Surf's up, mate 19/03

19/03

Today we are off to Noosa which is the Oz equivalent of Plett. For those of you who don't know, Plett is a des res place on the south coast of SA and so far, Oz is very much like SA. We made our way up there on the Bruce Highway (I kid you not) along the Sunshine Coast. The 'sunshine' is being threatened at the moment by a cyclone further up the coast and it is expected to hit Airlie Beach this Sunday. I am praying that it has all settled down by the time I am due to be there to sail around the Whitsundays next weekend, otherwise I will have to make other plans.

We pass Steve Irwin's zoo but I resist the urge to visit very easily.

Noosa is nice, albeit very expensive: I took P for lunch at the Surf Club and it cost me £22.50 for some burgers and drinks. In fact, I am finding Oz to be expensive full stop as sterling has gone for a ball of shito. There isn't a huge amount to see but I take full advantage of watching the surfing competition and checking out the local talent (they employ nice tall young men to apply you with sun tan lotion!) Apparently, sometimes koalas can be seen in the trees near the beach but they fail to materialise. Maybe they are off surfing or just in the middle of their 19 hour a day kip.

Sun turns to light rain and we head back to Brissie where we spend the evening catching up over a few tinnies and I meet P's new Aussie girlfriend. She doesn't think much of my Aussie accent either but then there's no accounting for taste.