Caloundra

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Sunday June 2, we take an Uber out to the airport and pick up our car at 10:30 or so. Flight delays got us in last night, the car rental was closed and we took an Uber into New Farm for our AirBnB rental on Merthyr Road near Brunswick. It's a small car, I would have preferred a smaller car, but that's what they had for us.

It's a sunny day and we're thinking that we'd like to see one or some of our favorite beaches. To the north is Caloundra, even farther north is the Sunshine Coast and Noosa Heads. We opt for Caloundra as it's only an hour north.

Brisbane is a city on a river. On the coast it's shallow muddy mangrove swamps. Not the idyllic beaches you might imagine (although there is a man-made beach like that on the South Bank within the city). Surfers' Paradise to the south is an idyllic sandy beach with too many young people and too much night life — not to our liking. Caloundra is more our speed.

Bribie Island (say "Bry-Bee") is a large, coastal sand island; mostly a nature reserve; with a tidal channel behind it that flows out to the sea at either end. The north end is Caloundra and I can recall being here before basking in the warm waters of that channel as the tide changed. Of course that was summer, this is winter and we're not likely to go swimming. Our recollections of Caloundra are of a quiet coastal town; I recall that our friends Murray and Joan had a summer home here. It has changed. There are high rises, condos, coffee shops, street side Cafes, and what looks like an expensive restaurant row along the channel. We're looking for a nice lunch; but not that nice!

We find the Kings Beach Surf Club a little north of the channel where we grab some drinks and a bit of lunch (I had too many meals of fish and chips while in Australia). This is one of those Australian Life Saving Clubs which helps to raise funds to support the local volunteer life savers. Locals are often members while visitors, like us, only need to sign in as guests. There is a sunny patio area outside where people are enjoying the day but it's busy and full. We end up inside. We're a little past their better "Sunday Lunch" service and limited as to what we can have; hence the ubiquitous Fish and Chips. It's a nice, informal place, we enjoy our lunch together and the views of the sea.

We have been to this beach before. There's a beach side pool in front of the club where people are swimming, I assume it's salt water filled from the sea, there's a rough rocky beach area, and the wide sweep of a sandy beach south towards the channel and Bribe Island. On the beach it's off season, the surf is up as are the warning flags, and there aren't any life savers in sight although we do see some swimmers in the water and some life saving boats on the beach. There are also some "Utes" and fishing boats on the sand. Nearby is a carnival like area with a large Skyline Ferris Wheel (cf. the Tourist Wheel in Fremantle, the Wheel of Brisbane in the South Bank, all a take on the massive London Eye).

We are admiring the flora and fauna and spot some birds including an Australian White Ibis. A few days later we learn, while at the GOMA with Ross, that these are considered a bit of a pest and are derisively called "Bin Chickens" for their habit of rubbishing around in garbage bins. Of course Australians, when visiting Canada, are fascinated by our squirrels and racoons which we might call "bin rats". 

On the way home we stop at the Caloundra Dan Murphy's to stock up on some clean skin wine. Back at our AirBnB we discover that although there is a parking space under the building allocated to our apartment it's far too small and awkward for our small car. We should have insisted on a smaller car! We end up parking on the street, always within a block. A bit of a worry for us but it worked well enough for the duration of our stay.

Al in all, an interesting first day back in Brisbane and Queensland.

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Notes composed Nov 22, '24