A 9th Birthday

 After another farewell to Mark, Amanda and the kids, with promises of catching up again soon, we left Maleny and headed back to the Sunshine coast to Noosa.

When we pulled up in the Noosa Caravan Park, we were greeted by my dad who was taking a dip in the swimming pool. We hadn’t even checked-in when Will and Zac were out of the car, stripped off and in the pool!

Dan spent the next couple of days working long hours so he could get some time off to spend with his family when they arrived.  He did manage to enjoy a dip in the pool between working.

Since Easter Will has been asking if he could have a go at surfing. We tried at Palm Beach but the conditions were all wrong and we hadn’t had the opportunity since. So one morning Mum and Dad took the boys to the beach and Zac and I met them there later in the morning. When I got there I was so excited and proud to see Will standing up on the board surfing! Sam had given it a go but he got dumped badly and landed face first in the sand so was taking a break on the beach.

Will made it look so easy to get up on the surfboard. He even stood up, crossed his arms and cruised into the shore looking exceptionally ‘cool’.

We were woken up by a very excited Sammy on his ninth birthday. We had a lovely time all watching him open presents although little Zaccy couldn’t understand why he couldn’t have a turn. 

 

We headed off back down the Bruce Hwy to the Ettamogah Pub where we had a lovely reunion with Dan’s family. His mum (Shelley) Dad (Barry) sister (Peta) and our nephew (Jack) had flown up from Melbourne to see us and help celebrate Sam’s birthday. We had a nice lunch and a glass of wine (or two) a told them all about our adventures so far.

Sam wasn’t the only one to get presents that day. Shelley and Peta came with piles of gifts for everyone.

One of the local residents at the caravan park is a great fisherman and is more than happy to sell his catch of the day to the other guests. We bought a couple of kilos of Cobia (black kingfisher) and cooked it up for dinner that night. It was one of the most delicious fish dishes I have ever had.

After another nice morning on the beach, we took a drive out to the Ginger Factory in Buderim. We did the Super Bee Tour and were amazed at how complex the life of a bee is! We all learnt so much and I think we all didn’t realise how interesting a bee can be. We also didn’t realise how vital bees are to sustain the environment. Without bees, pollination couldn’t happen and flowers wouldn’t spread their seeds... no more trees!!!

We went on a boat ride called the Overboard where we had to ‘spot’ the Gingerbread man – Where’s Wally style - as we passed through each country. We also went for a train ride around the perimeter of the Ginger factory in a beautiful old steam engine. We got to see the original Ginger Factory and some of the equipment that was used many years ago.

Dan’s Uncle and Auntie from Hervey Bay came down to see us and we had a nice night out at the Tewantin RSL. I took the kids home on the Courtesy bus and left Dan there with his family. A few hours later and a lot of drinks under their belts, they all came stumbling home. Needless to say there were a few headaches in the morning but everyone had a great night.

We parted ways with my Mum and Dad in Noosa. My older brother and his wife are expecting their fourth baby any day now, so Mum and Dad are heading home to meet Grandson #7!

Peta and her husband Ben, are planning on relocating from Melbourne to the Sunshine coast next year. We decided to hang around for an extra day so we could go down to Caloundra to check out the town they are planning on moving to.

Caloundra is about an hour south of Noosa and is on the coast. We went there on Market Day and had fun wandering around the street market. Then we went to the beach to meet up with friends of Peta’s from Melbourne and we all had a picnic at the park, followed by a walk over the rocks.

We said another sad goodbye to Dan’s family (there were tears from Auntie Peta when she had to say goodbye to the boys) and we headed back to the caravan to pack up.

During the week we met another family, also with three boys, who are also travelling around Australia and also call the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne home. Once all of our family had gone, we got the chance to catch up with Claudia and Chris and compare notes. We had a BBQ for dinner together at the camp kitchen and the boys had a good time becoming friends. Chris, Claudia and the boys have travelled in the opposite direction to us. They are also moving a lot quicker than us so have already seen so much more of Australia. It was great to hear of their experiences in WA and Claudia wrote down lots of good places to stay. We will get in touch with them when we return to Melbourne and find out how the rest of their trip went.

We had a difficult decision to make about Fraser Island. We have heard lots of different opinions about the Island and after looking into the cost to get over there and camp, we have decided not to go. Instead we will head off to Inskip Point (which is where the barges leave for Fraser Island) and will stay there next week. We are hoping to catch up with Mark and Amanda again while we are at Inskip.

