Caloundra

Last Sunday before we headed back to Dalby, we stopped by the beach in Caloundra to see if it was worthwhile coming back to once it was a little warmer (it's almost winter here!) and because we've never seen the Pacific from this side of the world before.

Caloundra is on the southern part of the Sunshine Coast which is just north of Brisbane. The Gold Coast is just south of Brisbane. Apparently all coasts in Australia are beautiful, but the Gold Coast tends to be more high-rise condos right on the beaches (think Miami) with amusement parks nearby while the Sunshine Coast is more lower apartment, condos and hotels. If we go even further up the Sunshine Coast, it gets even more remote.

We parked at King's Beach and sat for awhile watching the lifeguards do some type of training with their raft boats. At this beach, they have lifeguards on station year-round and in order to be protected you have to swim between the yellow and red flags. Josh is pretty adamant on the point that he won't be getting in any Australia beach water since everywhere you are warned about rip tides and jellyfish.

There was also this awesome board walk that ran up above the beach. We went out there about 9:00 in the morning and there were tons of people out (though there are none in this picture). Lots of people running, riding their bike or setting up for picnics in the park that is right down the way. We spent about an hour walking along the boardwalk watching the surfers ride the waves in.

I did go down at one point and test to see if the water was as cold as I was thinking it would be (it was probably about ~70 degrees outside). It wasn't painful cold like the San Francisco bay, but I don't think that I would go at this time of year without a wetsuit.

Also, from the beach you could see some of the Glasshouse Mountains - those peaks in the picture below. The one all the way to the left in this picture is really funny looking - all crooked.

Obviously Australians think that the water is warmer than I do as noted by the guy in this picture who has no shirt on.

After walking we had brunch at this cafe right on the beach. It was delicious! We both thought that Caloundra was beautiful and will hopefully be visiting a lot more of the beaches over the next year.