Maroochydoore to Noosa

Day 42
Packed up Polly and headed off to see more Big things.
On todays agenda: The big Pineapple, the big Macadamia  nut and the big cow.
Very excited we approached the first big thing and decide to park in the overflow car park to beat the rush. Thought it was a bit quiet for a monday morning during the school holidays but were encouraged by the presence of a great bus stop sign.

Went to cross the footbridge from the car park to the pineapple and saw it was shut. Not to be deterred we jumped back in the van and headed across the highway to the main car park only to find that it too was shut.
"theyv'e probably had a rush on" we though but no it was closed, and not just closed but closed down! By the looks it hadnt been open for a while either.

We walked along abandoned walkways and saw empty giftshops but not another person in sight, it was a bit spooky.

As almost a double whammy this is the same site as the big Macadamia nut and this too was closed down for good. Well, dissapointed is not the word.

At least we still had our third big thing of the day, the big cow. There is no way something like a big cow would be shut down...

Off we drove and pulled off the highway to yet another deserted car park and a 'for lease'sign. We were annoyed so it was no wonder that when we got back to the van we found Polly, (literally) pissing her pants. A quick call to NRMA and we were advised to go to a garage to get them to have a look but we should let the engine cool down for at least half an hour first. During which time carmen nearly pissed her pants as well!
Visited the mecanic in Nambour and a very nice man he was too, explained what had happened, did a few checks, sold us a shiny new radiator cap we were on our way again.
Further up the sunshine coast we stopped at Coolum and finally the 'sunshine'coast lives up to its name, its glorious, blue skies and a warm sun. Its a surf town in the middle of a huge bay and right on the beach.
Set Polly up and its straight in for a surf and once qagain the locals are staring in admiration at my skills on a surfboard (?)
Go for a stroll up the boardwalk to the headland at the Southern end of the town and are treated to lovely views North along the beach righ to Noosa National Park.

Walk back and decide to nip in for a quick beer on the way home (as you do). Carmen had seen the pub earlier and decided it 'looked like a real pub' and so we were in. As soon as we walked in the door we were met with the usual sports bar and pokies scenario.
A quick beer later (wondering if Queensland has any real pubs) and we were back to the camp kitchen for tea.

Day 43
Get the bikes out and were off to Cycle to Noosa (and back) 30km round trip over gentle ("steep" says Carmen) rolling hills. Lovely ride through sections of national park and pass through Peregian beach on the way (and the way back) and ending up at Sunshine beach at the Southern end of Noosa National Park.

Day 44
Its wednesday and that means the famous Eumundi markets are on today.
As we arrive there is a traffic jam a mile long coming in to Eumundi and people abandoning their cars at the side of the road, we decide to join them and park (what turns out to be) miles from the actual markets.
The sun was out so it was a nice day for a walk. What good markets they were too, live music, acrobatics, a puppet show and some good chocolate. Walk around for an hour or so and start the hike back to the van.
On to Noosa (Playground of the rich and wannabe famous) and pull into the cvaravan park on the inlet. Set up and  walk into hastings street to see what all the fuss is about.

Not much really, walked up and down and couldnt find a pub so ended up in the surf club for a 'dirty granny' (cider). Walk back and decide its time for some Fishing,

kept up my almost 100% record by catching a Bream but still not big enough to eat so had to let him go (They are getting bigger though). Carmen nearly caught a stingray but then we realised he was just hanging about the shoreline.

Get talking to our neighbours over a glass of wine (A couple of Maths teachers from NSW (Not your mum and dad troy)) who were very nice and helpful and circled a couple of places on our map for us as 'must do'locations as they have done the same trip a few years back.

Day 45
Set the alarm for a 6am surf with the neighbour as he had said he was going but one look out of the window was enough to tell me that:
a) it was too early
b) it was too cold. So i rolled over and woke up at the usual time of 8am.
Cycled into Noosa (much easier than walking), locked our bikes up and headed for the National Park. Walked around the costal track (10km) to Hells gates and past some very pretty beaches but there wasnt much surf (and i wasnt regretting not getting up at 6).

Returned through the tanglewood rainforest track and straight onto the beach for a swim (Carmen still has not had a swim yet!).
Retrieve the bikes and cycle to woolworths, which according to the map was just past the campsite and is in fact just past the campsite if you know where you are going!
Two wrong turns on the same roundabout and we had cycled most of Noosa by the time we got there.
Back (with our shopping) to the van and time to throw a line in again and catch some dinner.
I managed to get one, the biggest yet, with hindsight he was probably big enough to eat but threw him back as were not sure how big they have to be in Queensland to keep, luckily we had foreseen our bad luck and had brought some steak at the supermarket!