We traded ocean travel for air and flew to Australia to visit family and friends for three and a half weeks over Christmas. We had a great time visiting everyone and added some fun adventures to the list.
We are lucky to have a large contingent of Aussie relatives as well as Aussie friends from previous travels. It was the perfect way to spend Christmas and bring in the New Year.
With retrospect now after the travel restrictions and challenges due to Covid, we are especially thankful that we were able to visit our Australian friends and family when we did. We’ve recently sailed from New Zealand to French Polynesia – so our earlier plans about potentially visiting Australia with Slingshot have been put on hold.
In early December 2019 we found a mooring in Russell to leave Slingshot and then took the bus into Auckland where we boarded a quick flight to Brisbane.
Brisbane – Our First Stop
For our first couple of nights we were hosted by a friend from university days in Brisbane and spent a couple of fun days walking through along the riverfront of the city and even visiting the University of Queensland where I’d spent an exchange year many years ago. It was fun to visit the beautiful sandstone Great Court and to reminisce about all the fun times. Thank you Shoes for a fun and memorable stay.
Mooloolaba, Alexandra Headland and Marcoochydore – we love the Sunshine Coast
Then we were off to the beautiful Sunshine Coast where we were hosted at a choice spot a block from Maroochydore beach and surf club. We enrolled the kids in surf lessons along with their cousins, and enjoyed watching them hit the beach and waves each morning. It was so nice to spread out in our own apartment, walk to Cottontree and ride bikes to Alex beach. Thank you so much Bev, Sharon and Alan – we had a wonderful stay.
On our second evening in town, we had a large family gathering at the Mooloolaba Surf Club. It was special to see everyone again and for Gavin and the kids to meet some of the family members they hadn’t met before. The kids chased each other around on the beach while the adults sipped drinks and had a lovely dinner on the deck. It was a fun night. Thank you Bev and everyone for organizing.
Noosa – Waves, Oysters and Hiking
Our next adventure was off to Noosa where we were lucky to be hosted in a beautiful resort (thank you Sharon and Alan!) a short walk down the hill to Noosa’s shops, beaches and the nearby national park. We enjoyed walking in the national park, going for dinner for oyster night and playing by the pool. Nathan was thrilled to have a sleepover with with his cousin Zane where they kept each other busy with a full rotation of sporting adventures. We loved Noosa – a beautiful surf spot and active crowd. We were eyeing how we might bring Slingshot to anchor nearby to enjoy some of the great surfing that Noosa is so well known for.
Daily Adventures in Buddina – Another Sweet Spot
After Noosa, we headed back to Buddina, where we stayed over Christmas and New Years with cousin Drew and Meegan. Their beautiful home right on the beach was a perfect home base for the festivities and adventures to come. We had delicious dinners, went surfing and played volleyball at the beach, had sunset walks, morning runs and workouts, river floating, kiting and windsurf adventures and even a pub crawl.
A highlight of our time was the multi-day catamaran ‘racing event’ where we raced Drew and Brin’s beach catamarans (complete with multi trapeze hook up points) out of the river and caught the waves surfing into Mooloolaba beach. Much fun was had racing each other holding on tight as we whooped and hollered at each other catching waves. Of course each leg of the route was a race – the first to exit the river, racing to surf the waves, and then a race back to the beach haul out area. It was a competitive series with the Canadians versus the Australians being tied on the last day and the final result is still in dispute 🙂
An Aussie Christmas – Mudcrabs, Prawns, Pavlova and Family
Celebrating Christmas with family in Australia was very special for us. We enjoyed a Christmas breakfast and then a magnificent seafood lunch. Each of us had our own huge mud crab complete with giant pincher claws. There was a huge platter of prawns, sumptuous salads and fresh bread to go along with the seafood. Then we relaxed as we made room for the delicious deserts to come – passionfruit pavlova, mocha coffee chocolate cheesecake, and fresh mango daqueries topped off the meal. It was a delectable feast and one that we will all look back on with fondness (and grumbling tummies) for a long time to come! Thank you all – Jocelyn, Wendy, Andre, Drew and Meegan for the amazing day.
For Boxing Day, we had another feast with more family over to visit– this one a little bit more Canadian style, with lasagne, salads and delicious leftovers. It was another fantastic afternoon and evening spending time with family. Then it was time to ring in the New Year, at a party hosted by Drew and Meegan watching fireworks from the deck. It was so fun to see everyone and a wonderful way to bring in 2020.
Fun with Nan
Thank you to Auntie Jocelyn who took the kids to the movies and game park while the parents enjoyed a night out. And we all loved the visiting the zoo where we got to cuddle Koalas, pet a sugar glider and dodge the kangaroos and emus meandering through the grounds.
More Visiting and Goodbye to Sunshine Coast – Thank you for an amazing time!
On one of the mornings after surf camp, we had a fun visit with Auntie Marjie and Uncle Graham at their beautiful home on Alex street. Built on the site of Nana’s former property, we were so interested to see the development in person. The kids had fun in the pool and we had a nice time catching up. Auntie Pat and Uncle Danny stopped by for a visit too which was fun. It’s been a long time since the Canadians had been back to Australia.
We were sad to say goodbye to Drew and Meegan and family after such an incredible time. We spent the last evening laughing over old photos from Drew’s ‘highlight reel’ as we reminisced over the many previous trips and had visits we’ve had together. A theme of adventure and a bit of mischief seemed to prevail and we certainly added some photos to the highlight reel this time around. All of the (second) cousins playing together non-stop was so much fun for them. We were all sad to leave. Thank you so much for having us guys – we look forward to more fun and adventures in the future!
Gold Coast – Surfing, music and more family time
After leaving Mooloolaba we headed down to the ‘other coast’ – the Gold Coast and Surfers Paradise. We stayed in a cute spot at Burleigh Heads and enjoyed driving around and taking in the sights. We had a lovely dinner at my cousin Daynia’s place. Daynia is a talented musician and we loved taking part in her Saturday morning music session at the beach. The next morning it was off to the surf and she took us out to catch waves. We had a great visit! Thank you Daynia and family!
We were impressed with the kiters kiting in the waves right off of Surfer’s Paradise and made a mental note to return with more kites in hand. Wow, what a great spot!
Stopover at Manley and a Coastguard Tour
Our last stops of our visit were back in the Brisbane area. First we visited my aunt Wendy at her beautiful home overlooking the water in Manley. It was great to catch up and walk to the waterfront. A highlight was the personal tour we received of the Brisbane Coastguard station where Uncle Bill spent many years of service and was a Commander in the mid 90’s.
Final Visit in Brisbane – Goodbye everyone and thank you so much for having us!
Last but not least was our final stop to visit more family – Karen, Stephen and Jett in Brisbane. We loved cooling off in their awesome backyard pool as we caught up and visited. Thank you so much for having us and hosting us for a fantastic dinner.
Early the next morning we were off to the airport and on our way back ‘home’ to Slingshot. It was a whirlwind three and a half weeks and we loved every minute of it! Thank you Australian friends and family – we had a fabulous time!
Thank you so much for sending
me your latest adventures.It sounds like you are having a wonderful time.
Jer and Sarah-Jane are here now
on Mayne…..Ella and Beth come
tomorrow when we will enjoy
some tubing,sailing and boating.
Happy hours and great meals on
our new big lower level deck.
Hadn’t seen them in awhile cause
of Covid but now they are in our
bubble.
Continue making wonderful memories…..you will never forget
this experience and your kids will
always cherish this time away.
Big hugs to you all …Jane W
Thank you! So glad you are all together on Mayne and enjoying family time. Say hi to all for us Xo