Noosa is nice...

Having never been to Noosa before, the Handsome Australian and I have been quite pleased with what we've found here. Noosa and the surrounding area of Noosaville is a lovely little beach side village where there is something for everyone. As I've mentioned before, the Handsome Australian is a bit of a foodie, so the restaurants of Noosa were of particular interest. After that, it was pretty much the beach.

One morning we tried breakfast at Berardo's on the Beach. This restaurant with a refreshing atmosphere sits right on the Noosa Beach Boardwalk. What that means for it's diners is amazing views of the beach right from your table. The location is second to none in terms of closeness to the beach and having a great view--unfortunately, the food didn't rate and the service left us disappointed. The photo below is the Big Breakfast at Berardo's (it'll cost you $19 AUD): two poached eggs, bacon, hash brown, grilled tomatoes, and local sausage. Nothing special about this breakfast, except the fact that the bacon was way overcooked. If you like it crispy, then perhaps Berardo's is the place for you.After breakfast, it's always lovely to spend a bit of time on the beach. Noosa's beach is a nice one. The sand is soft and clean and has a whitish tone to it. The water has a beautiful crystal blue colour. This happens to be a long holiday weekend here in Noosa this weekend, but you can see from the photos, there is still plenty of room on the beach. That's another thing I love about Australia--even during busy times, there is literally no one here. World's best kept secret I reckon...either that or it's outrageously expensive to get here so no one bothers. Either way, it just means more room for the rest of us!

This photo is of a rocky outcrop near some parkland along the beach. The Handsome Australian and the little ones had a terrific time searching the rock pools here for sea creatures. They spotted lots of things--small fish, sea anemone, crabs, and the list goes on. It was better than a visit to the aquarium.

Ahh....Noosa....

We went to a cafe called Aroma's one day for lunch. Aroma's is located in the heart of Noosa's famous Hastings Street (which is the main strip that runs through the village). Aroma's is said to be styled after a Parisian cafe with all the chairs facing outward toward the street. It's apparently Noosa's see and be seen place to go. We had a late lunch there one day and we weren't disappointed. The photo below is the Spiced Prawns salad. It was, in a word, delicious. It did take awhile to order our food here--you have to go to the counter to place your order--but once our order was in, the food came out quickly and efficiently. The coffees were good here too and met the Handsome Australian's very high coffee standard. The four year old was impressed with the design the barista managed to make in the latte cream. That's generally a sign of someone who knows what he's doing and according to the Handsome Australian, this guy did. A good coffee makes the Handsome Australian very happy. We like it when he's happy.

After lunch it's back to the beach for some more fun in the sun. The Handsome Australian loves the beach. He loves the sand, the surf and the thrill that comes with swimming in the ocean. Unfortunately for him, I grew up in the desert where there was no water for miles. I have no idea what to do with so much water. So I leave the ocean swimming to him.

All that sitting on the beach can make a girl really tired and even a bit thirsty. Good thing a hot steamy latte isn't too far away. Check out this beach side espresso bar where you can saddle up with your speedos and get your afternoon caffeine fix.

Yes, it really is all about the beach here.

Oh yeah and the food. This is what's left of our dinner from Holy Mackerel Fish and Chips shop in Noosaville. This box was filled to the top with fillets of fish, calamari, fish bites, potato cakes and hot chips (that's Aussie for french fries). This is probably some of the best fish and chips I've ever had in Australia. It was well done and nicely packaged in the big cardboard box. This box full of fish and chips known as the Family Pack costs about $35 AUD. It was enough to feed the four of us and then some. There was plenty left over.


And finally, it's nearly time for sunset at the Noosa Yacht Club.
Ah, yes Noosa. A lovely little holiday destination. The Handsome Australian and I would highly recommend it.

An Australian Holiday

As you, my loyal readers (all two of you--thanks so much for stopping by), may have noticed, I've been missing from the blog for awhile. Sorry for not posting more regularly recently, but life has been moving at an awfully quick pace outside the blogosphere and I've been endeavouring to keep up with it. This week though, it's all about relaxing and taking it easy on holiday.

