Day 5: Sunshine Coast unfortunately without Sunshine

Today our alarm goes off a bit earlier as we want to pick up our camper van on time. After breakfast, we pack our belongings into the car and head to the address provided by the camper van rental. We booked the camper van through a German travel agency specializing in Australia trips. The rental company is Cruisin. Unfortunately, we can't find the rental office at the specified address. The nice lady at the car rental next door tells us that the company has moved. She is kind enough to look up the new address for us so that we can set off again. This time, we find the rental office. My husband drops me and our little one off along with the luggage and returns to the airport with our son to drop off the rental car. They will then come back by taxi. In the meantime, we take care of the paperwork and familiarize ourselves with the vehicle. The camper van is similar to the German version - not as spacious as the American models. The large storage space at the back is completely missing. No idea where we'll put our suitcases - it will surely be funny tonight when we unpack. Once the men are back and the remaining formalities are sorted out, we set off with the 'ship' that will be our home for the next 10 days.

Driving the big camper van is okay - at least the turn signal is on the right side again. We head north to the Sunshine Coast. However, it is rather gray and starts to drizzle. Our first stop is at Glasshouse Mountains Lookout. At least it's dry at the moment. From the lookout point, you have a great view of the green landscape with its jagged volcanic mountains.

During the drive, we briefly consider stopping at the Queensland Air Museum. But after looking at the website, we decide against it - for the price, there is not much to see and nothing special. Maybe we are spoiled by the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington.

So, we only get something to eat - once again 'healthy fast food' - and then we continue driving.

The closer we get to the coast, the heavier the rain becomes. Damn. We decide to do our shopping earlier in the hope that it will get drier. The plan doesn't quite work out, but at least it's dry for a short time when we arrive at Point Cartwright Lighthouse. The sea at Point Cartwright Beach is very rough with quite high waves.

From the lighthouse, it's only a short distance to our campground. The reservation caused me a restless night as I received a message yesterday saying that our reservation was for yesterday. But I was certain that I had reserved for Saturday. And that was correct, the people at the campsite made a mistake. So, we were able to easily get our pitch. Unfortunately, it rained more and more, so we spent the evening in the camper van. But we still had to unpack the suitcases. The storage compartments inside the camper van turned out to be relatively spacious, so we were able to store our belongings without a problem. The only question was where to put the suitcases. Unfortunately, Australian camper vans don't have a spacious 'basement' and the only external storage compartment was already almost overwhelmed with smaller camping chairs. On a whim, we placed the empty suitcases in the shower - we probably won't use them anyway, as all campsites are equipped with sanitary facilities. After that was done, we had spaghetti with tomato sauce for dinner and then ended the day with a game of Quix.

For the statistics:

Accommodation: Alex Beach Cabins and Tourist Park, Alexandra Head

Distance driven: 33 + 128 km

Distance walked: 4 km

Weather: cloudy with rain showers, 15-22°C