Maleny – the prettiest little town

We left Caboolture and headed about an hour North West to a beautiful little town called Maleny. Situated on top of the Blackall Mountain Range, it was a very slow and steep drive up there. We sat in 2^nd gear on about 20 kph and had a long train of cars following us. Driving along the top of the range, we were greeted by spectacular views east towards the coast.

McCarthy's Lookout

The Glasshouse Mountains

Maleny Showgrounds

We stayed at yet another town Showgrounds. The Maleny Showgrounds hosts the local gym, the soccer grounds, a horse training yard, a dog exercise area, the local tennis club and a sports oval. It runs parallel to the Obi Creek and is the beginning of the beautiful Obi Obi Boardwalk into town. They charge $15 per night for power, water and hot showers and - after sweet-talking the groundskeeper, he let us ignore the “3 day maximum stay” rule. We stayed here for a week and could easily have stayed for longer.

We fell in love with Maleny! It reminded us of so many of the beautiful little towns near home in the Dandenong Ranges. The town is surrounded by beautiful bush land, rainforests and gorgeous old-fashioned buildings. The town has everything you need and the people are extremely friendly. (Even teenagers smile and say hello as they pass you in the street!)

If our visit to Maleny had happened at the end of our trip, we would be seriously considering relocating from Melbourne!

We spent an afternoon on the Mary Cairncross Rainforest Walk. It wasn’t until we left Maleny that we discovered who Mary Cairncross was.  The mother of three daughters who inherited a massive section of land in Maleny, the daughters left a small section of their land to the local council on the condition that it be left as rainforest and open to the public.

The rainforest was beautiful. We were all fascinated by the massive trees and the equally massive vines.

Inside the info center

Mark and Amanda arrived in Maleny a day after us. After getting their winch fixed the boys ‘had’ to try it out. Dan drove the Patrol in front of Marks Cruiser until it looked like they were having a Mexican Standoff. After connecting their winch to our car, the kids wanted them to have a tug-of-war but were disappointed when the guys wouldn’t agree. The cruiser had no problem pulling our Patrol across the carpark which made Mark one very happy fella!

As we were camped next to the local Tennis courts, we had to have a hit. Mark went up to the Pharmacy and hired the courts for a couple of hours and the kids had a great time practising their shots. Then it was the grown-ups turn! As we had already experienced, Amanda has quite a competitive streak. She beat Mark in the first game but - after all her gloating - Dan whooped her butt in the next one.

We all spent the next few days seeing the sights that Maleny has to offer. We went to a lovely little waterfall called Gardner's Falls and the kids had a ball playing on the rocks. Amanda and I got wrapped up in taking photos of the scenery and the Dads followed the kids along the edge of the river. Sam nearly fell to his death (thanks God I wasn’t there to see that or I would still be having nightmares) but thankfully stopped himself just before he went over the edge. Dan and Mark emerged with very white faces and it wasn’t until we were safely back in the car that I realised how shaken Dan was. Sam thought it was all a big joke until we explained what ‘nearly happened’. Then he too looked a bit shocked!

One night, just as we were putting the kids into bed, we heard the sound of a helicopter close by. We dragged the kids outside in their PJs so they could see the emergency helicopter land on the oval in front of us. It was raining and the water looked fantastic flicking off the blades. The paramedics were collecting a patient for transport but were not in a hurry. It was over an hour until the helicopter took off and disappeared into the night.

We drove to a gorgeous little town called Montville and had a wonderful afternoon walking around the shops there. We stopped at a cafe and had scones and tea while the kids made a lovely mess with ice creams.

Amanda and I spent a very luxurious afternoon wandering around town, browsing in all the shops and stopping for coffee, child-fee!  We both agree that we love spending this time travelling with our families but we felt like we needed an afternoon off. The dads were happy to stay home and spend the afternoon watching the kids play, and chatting over a few beers. Everyone was happy!

That night we walked into town to go to the pub, but didn’t realise just how popular the pub was! We couldn’t get a table so went to the local Italian restaurant instead. The staff thought we were mad when we asked if we could sit outside. We explained that we were Tasmanians and Victorians and that even though they were rugged up like it was winter, we thought it was a beautiful evening.

We stuffed ourselves on Pizza, and Amanda and I finished our day of pampering ourselves with a few strawberry daiquiris.  We walked home along the Obi Obi Boardwalk and tried to spot some wildlife. The kids all had their lanterns and were so excited that we had no hope of seeing anything with all the noise they were making.

We once again said farewell to the Woods family and are heading to Noosa to meet up with my parents. Next week Dan’s family are flying up from Melbourne to meet us in Noosa and help celebrate Sam’s 9^th birthday with us.