On Sunday, which was Father's Day here in Australia (yet another difference between the USA and here. I've got to remember to wish my Dad back in the USA Happy Father's Day in June, and then tee my kids up with presents and cards for the hubby here in September. It can be very confusing at times. Anyway, back to my point...) the Handsome Australian and I bundled our children into a taxi at the very early hour of 5am and took a ride to the Melbourne Airport.

Once we arrived at the Melbourne Airport, we made our way to the Virgin Blue luggage drop off counters and checked our bags in for our flight to Brisbane, Queensland. Our time at the airport was really not that interesting except for the fact that not a single person--at the ticket counter or in subsequent security checks or at the gate for boarding asked any of us for any form of identification. I think that's the first time in a long time I've travelled on an airplane and not been asked to prove who I am and that my name matches my ticket. It was like a throw back to the 70s or the 80s or whenever it was that we didn't need our IDs all the time.

In many ways it was refreshing as everyone was totally friendly and didn't treat each of us like a criminal with something to hide (which I have to say is often the feeling you get as you travel through security in the USA). On the other hand, it was a bit disturbing because you think, "Well they let me through, who else are they letting through?" Yeah, a very interesting situation to say the least.

Nevertheless, we boarded our flight and arrived safely several hours later at the sunny Brisbane airport. Brisbane wasn't our final destination though. We stopped briefly and picked up our hire car (that's Aussie for rental car) and took a two hour drive north along the Bruce Highway to a well known Australian holiday spot along the famous Sunshine Coast called Noosa.

We've never been to Noosa before and this is only our second visit to Queensland. I've lived in Australia for 8 years now, but have done very little domestic travel in that time period. The Handsome Australian and I have made it up to Sydney and across to Adelaide and have driven through a lot of rural Victoria and we even went on a road trip to Canberra once, but that pretty much does it for my domestic travel here.

Last year, we brought our children up to Queensland just before Christmas time and we spent a week on the Gold Coast (which is a touristy beach area just south of Brisbane). During that trip and this current one, I've been confronted with the odd feeling of what it's like to be tourist in the country in which you live, but not in which you are from. Does that even make sense?

It feels odd being a tourist in Australia because we do live here, but we don't live in Queensland. There are a lot of people from overseas about the place and in my interactions with the locals, many of them assume that I've come for a holiday directly from the USA because of my accent. They are very careful about asking you though as they don't want to offend. This was my conversation with the man who runs our hotel and assisted me in checking in:

Hotel man: "Welcome to Noosa. Where have you driven from today?"

Me: "Just up from Brisbane in the car, but we had to fly into Brisbane first this morning."

HM: "So you flew into Brisbane from...?"

Me: "We flew into Brisbane from Melbourne this morning."

HM: "So are you from Melbourne?"

Me: "Yes, that is where we are from (this is the part that freaks me out because I have to say I'm from Melbourne. I don't really feel like I'm from Melbourne). We live there."

HM: "But not originally right?"

Me: "I know, you are trying to work out the accent aren't you?"

HM: "Yes, well I know it's a North American accent, I just can't tell if you are Canadian or American."

Me: "Texan actually (that's a Texas thing, we claim our state first. We can't help it, we are a proud people. Also, this tends to freak Australians out as I don't have a very typical Texan accent and most of them refuse to believe that I'm actually from there so I do love saying it for shock value. Yes, I am that easily amused.)"

HM: "How long have you been in Australia for?"

Me: "8 years now."

HM: "Have you ever visited Noosa before?"

Me: "No, we haven't."

HM: "Well you are going to love it."

And the niceties continued until all the administration of checking in was complete.

So I guess the point I'm trying to make is it's weird to feel like an international tourist again in a country where I've lived for so long and now consider to be very much my home and to be asked questions as if I am an international tourist.

So the identity crisis continues...