Getting organised in Noosa

Noosa is a widely strung out cluster of villages.  Having safely arrived and settled into our accommodation near the northern end of Sunshine Beach  (precisely, a few metres steep walk up from entrance 27, which is also the boundary line between dog and no-dog beach territory), we had to forage for groceries for the first days. Too late to buy fancy bread, we found a Bakers Delight in one village. Also in the cluster an excellent fish shop where the daily offering is cut into fillets, along with various crustaceans. All self select and carry to the cash register to be weighed and paid, which I have not encountered in a fresh fish shop before.  Standing and mulling some unfamiliar names, one of the managers explained the choices, and on his telling us that the coral trout was rarely available, it was a natural choice. Coles,  Woolworths, and Aldi give each other wide berth, not in easy walking distance between each, but we visited all of them to acquire fair trade coffee, Norwegian smoked salmon,  quality raw muesli, blueberries, and European cheese. I was expecting tropical fruit but it’s not in season . We got bananas (well they are tropical ) and a not quite fully ripe section of pineapple from a small fruiterer. The next day we found a place offering baguettes to French standards .

The holiday laze began.We took an exploratory walk along our end of the beach up to the bathing flags. The next day we made a supposedly modest beginning of the recommended coastal walk around the headland which stretches from Sunshine Beach to Main beach 5.4 km  one way; we went 1km going as far as Alexandria Bay  (it was 2 hours tough going return). The beach had rough surf ; it is reputedly nudist, though there were no such sightings by us, nor of dolphins or whales. The bush turkeys are prevalent, but they also stroll through the shopping precincts.. Below is the rising path from our end of the beach. Entrance 27 is the scoop into the bush in the middle distance showing houses above.

Our first meal out was the very lyrically reviewed Pasta Pronto, diners competing to find higher superlatives. The pasta, home made,  and sauces were indeed of excellent standard, portions sufficient to feed a platoon , and since I am trained to eat everything and W was defeated by her serve, we found ourselves unable to order the equally revered tiramisu. Perhaps this is a mild dampener on Acolytes of TripAdvisor.

However the chap on the next table opened a conversation by asking whether I was Sir Ninian Stephen

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I’ll take that question as a compliment, even though my doppelgänger is no longer with us. On receiving my denial he said I had some QC look about me. How to make a friend!

Alexandria Bay