Staying at Bliss (AirBnB) from Fri 31 July – Tue 4 Aug
Our final four nights were of this QLD trip were spent in an AirBnB at Burleigh Heads. It was a bit of a disappointing apartment, following our fantastic one in Noosa, but was in a great location for exploring the area. Mark and I dined at The Tropic, inside Noosa Pavilion on the first night as Coll and David were in Mt Tamborine for an overnight. This was as excellent venue for people watching and the food was very nice too.
Colleen and David arrived on Saturday and we spent time together browsing the shops and watching the Swans win before having our aperitivo drink at Burleigh Pavillion which, once again, provided excellent people watching for the hour we were there. Dinner was at home tonight.
On Sunday we caught up with Coll and David’s friends, Sue and Peter Hurley, with the intention of visiting the famed local twice-monthly markets only to find they were not on for some reason. So we headed to Tarte cafe & bakery instead and spent time chatting before the Hurley’s left and we stayed on for lunch. We’d spied some excellent food and coffees being delivered to other tables during the morning so we decided to try some for ourselves. Mark and I shared the tomato soup which was almost a work of art (see the photos below) and delicious and Coll and David shared a sandwich. It was almost worth coming to Burleigh just to visit this cafe as the offerings were great. Dinner tonight was at Jimmy Wah’s which was also excellent and a must-visit venue if you’re ever in Burleigh Heads.
Mon 1st Aug
For our last full day we decided to take a drive in the hinterland. We headed south for a bit before we found ourselves in a mountainous area that I had stupidly thought was the top section of the great dividing range. This was not the case at all. The area we were exploring today was an old caldera (a bowl shaped volcanic depression formed after a volcano has emptied its magma) known at the Tweed Caldera or Mount Warnings Caldera. We went up an over one part of this unique geological formation and then travelled across its middle before exiting up and over another section of the caldera.
Our first stop was at the Natural Bridge which was on the northern side of the Caldera. We then went on to have lunch at Albert’s gallery and cafe. This was a surprising cafe that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere and we had serious doubters cafe would eventuate but, it did. The food was very good and of a much higher calibre than most of the artwork on display. See the photos below and you’ll get my drift. We made two lookout stops along other sections of the caldera on our way home and these capped off a very enjoyable and interesting day.
It was almost 4 pm by the time we got home and we spent the time doing some tidying and packing before our departure the following morning. Coll and David had a long drive back to Canberra and we had a drive up to Brisbane for our flight home.
Dinner for our last night was right across the road at Rick Shores. We went to the Pavillion for a drink before dinner and then on to the restaurant which was rather busy. We opted for the tasting menu and found every item to be delicious. This is another venue I’d highly recommend you visit if in the area. However, I do think the food at Jimmy Wah’s was a bit more innovative, interesting and tasty. The view at Rick Shores can’t be beaten though.
We had enjoyed a short time in Burleigh Heads and we were lucky that we had great weather for the duration of our day. We were not overly impressed with the apartment though. It was a great location but it was a bit dark and depressing inside. Instead, if I was ever to return to Burleigh heads then I would choose to go back to Boardwalk on Burleigh where we stayed before instead..
