Tuesday 20th May
It was another mild and partly cloudy morning but great walking weather. We both ventured out for a walk to Dolphin Point and on for a coffee at Providore on Hastings. Mark then took Dagwood and the car out in search of a fast charging port; you have to think and plan a bit differently when you have an electric car.
The rest of the day was relatively quiet. I went for another walk and then spent some time at our pool before joining Mark for a stroll to explore some shops with Mark making a few purchases to my zero! We then spent an hour or so relaxing back at the apartment before heading out to Noosaville for some more exploring and dinner.
We had decided to head to Noosaville for dinner because we were rather unimpressed by the offerings at Noosa. Noosaville has a huge number of restaurants and we chose Mrs Jones and Me and we were most impressed. Our dumplings entree was the best rendition of this dish we’d ever had and Mark’s salmon main also topped his ‘best ever’ salmon dish. We’d highly recommend this restaurant if you’re ever in the area.
Wednesday 21st May
There was a slight change to the routine this morning. Mark rose early for a cycle ride down to Coolum and I went for a walk before catching up with him for coffee at Providore on Hastings. We had an afternoon tour so we filled the rest of the morning with a walk out through the rainforest to Noosa river inlet.
Our afternoon tour was a 2.5 hr tour through the Noosa Everglades, the only Everglades in the whole of the country and was run by Everglades Eco Safaris. Patrons were picked up at various points in Noosa and then driven about 30 minutes up to the boat launch at Lake Cootharaba. This was an enormous lake, the largest on the Noosa River, but apparently only has a maximum depth of 1.5 meters. We found out there are only two Everglade systems in the world with the other being in Miami and I was lucky enough to visit the Miami system some years ago. We had perfect weather for the afternoon which helped us to make the most out of the visit. The tannin in the water along the river ways in the Everglades systems taints the water to almost black and this helps to create a mirror like surface on the water when the sun hits. You will see examples of this in the many photos below. The Everglades here don’t have the added spice of alligators, as the Miami ones do, but it was still a most enjoyable outing and well worth a visit if you’re ever in the area.
The bus driver kindly dropped us off at Noosaville on our return journey so that we could make our early dinner booking of 5.45 pm at Stone Bowl Vietnamese. The venue carried at 4.7 Google rating but we thought it was only ok and definitely not worth a repeat visit. We were up for catching either a ferry or a bus home but neither were running on a suitable timetable. The ferry website claimed they ran every 10 minutes but we couldn’t find that and the bus would have meant a one hour wait. So, Uber it was for us back to the apartment It’s a bit of a pity that the public transport options from Noosa to Noosaville are so limited in the evening as there are a great many bars and restaurants to choose from in Noosaville.
We were back in plenty of time to catch up on the second last episode of our Netflix series it was then an early night for us as neither of us had slept fully the night before. We made the mistake of sleeping with our bedroom window open and the noise of the waves crashing all night kept us both awake a fair bit. ‘First world problems’, I know, but we won’t be doing that again.
Thursday 22nd May
It was a glorious morning for our last full day in Noosa with clear, blue skies and no wind. We decided to take our morning walk out along the river at Noosaville for something different today. We’d spent a couple of evenings out there for dining so we thought we’d experience a morning there. It was rather busy with loads of folk out walking and we noticed that every little jetty seemed to double-up as a cafe resulting in a multitude of cafe options along the riverside. However we chose the more established Depot for our coffee stop and I was treated to a deconstructed iced latte, something I hadn’t experienced in a while. It was then back to base for Mark to have one last Noosa bike ride and for me to have another walk.
Noosa was rather busy today as preparations were starting for the Marathon being run on Saturday and we noticed a bit of a shift in the demographic with groups of young people out running.
You can imagine my surprise as I’m striding along the Noosa boardwalk, out to Dolphin Point, when a friend from Tom’s school days grabs me; Susan Foster! Well, what a surprise! Neither was aware the other was here but we are now! We chatted for a bit before Susan went on to have a swim and I headed home for breakfast with plans to catch up sometime later in the day.
It was a lazy afternoon for us with time spent packing up Dagwood, grabbing a bite to eat and general tidying up before catching up with Susan and Guy at 5 pm at the Surf Club. We had a lovely time with them and then we went on to dinner at our favorite Noosa restaurant, Locale. This venue never disappoints and we had a great night there to celebrate our last night in Noosa. We head back to Sydney tomorrow.
Friday 23rd May
It was the most glorious morning for our last in Noosa and, despite having enjoyed our 5 nights here, it made me a bit disappointed to be leaving. Especially as we were likely heading back to a very wet and waterlogged Sydney. We took one last walk along the Noosa boardwalk out to Dolphin Point and ran into the Fosters yet again. Quite remarkable when you think about the odds of this. The boardwalk was much busier today and we suspected the Saturday Marathon must have brought the extra crowd to the region.
Our departure from the apartment and trip to the airport was uneventful. We’d greatly enjoyed our time at On The Beach and would definitely return to this accommodation. We stayed in the one bedroom beachfront with spa option and there are only two such rooms in the building; Apartment 15 and 16. We were in 15 and we think that would have the slightly better view as the outlook was less blocked by foliage. I highly recommend this choice for anyone considering staying in Noosa and wanting a great waterfront option.
