The Sunshine Coast
- Trevor Clark
- May 7, 2024
- 3 min read
At last. We are heading for the Sunshine Coast and some lovely weather. Well, that was what we thought. But as you can see, our journey was anything other than dry or sunny.
Miss Maui's navigation system also saved us A$5.20, or about £2.50, by avoiding the Gateway Bypass that takes you around Brisbane and instead drove us right through the middle of the City. This was busy, horrendously busy, but my ability to drive our camper van is improving and I had no other drivers pointing out my errors on this occasion.
On the other side of Brisbane the traffic eased and we made our way to Buderim. Paul and Sheila live on Dixon Road, so I was very amused to see the exit sign off the motorway saying "Buderim" "Dixon Road", although there wasn't another line saying "Paul and Sheila's".
It was too late to fully appreciate their home on arrival, but the next morning we got up to see the amazing view. OMGosh, what a view.
It was so lovely of them to welcome us into their beautiful home and we had a great time with them. They could not have been more apologetic about the weather, which didn't improve the next day. We however perserved and Sheila treated us to a great day of exploring around the area. First we went for breakfast and then a canal tour in Mooloolaba, where we saw the late Steve Erwin's house and boat. There were also lots of other impessive homes and boats in this area.
After the canal trip, Sheila suggested a ride into the mountains to visit Montville. This is a picturesque village with lots of interesting shops, galleries, cafes and bars. Not long after we started looking around, the heavens opened again and we dived into a clock shop. There must have been close to a 100 cuckoo clocks and about 40 Grandfather clocks in this small shop. Fortunately, the clocks weren't sycnchronised, but this meant that the Cuckoo Clocks were almost continuously chiming. I don't think I have ever felt so disorientated and I seriously thought at one point I was losing my mind. Before long, Sue and Sheila got the giggles and the shop keeper started dusting vigoursly in the area where we were standing. Sue tried to distract her with some questioning. Where are the clocks from? Germany, came the reply. We are expecting another delivery any day now. Sheila muttered under her breath, you better have sold some of these clocks by then. The next thing to set Sue and Shelia off was a A$25,000 model of an music organ amongst the Grandfather clocks. The ensuing giggles resulted in more furious dusting of clocks by the shop assistant. We had to head out by now, but fortunately the rain had eased. Sheila was a bit indignant, asking who comes to Australia to buy a German Cuckoo clock and I have to be honest, I think she has a very good point.
We entered the jewellery shop over the road and we were approached immediately by the owner who informed us that many of his products came from South Africa and Barcelona. Shelia and Sue had to turn and walk straight out again. I was left discussing the creation of Opal with the owner until I could excuse myself.
This location was renowned for its lovely views, but even these were obscured by low rain clouds.
Besides everything, we had such a lovely time with Paul and Sheila, and were doubly sad on leaving, as it also meant the return of Miss Maui for the last time. Between New Zealand and Australia we have travelled about 6,000kms in Miss Maui and were sad to see her go.
We now fly up to Cairns, then on to Port Douglas for the last chapter in this particular adventure. See you up in the land of Crocodiles, The Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef.
Lots of Love,
Sue and Trev xxx
コメント