Rainbow Beach promised cliffs of many colours (kind of like Joseph’s coat but a bit coarser - and vertical) and we wanted to see them before we left the area . We got up bright and early and were walking on the beach by 8am! Many of you may be surprised that whilst living in the van we have generally been getting up at 6.30am and are usually on the road by 8.30 at the latest (but not always!). It is so hot by noon that we soon realised that getting up early was the way to go. Also, by the time you’ve woken up and walked across the campsite to the loo, you’re usually fairly awake anyway and may as well get up.
The beach at Rainbow Beach is not in itself multi-coloured but the cliffs are. As we walked along they constantly changed from greys, yellows and oranges through to reds and deep browns. The beach was another long stretch which you could walk for miles, with very people on it. There were a few surfers out cresting the waves, as this is about the most northerly place for surfing. North from here is where the Great Barrier Reef starts, which makes for good diving but not good surfing. The other interesting thing here is that vehicles are allowed on the beach and can drive several miles along the sand down into the national park . This means that whilst walking this lovely long, fairly deserted, stretch of beach, you keep being passed by 4WDs who, despite being off-road vehicles, all want to be on the bit closest to the water where the sand is firmest, which is also where we want to walk because the sand is firmest! It’s therefore not the quietest or most relaxing of beaches to walk, but beautiful none-the-less.
Our early-morning walk over, we headed on to Gympie, a short way inland. The town’s existence appears to have been connected with gold although there was little to be seen in the present day streets. It’s a quiet, non-touristy sort of place with plenty of second-hand book shops, the City Café which does excellent coffee and cakes and some big steps covered in mosaic scenes relating to the town.
Coffee stop over, we continued on the road to Noosa to find the Big Pelican. This was a really good find! One of my favourite Big Things! It was built in 1977 and used to be a floating, motorised Big Thing moored on the lake by the river, but fell into disrepair . It has now been restored, is on a trailer and can be hired for festivals, parties and such like. Its head moves from side to side, beak opens and closes, wings flap up and down and eyelashes flutter. All of this is operated by two people inside the pelican (whoever said that his mouth can hold more than his belly can?) who operate various pullies, ropes and things. The eyelashes are particularly fabulous! There is obviously much local pride in the Big Pelican; while we were admiring it a young girls came over explaining in great detail to her young acquaintances the history and restoration.
We took a walk along the riverside at Noosa. The Australians are certainly good at creating really pleasant waterside walkways and this was one of our favourites. The path wound around the parkland area beside the river and there were numerous exercise points where we happened upon an exercise bike, rowing machine, resistance machine or such like so we took the opportunity to have a quick workout in the fresh air, overlooking the river . It certainly would encourage me to exercise much more than the Village gym in Leeds, however, the fabulous waterfront properties here look as though they would cost more than we’d save on our gym membership!
We called at Mooloolaba but the very helpful woman at the Visitor Information Centre said there definitely was not a Big Sausage in Mooloolaba, nor had there ever been. Not all the info you get on the internet is correct! However, she very helpfully googled ‘Big Sausage’ for me there and then, informing me that it is actually in Centenary Heights, a suburb of Brisbane. So no big sausage for today, but maybe we’ll find it back in Brisbane!
A few more kilometres down the coast and we reached our final stop before we hand the van back. Australia is such a big place that there is no way we could visit everywhere and see everything. We have travelled almost 5,000 km in a month and still only covered a little portion of the country. Somehow you have to decide where to stop, and choosing by amusing names is one of the methods we have used . Therefore our last two nights have been spent at Dicky Beach! Believe it or not, this place is named after the wreck of the SS Dicky which got stranded here in 1893 during a storm. The captain stayed aboard whilst the crew went for help. It was pulled back into the sea but its anchor was too light and it dragged back onto the beach again and was eventually abandoned there. The captain was later found guilty of negligent navigation and his licence revoked. The rusty remains of the wreck are still on the beach today, with the sea washing over them on a daily basis.
We spent a fine day chilling out, taking the obligatory brisk walk up the beach and back via the coastal path, which mostly winds through the greenery behind the beach. Where it does not, it is detouring around obstacles such as schools. It is interesting to contemplate the number of different ways one can incorporate the local ecology into your curriculum when your school grounds extend down to lagoons, mangroves, salt marsh and a surfing beach. You don’t get that in many schools in Leeds!