Life on the Sunshine Coast goes on. Sun, rain, sun, rain, sun, rain … To be fair, this is the wet season, and in between the showers it gets lovely, sunny and dry!
During the time we were in Brisbane, Robin and Linda cleaned their car, the Ford Everest, and swapped it for a brand new white monster. A BYD Sealion 8. The model was introduced to Australia just the previous week. Talk about being trend-setters! Talk about us being confused when we arrived at Woombye station. No Ford in sight. To be fair, no BYD either, but that did trundle down the road a few minutes later. Full of inventive Chinese inventiveness. It even tells you when to take a coffee break – a camera is scanning the driver’s face all the time for signs of tiredness, boredom, yawning or extensive blinking. They just need a microphone to pick up snoring and the car will be really safe! Or just dead annoying! One really excellent feature is that on entry, the seats lower to make it easier to get aboard. Then when the doors are shut, the seats return to their programmed height. Neat. (Just discovered that the Tesla does the same, if you have the right settings activated!)
Frisby is a fixture. Every Sunday, late afternoon – come rain or sun. And it’s Sunday, so we are at the beach in Caloundra spectating frisby from a safe, non-sandy distance. And here is the new car. BYD aka “Build Your Dreams”.
We visited the Coolum Surf Life Saving Club a few times. It has become one of our favourite coffee stops. We really should have taken out social membership the first time we called! We visited the Maroochy River Golf Club (where we are members) several times for coffees or coffee and cake deals. And twice for the Wednesday evening steak night. 250 gm rump steak with chips and salad for $ 22 pp. Really good!
Now. The slippery step story! At the water park on Phu Quoc, while not taking any of the wild and dangerous rides and slides, I restricted myself to the lazy river where nothing violent ever happens. But getting to the river involves lots of steps. When wet they are indeed very slippery. I came to rest at the bottom of one flight with a bit of a lump on the back of my head! Luckily, I was almost at the bottom of the flight when the incident occurred. So I didn’t bump down many steps. To be fair one bash was enough. I guess I was a bit dazed for a few seconds, but was able to get up and indeed, ride the lazy river again. I didn’t report the incident to the sub-editor, but I did tell Robin (who is pretty good at monitoring sports injuries). He diagnosed a bit of concussion. This developed into brief spells of vertigo when I lay down in bed. The ceiling lights circled gently above me for a few seconds before settling down. Bending over to tie my shoe laces was a bit interesting too! The deal struck with Robin was that if these symptoms lasted more than two weeks, I should go and see a doctor. Well they did, so I did … and I told a rather unamused Glenda! This was the reason that I had been resisting booking a side trip to New Zealand!
The doctor was booked (at 1 hour’s notice – just like in the UK – not!). He gave me a good going over. Eyes, working. Ears, selectively working (as well as they do). No physical signs of damage. Heart, working. Brain, suspect – but that’s absolutely normal! “You should be apples … but … we could arrange a brain and inner ear examination by CT if you feel that would be helpful.” “Will tomorrow afternoon be OK?” Could do – will do – did!
“Can you send me the results by email?” ” No, impossible – I can’t share them with you unless you have an Australian medical providers number!” ” But, maybe, I can put everything on a disc for you.”
Robin transferred all the data to Martin, for an under-the-radar peek. Not sure how legitimate this is, but he reported that there were no issues to be concerned about and sent me one picture which indicated that I really did have a brain – even if it was shrinking with age!
Three working days later, the doctor reported the same findings, but without the picture of my brain! All a bit quicker than we would find in the UK. (There it would be three weeks minimum for a doctor’s appointment, possibly three months for a non urgent CT scan and results some time next year!)
After another two weeks, the Vertigo just switched off – hopefully for good. One night spinning lights, the next, all serene. And fortunately, not a rotating light in sight since. The spinning overhead fan was a bit confusing though!
Enough of that! Too much even. We visited the Imaginatively named “Yandina Hotel” for a beer. A typical Australian tavern …
… and lunch after in the Gun Cotton Coffee Roasters. Excellent croque monsieur and green papaya salad.
The place comes complete with cold drip coffee preparation …
The café derives its name from its location in an historic building that once served as a storage facility for … you guessed it … gun cotton (a nitrocellulose explosive) during early European settlement.
The company now promotes the term “Gun Cotton” to describe the high-impact quality and aroma of their small-batch roasted beans.
Another one of our favourite places to visit for “coffee and atmosphere” is Spicers Clovelly. Near Montville, on the ridge a few miles inland from the coast. A very elegant space – which we had to ourselves.
And the beautiful garden, complete with hibiscus.
And tables with a view.
Just near there, the land falls away to what was once a fertile valley settled by farmers as the “Baroon Pocket”. This is now Lake Baroon.
The valley was flooded to provide drinking water to the area when the Baroon Pocket Dam was built across the Obi Obi Creek (completed in 1989).
One of the farming families displaced by the dam (George and Aldy) had had grand plans for the construction of cabins along the banks of the Obi Obi Creek. But when the creek became a lake, they had to move up the hillside with their plans. Many years of work followed. First came the boathouse, built with recycled timbers and features, followed by the old Beerburrum Railway Station in search of a new name and home. Slowly the treehouses were designed and built, high in the rainforest filled with amazing woodcarvings, suspended fireplaces, and sumptuous spas.
They finally opened their business “Treetop Cabins on The Lake’” (later renamed “Secrets on The Lake”) in 1997. For George and Aldy, Secrets on the Lake is more then just a business, it is the culmination of all of their dreams … and they are still running the show. George sits at the restaurant exit and gives every lady a rose as they leave. This is Glenda’s, still looking good a week later!
A carved wooden echidna toilet roll holder is an small example of the attention to detail!
Lake Baroon is listed as “full” at present – something to do with all the rain that’s been falling in the area. However, the water level was miles below the spillway when we visited.
Maybe they’ve sprung a leak – and nobody’s told the gaffer!
As an aside, the traditional Custodians of the land hereabouts include the Kabi Kabi; the Jinibara; the Turrbal; the Jagera; the Quandamooka; the Danggan Balun; and the Yuggera Ugarapul peoples. Sounds a crowded place, but the “territories” of these peoples were large and overlapped a lot. I suspect the valley was some sort of place for meetings and exchange of stories and rumours. Like, “Have you heard whose taking over from Tjila Trump as big chief elder of the USA?” “No, but I hear the moon is going out tonight!”
Full Moon through the palm trees …
… almost full eclipse …
… blood moon …
… and coming back to life!
We are off to Longreach tomorrow, but a final walk on the beach and we found this message for you all – partly formed by burrowing crabs!!
Enjoy the west