The Sunshine Coast is beautiful, under-populated, and warm! It's the middle of winter here but I spent the day in my swimmers at the Mooloolaba Beach. It does get pretty chilly at night, but the days are absolutely gorgeous. The trees and other vegetation are so exotic; I love seeing eucalyptus, sugarcane, palms and bamboo all over the place, like in a jungle (well, it is sub-tropical). The area is developed, of course, but it's fairly rural between beach towns.
The east coast of Queensland is a popular holiday and retirement destination for Australians. I can see why. I was in Brisbane and the Gold Coast a few days ago, which are more "built up" than the Sunshine Coast. Still, each area has it's own character. The waves were swell at Surfers Paradise, which is a top tourist destination. Many people in the Gold Coast own boats and live on little canals with docks in their backyards. Brisbane is a river city set a bit inland. I honestly found
it a little boring; it seems like the ugly step-child as far as Aussie
cities go (sorry, Brisbanites).
The Sunshine Coast is clearly my favorite; it's kind of like the Southern California of Australia. Yesterday we went to the Eumundi Market, which is held on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. It was a lot of fun and I would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting the region. I found heaps of locally-made handicrafts that you won't find anywhere else (at least not at these prices). I bought some aboriginal artwork and unique freshwater pearls. Then I enjoyed barramundi and chips for lunch. Yum!
Our hosts on the Sunshine Coast have a Cockatoo with an Aussie accent. When we arrived she bid us "G'day mate!". She's a quick study and delivers all kinds of Aussie slang. I'm told that wild kangaroos often visit the yard to feed on grass, but I haven't been lucky enough to spot them yet. Our friends named one of them Norm, after a fat, lazy guy from some Australian commercial. Apparently Norm comes over and just lays around on their lawn for hours. There's also a resident Kookaburra named Jack, who laughs it up whenever he visits.
