Such stunning scenery, beaches, sea (sea you cant swim in) and weird culture – close down by 8pm and nowhere to eat in Noosa, lovely river life on boats and my first experience of the updated McDonalds automatic booking and ‘loaded fries’!

Having met Bex in Don Det and then Siem Reap, she invited me to visit her in Noosa when I was in Aus so I did!  Never been this far up and to the coast, it was a real treat!  A beautiful, hot area and stunning and offbeat experiences to be had there!

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I didn’t do the beautiful Whitsunday isle but did see Rainbow Beach and it’s various shades of sand dunes, long, white sandy beaches along the shark infested seas that are cool and inviting on such hot, sandy, desert-like treks along there!

I got to ride and drive along the side in Bex’s 4 wheel drive, watch her help and advise visitors stuck in the sand how to escape, and find that people go to bed at 9 pm, restaurants close at 8pm and shops at 5 pm even in a tourist haunt like Noosa!

We dipped in the wide ocean, seeing nothing ahead but water, and behind a wide beach, water lagoon left by receding tides and backed by dunes of white, pink and yellow sands!  Stunning!

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We explored a red sand rock gulley and watched seabirds overhead; we sunbathed and laughed, walked, rode and chatted – what fun that day was, and the cute little townships around the area we stopped at for coffee, food and shorts!

Hats, glasses, sun cream and limited sun here to protect ourselves from the harmful rays, more acute over Sydney and the north east coast where the atmosphere is damaged …

We shopped by the river, ferry ride and walks, staying in the apartments her parents manage, and watching with them a couple of real Aussie films – The Dish and The Man from Snowy River (always simple and straightforward titles, like the people and communication between them!)

Also, I still need to watch the The Castle which is pretty funny I hear, and a certain sense of humour that can only be Australian!   And from living there in my 20s and realising their limited sense of humour, nothing’s changed but you can appreciate its simplicity (see the beer ads!)

These people are a breed on their own – so far from others, like New Zealand too, and simple, honest and real if unsophisticated in parts (the size of this country is amazing!)

Bex took me to feed the dolphins where they used to help the old time local fisherman catch fish and share the spoils human and dolphin, so they and each generation come to maintain that friendship! It was amazing to do.