Noosa National Park is amazing! Olivia joked about it being a wildlife-on-demand day, and Noosa certainly didn't disappoint the crowd. We got to the park, where Olivia and Greg had not been before either, and headed over to the information booth. And on the way, we found this guy.
On the drive to FNQ, Olivia and Luke thought it so odd that I knew the kookaburra song, but I guess there just weren't many round songs for kids. Do you remember it? Four people/groups, each starting as one finished a line... "Kookaburra sits on an old gum tree, Merry merry king of the bush is he, Laugh kookaburra laugh kookaburra, Gay your life must be." Luke's 3-year old daughter has a new version, which he shared with me: "Kookaburra sits on an electric wire, Jumping up and down with his pants on fire, Laugh kookaburrra laugh kookaburra, Burnt your bum must be."
The Gregs went to find a map/brochure, and Olivia and I started to look at the info panels. Next thing we know, Greg (mine) is waving at us frantically. Why? Yes, wildlife-on-demand again.
Collette did say that she always sees koalas here. We actually saw four during the course of the afternoon. Given how little they move and how slowly, they were not the same one over again. Greg and Greg had this running joke about the "cast" of koalas and the "tourist-spot" assignments though: "Larry, today you take the tree by the info booth. Joe, how about that tree over the trail halfway to boiling pot....."
But we weren't done. In fact, we hadn't even started the hike yet! So off we went. It was cool with quite a breeze, cloudy and overcast. But there was no forecast of rain. It was really lovely, a coastal trail that winds through the tropical foliage, dramatic views, something new to see and explore around every corner.
Yes, there were surfers and sailboats out in the water.
The Gregs, caught admiring the view.
The point known as Boiling Pot. This is just like Devil's Punch Bowl on the Oregon Coast, where the rock formation traps the wave and it swirls and so bubbles like a pot at full boil.
Oh, it was beautiful!
More of my predilection for signs. Not quite stickman-in-peril, but of the same ilk. We saw the same wave caution in Hawaii.
Can you take any more?
Just one. This is where we stopped for lunch.
We pulled up here for a picnic lunch, which we'd bought at Eumundi Markets. It was fantastic! We could have done without the crows, butcherbirds, and noisy miners, all of which wanted us to share with them. But the dolphins were a bonus treat! Yes, we saw several small groups of dolphins cavorting in the waves just below us.
(Just to round out the wildlife list, this is a more complete list of birds that we saw in the park, based on Greg's (Olivia's) knowledge and our wildlife book: laughing kookaburra, butcherbird, crow, magpie, noisy miner, darter, variegated fairy-wren, pied butcherbird, pied currawong, caspian tern, and brown quail.)
Suddenly, we started to get wet. So we quickly packed up the remains of lunch, turned around, and the rain stopped. In its place, we found this, which turned out to be a lovely double rainbow, although that's hard to see in the photos.
So we opted for a different trek part of the way back, and of course, right after we set out, it started to pour. So we ducked under some trees. It was short-lived, and we continued on our way before long. Since there was still some daylight when we got back to the car, we decided to go into town. Noosa is a pretty little town. We saw one amazing gallery, but our destination really was the yacht club for beers.
Street posers.
And the day was not yet done! We finally negotiated the endless round-abouts in Noosa, and found our way back to Mooloolaba. We were planning to go for Indian, but it was packed with no tables for several hours. So we ordered take-away, and went to the video store. Greg and I apparently were sorely deficient in our Australian movie knowledge, so Olivia and Greg wanted to help fix that too. The video store was out of Australia, but they did have Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Dinner was tasty, and the movie was great fun. I think we had a second film too, but we were all too beat to even contemplate it. Besides, the next day was Sunday, and we had another full day planned.
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