Leaving The Hunter Valley we drove to Sydney, returned our rental car and hopped on a plane to Brisbane where we picked up another rental car and drove 2 hours north to Maroochydore. The day ran like clockwork, now we can settle into a relaxed 68 day road trip up the East coast to Cape Tribulation.
Maroochydore is in the heart of the Sunshine Coast, where the Maroochy River meets the Pacific Ocean. We spent 7 weeks around this area in 2020 so our return visit was all about relaxing and enjoying walks along the beach. Our apartment was in the tranquil Cotton Tree precinct, a serene village-like atmosphere perfect for those lazy days. We spent our time swimming at the nearby 50m pool (Susan), running along the waterfront pathway (Blair) and walking the beach all the way to the Alexandra Headland. Every day the ocean was busy with surfers, swimmers, kayakers and kite surfers.
While in Maroochydore we met up with fellow nomads Bill & Meg Nyland. We have been reading each others blogs for a few years now and missed each other by one day in Hastings, New Zealand but made plans to meet in Australia. They were staying in Brisbane and did a road trip up to Noosa Heads, stopping on the way for lunch with us at the Boat House in Maroochydore. We had a fabulous visit and as full time nomads we have a lot in common regarding our travel style and had a few laughs sharing travel stories. We look forward to meeting up with our new friends again one day.
Australia Zoo was founded by famed ‘Crocodile Hunter’ Steve Irwin and was closed because of covid in 2020 when we were here. The facility gets great reviews so we decided it was worth a visit. We arrived promptly at the 9am opening time to get ahead of the crowds, but with over 100 acres to cover we never really ran into any large groups of people. Our first destination was to see my favorite Aussie critters…the wombats, koalas and kangaroos.
I just love Wombats 🥰
At 2pm there is live show at the Crocoseum featuring a variety of the animals found in the zoo. The highlight being the massive crocodile fed by hand by a very brave employee. The safety precautions were numerous but it still looks like a risky job!
The zoo is big, really big, so it was no surprise that we spent 6.5 hours there wandering around the enclosures.
- Steve Irwin was quite the character
Noosa Heads is a popular beach town 40 minutes north of Maroochydore where you can find Noosa National Park and the lovely Coastal Walk track. When we arrived we were surprised how busy the town was and the parking lot at the trailhead was full. We drove around a couple of times and luckily someone was leaving so we snagged a parking spot. From the parking lot to Hell’s Gates is an easy 6.3km round trip along paved and dirt trails that hug the coastline. It’s a beautiful walk with stunning viewpoints along the way.
We have thoroughly enjoyed spending time in Maroochydore again. We both agree that this town would be on our short list of places to spend a few months. Within a short distance there are many beaches to walk, lots of inland hiking tracks as well as coastal tracks, and Brisbane is under 90 min away for a big city break. We did a lot of exploring the last time we were here so were able to kick back and relax this time.
Next up we are headed north into new territory for us. First stop, the twin towns of 1770 and Agnes Water…..