky to have some great beaches around the Gower, you don’t have the weather to compete with over here, maybe just the sharks instead! But anyway we saw loads of people, girls and guys head into the national park with their surfboards under their arms looking for the best beach to catch the best breaks. We walked as far as Dolphin Point (no dolphins!) and then headed back. Our walking didn’t stop there....we climbed a big hill to reach the supermarket at Noosa Junction, grabbed some food and then had an early lunch before our bus trip to Rainbow Beach, our gateway to Fraser Island. Only obstacle we have to overcome now is Cyclone Hamish for our tours sake and also for a dry nights sleep in the tent for the next 3 nights!!!!!
Wish us luck! xx