Noosa and the Sunshine Coast

First, I have to show the obligatory koala and kangaroo crossing signs. It wouldn't be an official move to a new country without new animal crossing signs, right? But enough of that. A couple of weekends ago, we decided to take a trip up to Noosa, a nice little beach town on the Sunshine Coast about an hour and a half away from Brisbane. We both needed to get away from the stress that accompanies moving to a new country (and it was the Queen's birthday so J had an extra day off of work), so we hopped in the car and just started driving up the coast. We took the long way up there and drove through all of the little coastal towns. I must say that the coast was very pretty, but the towns . . . not so much. These towns hadn't quite figured out the value of waterfront property! And then there was Noosa, where someone actually determined how to reel in the tourists (and the money)! Noosa was a nice little holiday town (which means lots of shopping!) with a beautiful park for hiking. And yes, we actually did hike! It was a good thing, too, because we got to see our first koala!! (not sure if you can tell from the picture, but I promise it's there.) Then, we drove even further up the coast to see if we could get a glimpse of Fraser Island (another Aussie scenic spot). We had been navigating all of these roads throughout the weekend by using our new toy, a GPS. It had been very helpful, up until this last drive. Based on the driving we did that weekend, it must have thought that we were up for the scenic routes, so it took us off-roading for a bit. I'm not sure why it thought this was a reasonable way to go, but seeing we are children of the technology age, we followed it blindly. It wasn't that big of a deal to go off the beaten track, except we aren't in Oman anymore and we aren't in an SUV anymore! About halfway down the gravel path, we came upon a sign that said that we should only go further if it wasn't raining or you were in an SUV. We figured that we had seen Toyotas do all sorts of things in Oman, so why not give it a try, right? But just our luck, at that very moment, it decided to rain, so we took the safe route and turned around. We weren't looking forward to digging a Toyota out of the mud that day in a place where we had no cell phone reception, but it did make for a pretty picture! And by the way, for all of you who have been asking why we are driving a Toyota Corolla . . .First of all, am I really that spoiled that you have to ask? Ok, maybe so, but still. And second of all, it's a rental, so there. In any event, that pretty much sums up our first trip out of the city. Long live the Queen!