Got to Noosa via a Glasshouse Mountains lookout that required 700 metres of steep steeeeeep uphill climbing (5 minutes my arse) and heard all about the Aboriginal Dreamtime stories behind the 3 mountains- felt very cultural. Hung around waiting for our bus to Gagaju Bush Camp getting increasingly concerned (why oh why do I watch Wolf Creek before every Australian road trip i take?) but when we got picked up and taken to the lookout to see our home for the next three nights excitement set in- Noosa is truly beautiful.
The Bush Camp is actually very civilised, with a kitchen, tv room and dorms with hammock bunk beds- the three men who run the place managed to sufficiently scare us with stories of snakes so that i didn't walk around barefoot once during my time there. There were 11 of us in our canoe group and we all got to know each other that night.
The next day we set off in our big 3 man canadian canoes- reassured by the knowledge that 'the last croc seen in these parts was killed over 100 years ago' but still determined not to capsize and tempt the many baby sharks that might have decided to water upstream. I got the fun job of sitting in the back and being responsible for steering- so obviously we crashed straight into a river bank. 7km of arm aching canoeing later we got to a lake and had lunch, then went back via a beautiful creek that had been so stained by tea tree oil that it was like floating on a black mirror- eiree and incredibly cool all at the same time. Got back to camp incredibly dirty (but thankfully dry) and hung out in the hammocks resting my very sore muscles.
Our second day of canoeing was a lot shorter- 3km downstream to another lake 'be careful getting out of the boats- don't stand on a stingray!' before walking 2 miles to a beautiful and deserted beach to have lunch, swim and play frisbee. Had some minor entertainment watching a group of tourists get their flashy 4x4 stuck in the sand- then felt guilty and went to help. They were so grateful that they took pictures of us as we pushed the car along - grrrrrr. Got back to camp for a proper shower and charades around the campfire.
Twin moments of the day- 1. Fran catching the frisbee and falling over Del Boy style
2. watching Adam (4 year old who seemed to live permentantly at the camp) play charades. No one was sure what film he was acting out- but the general consensus was that it was X-rated
Enjoyed getting back to normality in the Yuppie central part of Noosa- and was very excited about my comfy bed untill i realised it had bedbugs!!!!!!!!!!
