# 21.03 – Coolum Beach, QLD

Our final week in Coolum was flat out but not from all the sight seeing. There was a few little follow up issues with Goldilocks (12 volt system, fridge, fly screen replacement, hydronic jack replacement) and the car was now booked in for a bit of work and service.  However, frustratingly each time we fixed one issue, it has created another.

Eventually Zone RV got it together and have been great at getting stuff sorted for the van as have the folks we have dealt with for the car. Having these follow up issues sorted in a timely manner with no fuss has been fabulous, allowing us to get back on the road. Everyone seems so layer back and cruisey, haven’t met a bad or grumpy Queensland yet! Should note there are a lot of Kiwi’s here and we always love the Kiwi’s.

We got the van back late on the Friday and after getting it cleaned and re loaded we checked into the caravan park on the Saturday. We were all thrilled to get back in the van and with the caravan park being right on the beach what’s not to love.

During this week Ken was still heavily involved with his work so it was full on for everyone.

We did manage to have an afternoon in Noosa, hire a couple of boogie boards for the kids and do a cruise on the Maroochy River.

The boogie boards were a bit of fun. Initially we just walked down the beach from our camp and the girls got in the water there. The surf life saving club and flags were probably 750m up the beach and we were just being lazy. I stayed out of the water with Lulu but was becoming increasingly nervous. The surf was reasonably rough, the girls were out there on their own and with Lulu in arms I may not be able to make a quick intervention if they got into trouble.

It had just dawned on me how stupid this was. Why was I standing on the beach fretting when we should just be up the beach between the flags where i’d have help if needed! And then, like the voice of god, over a loud speaker all the way up the beach, we were told to get between the flags. As there were no other crazy people in the water that afternoon we made the walk of shame up the beach and Ken arrived not long after. It was only then I got in the water with the girl and felt how strong the current was. It was a great reminder to ALWAYS swim between the flags and gave us an opportunity to discuss tide, currents, rips, water safety.

All that aside we had some fun that afternoon and the conditions the next day were even better. If you ask me, it was a little too cold to swim but the girls just loved it and don’t feel the cold. The Sunshine Coast is the perfect place to swim with shark nets in place and the stingers (stinging jellyfish) don’t come down this far or the croc’s for that matter, but with each day sitting in the low to mid twenty’s it was a little cool for me.

A morning cruising up the Maroochy was very pleasant and a chance to learn a little more about the area. We had dropped the car off for some work and caught a taxi into Maroochydore for breakfast. The cruise then took us up the river with commentary about the ecosystem along the way. We stopped at the Maroochy Wetland Sanctuary and had the chance to have a walk, explore and observe the mangroves and spot some fiddler crabs. Tiny little things with one large orange claw.

Treated to a Devonshire tea and the Dreamtime story of how Mount Coolum and the Maroochy River was created was a delight. I just love the Dreamtime stories about how the land was formed and created. Upon hearing the Dreaming story its hard not to feel some connections to the land or scenery you are experience. Just another beautiful part of our first peoples culture.

 

And that’s a wrap for Coolum. After three weeks here we have decided to move a little south to be closer to Brisbane for one final bit of maintence. Hopefully this should be close enough for Ken to just pop down to Brisbane for the day but give us more of a chance to explore more of The Sunny Coast and The Hinterlands.