Noosaville Tuesday 3/11/08

4:47 AM. Now we know what time the birds get up here. We thought it might be 5:05 as it was last time but we have moved many miles and one time zone. Our host here tells us that these are not rosellas, but rather lorikeets that are chatting at us at dawn, but they still look like parrots to us. It is impossible to describe the waves of noise they make, but suffice it to say that we have to shout to each other in order to be heard.

More chores this morning as we catch up on the laundry we began yesterday and some internet stuff that has been ignored. Our host is a Kiwi and he and his wife moved here a couple years ago for the perfect climate and the business opportunity of managing this apartment complex, a venture he hopes to sell for retirement cash in a couple more years. All of the apartments are individually owned and he has a lot of the issues we had with our Daggett Brook management venture. The owners are always harder to deal with than the guests, perhaps because the owners aren't on holiday.

It is almost noon by the time we start our walk into Noosa Head, the Beverly Hills of this part of the world. We are moving pretty good and it still is a 45-minute walk so we think it must be a couple miles downriver. The ocean beach is here and we saw an international surfing contest on the news last night from right here. There are still a lot of surfers off in a corner of the beach who seem to know what they are doing, but we don't really know if we would recognize a surfing competition if we saw one. We do recognize a huge sandwich a guy on the beach wall is scarfing down and we ask him where he found it. He points us around some corners and through some shops to a place called "Burger Edge," (franchises available). We both have the burger of the month that has mustard and brie and all sorts of other stuff and is the size of a canteloupe. For calorie reduction we stroll along Hastings Street, and if this is Beverly Hills, Hastings Street is Rodeo Drive. Some very nice shops, restaurants and lodging facilities line about six blocks that run along a strip between the ocean and the river. At the end of the shops a parkland extends another half mile out to the confluence of the river and ocean and the meeting of the two is very dramatic.

We pull off our shoes and walk the half mile back to town on the beach. There are all sorts of surfing classes going on here with kids of all ages. Since this is a school day we assume that these are school sponsored physical education classes, and the children are learning a big part of Aussie culture. Why not? We cut back into town and finish snooping around the other side of Hastings street before catching the late afternoon river ferry back to our part of the world. The river is lined with some very nice homes and the ferry skipper tells us that they run from about $2 million on up. We get off in the park beyond our apartment and walk back along the river. This park is about a mile long and in addition to the ususal playground equipment and picnic facilities, there are pieces of exercise equipment every 50 meters so you can stop your jog to pump some iron every little while. We enjoy looking at it.

The lorikeets are back and again the noise is beyond loud. We have decided to eat in tonight so we walk to a local Thai restaurant for take-away and we can hardly hear each other over the bird chattering along the way. We grab a Tom Yum, a green chicken curry, a fried Thai Noodle, and white rice to share. We eat dinner while we watch "It Takes Two" an Aussie show that pairs a celebrity with a professional singer to sing duets. It is just like "Dancing with the Stars" with singing instead of dancing. There is a footballer who is pretty good, and the local weather girl lasts another week. It is a fun show. When the news comes on we see that the surfing pairs finals were today at Noosa Heads beach. So, no we wouldn't recognize a surfing contest if we saw one.
We get to bed early so we can be done sleeping when the birds get us up.

Today's local headline: Ending of an Era Noosa News (After 98 years, Shire council has its last meeting due to consolidation with other government entities.)