Rainbow Beach and Noosa

After our adventure on Fraser Island, we continued along the east coast on Friday. We wanted to visit Rainbow Beach, which was recommended to us by our fast-traveling tomato colleagues. It is located opposite the southern tip of Fraser Island and we had to drive 1.5 hours from Hervey Bay. Unfortunately, we had some bad luck during this time, which is costing us quite a bit. We were stopped by the police and after the usual driver's license check, they told us that they had stopped us because we were driving an unregistered car. I knew that our registration expired at the end of November, but I had the date November 28th in mind. I also thought that you could still drive the car for a transitional period because I had read that on one of the government websites. Unfortunately, I was wrong about both. The registration expired on November 19th, and because we hadn't renewed it yet, we had a problem. The fine for driving the car amounted to a whopping $390, and on top of that, we were given permission to continue to Rainbow Beach to renew the registration. Otherwise, we would have had to stop in the middle of the highway. That was so annoying!! A completely unnecessary experience. Especially because the registration costs $402 for 6 months, so now we are basically paying double. That's a pretty big unexpected expense, so now we'll have to save even more on other things...

After the police incident, Andi and I were pretty down. We had actually wanted to go surfing again at Rainbow Beach, but neither of us felt like it anymore. Instead, we made ourselves a nice lunch, then laid down at the beach and chilled. At the supervised bathing beach, there were high waves and they were really cool. By the way, the beach is called Rainbow Beach because there are colorful sandstone cliffs that can be seen from the bathing beach in the distance. At least, I believe so, because otherwise I can't explain the name :D

In the afternoon, we drove a bit further south before stopping at a rest area near Gympie in the hinterland for the night. Funny enough, we ran into Anna and Roman again, who happened to be staying at the same campground. Unfortunately, it started raining and we couldn't sit outside together. Andi and I quickly made garlic and oil pasta and ate it in the car. We set up the tablet in front of the windshield, creating a real cinema atmosphere for a movie. It was really cool!

The next morning, we continued to Noosa. It is a holiday coastal town that marks the northern end of the Sunshine Coast. On the way there, there was a sign on the road for a "scenic lookout", so we decided to drive there. It was really worth it! The path led to the Tewantin Forest Reserve, where there was a 500m walk from a car park to the lookout. From there, you stood 265m above sea level and could get a 360° panoramic view of the entire landscape. We saw the ocean, the districts of Noosa, the lakes off the coast, many small towns, and the hills of the "hinterland", as it is actually officially called. It was really magnificent! By the way, there is another funny word derived from German that the Aussies use: abseiling. It means rappelling down a steep rock face. So funny! :D

After the great lookout, we went back to the main road and continued into the town. As always, we first went to the Visitor Information Centre. Unfortunately, the guy there didn't have many tips for us and didn't really promote the place. He only recommended a walk in the national park. Noosa is also known as a surf spot, so we also asked about that, but unfortunately, the conditions for surfing were not good that day. We didn't see anyone surfing at Main Beach, which was right behind the Visitor Centre, even though it was really crowded. It was Saturday, and it seemed like the whole town was at the beach. Not our thing. We quickly had lunch and then strolled up and down the fancy shopping street. There were really nice things, but also quite expensive. After that, we drove to Noosa National Park, which occupies a headland of the coastal stretch. At that time, the weather had turned quite gloomy and we decided to bring rain jackets with us.

First, we wanted to go to Dolphin Point (a lookout on the coast) because several people had told us that you often see dolphins in Noosa. And I really would have liked to see some dolphins! Unfortunately, the walk there was closed due to construction work, so we could only walk to Boiling Pot. It was very beautiful there, but we didn't see any dolphins. After that, we did a walk inside the national park because the guy at the Visitor Centre said that you could see koalas there. So we walked down the 3-way and then back on the 2-way. Only a little over 2 miles in total, but no one told us about the difference in altitude. It was quite steep at times! In between, it actually started raining, but luckily not too hard. We didn't see any koalas either. But the walk itself was very beautiful, it went through different types of forests and there were many great plants and birds to see.

After the walk, we did some shopping and then drove back to a free rest stop nearby for the night. The next day was Sunday and we had already researched the weekend markets, so we went to Noosa Farmers Market right after breakfast. It was really great! There, you could see a completely different Australia, an environmentally conscious scene just as obsessed with superfoods as in Germany. From German sausages and Spätzle to French pastries and Asian specialties, as well as superfood mueslis, smoothies, and stands selling regional farmers' fruits, everything was there. Many stands were nicely decorated and at some of them, you could try the food, so we indulged in lamb sausages, gnocchi, falafel, and muesli. We also treated ourselves to a smoothie because they just looked so delicious. And it was really good. We also bought passion fruits to continue our tropical fruit tasting. However, most things there were simply too expensive for us. The fruits and vegetables cost just as much as in the supermarket, even though you would think that they would be cheaper at the market. But it was definitely worth driving there for a stroll and a look!

Before lunch, we went to a shopping center where there were free showers, took a shower, and then continued to Mooloolaba. On the way, we had lunch in one of the small towns on the Sunshine Coast in a park, and when we arrived in Mooloolaba, we laid down on the beach. There was quite a lot going on here too because of the weekend, but this time it had more of a holiday feel and we just relaxed on the beach. In the late afternoon, we started looking for a place to sleep and ended up on the same rest area as the day before. After dinner, something special happened: gingerbread cookies. Last Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent, and Andi and I decided that to celebrate the Advent Sundays, we would buy a delicious Christmas sweet. The first one was a large pack of heart, star, and pretzel gingerbread cookies for $5. The price was actually okay, and they were originals from Germany. To go with the gingerbread cookies, we lit a candle, and with the cooler temperatures towards the night, the Christmas atmosphere really set in. It was really nice :)

By the way, we also wanted to decorate our car a bit for Christmas, so we bought window stickers. I stuck them on the rear side windows, and now we always have a nice view of Santa and white glittering snowflakes while sleeping :D

On Monday, we had planned a trip to the Glass House Mountains and other places in the hinterland. I'll tell you about it in the next entry :)