Day13: Mapleton Falls, Kenilworth & Eumundi and gravel roads

After a lazy day yesterday we decided to push out out the coast and drive into the hinterland, it's what the Aussies call the bit of land back from the coast.

We decided to visit the Mapleton Falls National Park.  Great views but not much waterfall!  

Our journey then took us to Kenilworth which boasts a Cheese Factory, well worth a visit and then on to Eumundi which is a lovely market town.

However the most exciting part of the day was when travelling on the major road between Mapleton and Kenilworth the road changed from, as the Aussie's say, bitumen to gravel.  We were literally off-roading! Slight exeraggeration, but not much. Bring back the M5! :-)

Day 12: Coffee, Cake & Coast

Today we had a lazy day.  We started with coffee & cake in Peregian and then had a leisurely walk along the beach.

Our friends that we are stopping with in Buderim have a beach house in Peregian so we stopped there and ate our lunch overlooking the beach.

We then had another walk along the beach in the opposite direction.

Bliss, a lazy day in the sun! :-)

Day 11: Mt Coolum and Noosa

I've had another exciting day.  I've walked up and down a mountain, visited yet another fantastic beach, seen whales and dolphins off Dolphin Point near Noosa and been to a fish and chip shop like well I've never been to before!

We started the day visiting the Mount Coolum National Park and walking up Mt Coolum.  The path was extremely steep but we stopped a couple of times as we were walking to the summit.

The views at the top were fantastic!  I could see for miles and miles.

We then visited Noosa which is a very nice seaside town and visited a very different fish and chip shop in Noosaville for lunch. This fish and chip shop had a counter full of different types of fish.

There were so many types of fish you could choose from it was amazing.  I choose a fish I had never eaten before, snapper.  You could then choose how you wanted it cooking and whether you wanted bread-crumbs or batter.  Mrs B had pearly perch. We had to wait a while whilst the fish and chips was cooked but when it was ready it was gorgeous.

We then went for a walk along the beach in the Noosa Country Park until we arrived at Dolphin Point...and yes we saw dolphins and two whales too.

I didn't manage to get a photograph of the whales but I did take a photograph of Mrs B and our friends underneath a tree at the beach.

Day 10: Mooloolaba

This is the first day of our Aussie Adventure that the weather has not been warm and sunny but that still didn't stop us going out exploring. We decided to visit the seaside town of Mooloolaba, brilliant name don't you think?

Once we got there the sun came out, yippee...just in time for us to have a walk along the beach.

After our walk along the beach guess where we went next?  Any ideas?  Ok, I will tell you, we paid a visit to the Sunshine Coast Grammar School.  Here in Australia it is winter and all the schools are working.  Last night at a dinner party I met a teacher at the school who invited me to visit today.  Wow what a school.  Their school field is three times the size of ours.

I've been invited back on Thursday to talk to the teachers about how we use our iPads at St Barnabas.  I will take some more photographs and show you what the classrooms look like.

Day 9: The Glass House Mountains (Fruit loaf or an orchard in dough)

Our friends took us out sight seeing around their home town of Buderim. They took us into the Glass House Mountains which are a stunning range of mountains of various shapes and sizes.  They got their name from Captain Cook who thought they reminded him of the glass house factories of Yorkshire. I've got to say that I couldn't see the connection but the mountains were very striking and unusual. 

But before we wet off we had breakfast.  Nothing unusual about that is there...but on this occasion, yes there was, because we had the scrummiest toasted fruit loaf ever or as Dave, our friend said, an orchard in dough.  I hope we can have some more tomorrow!

One of the things that I've noticed since we have been here in Australia is that lots of natural phenomenon like mountain ranges have lots of look out points for visitors to stop at to view the landscape.  Each of the look out spots has an information board to explain what it is you can see.  Just like this board below.

Day 8: Brisbane

Today we met up with Mrs B's friends in Brisbane who emigrated to Aiustarlia nearly 25 years ago.

We had an exciting time exploring Brisbanne on the Sea Cats which are fast boats that travel up and down the river that flows through the middle of Brisbane, a bit like the River Severn flows through the centre of Worcester.

They then drove us to their house in Buderim which is about an hours drive to the north of Brisbane.

Since we arrived in Australia we have driven 1017km (631 miles) north from our original starting point in Sydney.  

Day 7: Road Trip 3 Coffs Harbour to Byron Bay

Today we have visited several very beautiful beaches on the the third and final section of our road trip along the Pacific Highway.

All of the beaches we have visited have been deserted because here in Australia it is winter and not summer as it is in the UK.  All of the the children are in school, not like us on holiday, so every where seems quiet.

The weather is great and the temperatures are quite high so I decided today to go for a paddle in the Pacific Ocean.  When I was small I thought the Pacific would be be warm  because when I looked at a map of the world, Australia was in the South, which meant it was hot and the sea would be warm. So I decided to wear my shorts and go for a paddle. 

Yes, I know my legs are very white! :-)

So was the Pacific Ocean warm or as cold as the Irish Sea when I used to paddle at Blackpool when was a young boy growing up in Manchester?

Leave me a comment to find out. :-)