Road Trip to Noosa

Friday (6/8), after just getting back from Cairns the night before, Autumn and I had plans with our friend from Uni, Lori-Anne. I had recently been hearing a lot of great things about Noosa and I was really interested in visiting. Lori-Anne, more than generously, offered to take us! She picked us up bright and early and we headed out to the Sunshine Coast for a day of fun :) Lori-Anne had planned a mini road trip up, with famous and “touristy” stops along the way.

Our first stop was at Ettamogah Pub, which is apparently the most photographed pub in the world! It is a quirky shaped building that stands 18m (60 feet) in height. The pub is filled with pictures of cartoons, and the building itself has a caricature appearance. There is even a truck on top of the bright red roof of the pub. The Aussie word “ettamogah” is Aboriginal for “place of good drink!”

Our next stop was at the Big Pineapple, which I was super excited for! The Big Pineapple is a famous Australian tourism landmark. This pineapple was BIG.. it stood 16m (52 feet) high. You could even “climb the pine” to the top, and through the inside of the pineapple were facts, figures, pictures, pineapple products, etc.

Our last stop before Noosa was the Ginger Factory. The shop itself was a ginger-lover’s paradise! There was an endless selection of ginger products. Gingertown consisted of “heaps” of cute little shops. There was a honey shop, a macadamia nut shop, and a “lollie” shop where I was able to buy licorice :) We had a snack here to hold us over until lunch in Noosa. I had a Ginger beer and a gingerbread man :)

I could immediately feel the vibe of luxury when arriving in Noosa. The main street (Hastings Street) was lined with upscale shops and restaurants. After walking around for a little while, we grabbed lunch. After lunch we were going to do one of the coastal walks along the beach, but the weather decided to turn on us. We got a quick peak of the beach before it started raining, and I can just imagine how beautiful it is on a sunny day.

We journeyed back from the Sunshine Coast to the Gold Coast, and Lori-Anne brought us back to her house to meet her parents. They were so friendly and they warmly welcomed us into their home. We went on an "adventure" to find kangaroos, and we did find one just hanging out on a golf course!

Her parents picked up pizza for dinner and we watched a movie while eating. I chose Finding Nemo. I thought that was certainly an appropriate movie to watch since we had just snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef two days earlier! Finding Nemo has always been one of my favorite movies, and I have watched it 10+ times. It is amazing just how realistic and accurate that movie is. I haven’t seen Finding Nemo since I have been living in Australia, and it was so fun to watch it again because I picked up on so much more than I ever had before. I was able to understand the Aussie lingo that was incorporated, which I would have never completely understood before. It was a pretty cool feeling.

We had a long, fun-filled day. Actually, the past week has been packed with traveling and exploring. Sunday was our day trip to Mt. Tamborine, Monday-Thursday we were in Cairns, and Friday was our Noosa road trip. I have had a great time! These next couple of days will be spent catching up on sleep and studying for my first final exam on Tuesday in Special Interest Tourism.. wish me luck!