Noosa and the everglades
My bus dropped me off in Noosa just after 2pm, giving me 10 minutes to catch the shuttle to the hostel I’d booked in the everglades, around half an hour from town. There was an issue though - I’ve been cooking as much as possible to save money in an expensive country, and I didn’t have much food with me. With no supermarket near the middle-of-nowhere hostel I decided to head to the supermarket first, however that meant missing the shuttle and catching the next one, two and a quarter hours later. Obviously I didn’t need that much time for a quick supermarket run, so I negotiated with the shuttle driver to leave my rucksack on the shuttle and instead jumped on a local bus to Noosa Heads Main Beach to sit in the sun. I realised when I sat down on sand and felt the sun on my face that I’d really missed this. The last beach I properly sat and enjoyed was all the way back in Cambodia - I didn’t realise at the time how long it would be until my next. I only had an hour or so before I needed to head back to the supermarket, but it was enough to move a proper beach day up in my priorities.
I still haven’t really recovered from exhausting my energy in New Zealand and I arrived at the hostel still needing to rest. I rested, eventually went to sleep in my dorm (actually a large glamping style tent) and woke up in time to see the sun rise over the lake. The colours were beautiful and a couple of kangaroos hopped past on their way to start their days. The wild kangaroos are one of the main draws of this hostel - they live nearby and often eat and rest on grassy spots nearby. They come and go as they please but seem to enjoy being around the human presence, or at least are untroubled by it. My day of relaxation consisted of a walk around the mangroves, a nap, reading on the sand next to the lake, and watching the sunset colours appear and practicing my Spanish with Daniela, also staying at the hostel.
To be honest, I didn’t feel much better, but having seen the kangaroos and the sunrise I decided to catch the shuttle back to Noosa and find time for that beach day (it counts as rest). After leaving my bags in the hostel I caught a bus down to Castaways Beach, a quiet section of the coast with soft sand right up to a two metre drop down to foaming waves over wet sand below. I let the cold water wash over my feet for a while, but had no desire to go in any further. I sat and read and rested. My beach day desire was fully satiated when the next day I made an early start and completed the coastal walk in the Noosa National Park. With the help and company of Theresa who I met part of the way round, I saw a pod of dolphins offshore, a sea turtle who came up for a quick breath and a kookaburra sitting in a tree above the trail. The highlight though was sitting in the sun - slightly hotter than the previous few days - at Alexandria Bay, a long quiet beach within the national park. I didn’t realise how much I’d missed it.
A sunset at Noosa Heads Main Beach later, I headed back to the hostel. I’m barely scratching the surface of Australia, but the east coast is just miles and miles of beauty.