Sunshine Coast

Sunshine

Yes the sun shines right through the clear blues skies. We can never catch that sight back home.
However...I must confess that it's pretty difficult to sleep through what with the extended daylight hours in Brisbane.
The sun is up by 4.30am or is it 5am? So you keep on looking at the clock and wonder if it's time to get up.
Day 2 and 3 saw us scouring along the sunshine coast with vengeance. We promise dad no more shopping and so we dutifully followed his wishes and appreciated the sunshine coast in our rented car...a nissan x-trail .


Grace took over the helm as she is familiar with the place and soon we were on our way to the Surfers Paradise and tasted a little of 'Phuket' although of course the place is much cleaner.


Sara got a fright of her life when she saw some topless sunbathers along the beach.

We were reading the memoirs of a war time hero

The sun was really at its hottest but strangely the cool, dry air did not cause much discomfort.
Not long after, we made our way to Harbour Town along the Gold Coast where again it was the venue of a Shopping Paradise.
The girls went crazy looking at the branded shops - Ripcurl, Valley Girl, Cotton On, Jay Jays...name it...everything is here.

Harbour Town

Perhaps the best thing that happened in Harbour town was when Sara met up with her friends from home...Sook Yi and Shuey Mei. They were great pals and Sara was so excited to see them there. Both the girls have just completed a culinary course and are now working full time to collect points for their PR application.
Another friend from home Thomas, related that he misses home and longs to go home but at the same time is tied down by the culinary course too. He too says life is tough as he has to work almost everyday after class to earn the internship points.
I was touched to hear of their grit and determination to do what they are here for.

Thomas is not in the pic. He says it was an all girls' affair and did not want to be seen with them. The girl in pink is Jolene who is from Penang. From the tone of her voice, I could sense that she really misses home and longs to be with her parents. I could not bear to hear much after that cos I know what it means to miss your loved ones.
Soon after we had to leave them and like all good things, they must come to an end. We bade our goodbyes and the girls tried hard to control their emotions.

Day three saw us again on the road to see more of the country side of Queensland.

Dad read the map and insisted that we go to Maleny to see the countryside. Do you see the Blackall Range sign? Blackall is a typical Australian Outback town right in the north eastern part of the continent. Grace recounted her rural stint there and shared that she had to travel by train for 12 hours from Rockhampton after which she had to wait for a bus for 6 hours before embarking on it to reach the cowboy town in 2 hours. She did not have very fond memories of the palce cos it was a lonely place and I remembered encouraging her to be strong during her down times there...told her to recall the plight of the woman in "The Drover's Wife" and she laughed.

Maleny

On the way to Maleny we passed vineyards and wineries. We stopped at one of them and met the couple above. They have been to Malaysia and told us of their visit to Melaka when they visited Malaysia previously.They commented that Sara looked too young for her age and got a greater shock to find out that the puny girl is reading law. She just looks too small for her age, they kept commenting.

The place looks so homey and cosy ready for Christmas

We were treated to a wine tasting session.

The home-made jam looks yummy

The flowers were lovely and a sight to the eyes

I could not resist taking a snap of a public school

The kind couple told us to visit the Garner Falls. They walked but I stayed in the car. Too hot for me to walk.

We also took time off to visit a cheese producing outlet

Grace and dad could not resist the chance to taste all types of cheese

We caught a glimpse of the cheese making process in action

Cheese...Tom and Jerry.

Esther saw the news letter in the cheese cafe which read ...Coffee News...sounds familiar?

Hei, the blooms were just too lovely. Had to snap. Esther is good at it.

The gum tree. Notice the bark. I have been told that the nocturnal Koala bear climbs this tree to feed on its leaves, therefore causing the bark to look like that. Dad loves this tree.

Next, we made our way to Montville. It was quite a sight to look down the valley.

Before reaching Mont ville, we stopped at a hill top overlooking Lake Baroon which is also a catchment area. The girls asked what it really was and in my explanation No. 3 said I have lost all my geography.

Montville. It is a tourist attraction spot and the international villages have a place here.

Scottish and English products and representations.

The lovely blooms again.

A gift shop for the soul...

Standing in front of an European gift shop

The gifts and clocks were a recollection of the trip we made to Europe in 2005.

After the visit, we shot our way to Noosa Heads, another renown spot for surfers. It was just too much for us... rather for me. Too much of the beach. But the gilrs could not resist stopping at Perigian Beach for a dip.

Perigian Beach.

We had a long day. But a very good one, one which dad totally enjoyed. No shopping.