Mooloolaba Beach, the Loo with a view

We checked out of the hotel in Brisbane and headed to the train station (heading downhill this time) and bought tickets to Nambour, where we’d be staying for the next two nights. The train journey took around 1 hour 30 along the Sunshine Coast line (north of Brisbane) and we used the time to relax and plan what we’d be getting up to. We decided to head to one of the many beaches along the Sunshine Coast – Mooloolaba Beach.

We arrived in Nambour and headed (literally) across the road to our hotel, the Nambour Commercial hotel, which was like a pub with accommodation. Out here, some large pubs are a bit different to home. Here, they have loads of things in them, for instance, around 40 fruit machines in a separate gambling section as well as horse racing betting booths, poker areas and a hotel area. It was the same in the bar where Scott works in Melbourne. We were shown to our room, which was nice with an en suite, cable TV and free Wifi (always a winner).

After dropping off our bags we headed back to the train station (which is also a bus station), and bought two tickets to Mooloolaba (at a bargain $9). The bus ride took approx. 1 hour and gave us the opportunity to see more of Queensland away from the bright lights of BrisVegas. Away from Brisbane, Queensland is a pretty rural place. Lots of large farms, wide roads and the typical American looking main street (Nicola and I have been getting a US of A vibe about Australia, maybe due to the wide roads, style of road signs, large pickups – or yutes – and obviously the currency – dollars).

After arriving at Mooloolaba Nicola and I quickly changed into our bathers and found a spot on the beach, which was amazing. White sand, azure sea and a cloudless blue sky – bliss. We went for a swim in the sea which we were pleased to find warmer than Sydney and Melbourne and spent a bit of time sun bathing. The waves were bigger than home, some came over my shoulders and head but we were pretty shallow so we rode the waves back into shore. We spent around 3 hours on the beach before we went for a wander along the promenade where there were a multitude of cafes and shops. We stopped for a hot chocolate and café latte, Nicola went for the hot chocolate and it was amazing…the café latte was alright.

 

 

We caught the bus back to Nambour and decided to stay at the hotel for food and to check out the gambling facilities (Nicola fancied a flutter). We both ordered a dish of the day ($10.50), mine was the pasta of the day and Nicola’s was the roast of the day. The pasta of the day was carbonara, and it was delicious, Nicola’s roast was pork which was nice (I exchanged some pasta for pork). We thought we would try some local drinks so I ordered a pot of gold – a pot of 4X Gold - I loved the word play and Nicola ordered a glass of wine called Amberley Kiss and Tell White Moscato and it was one of the nicest wines either of us had ever had. I then bought my first Schooner (say skoo-nuh) which is a glass slightly more than ¾ of a pint but not quite a pint, maybe 100ml short. Nicola then had a glass of Wyndham 555 Sparkling red but because they did not have enough to quite fill a whole glass they gave it to us for free (it was in a flute glass and perhaps 10ml short of being full!) so the second round of drinks came to $5.40.

We then went into the gambling section of the bar, which consisted of around 30 machines of assorted themes but apparently the same game. Nicola had a “flutter” – all the machines were $1 – but neither of us could quite work out what was going on, we just literally pressed a button and the tumblers rolled around on screen, there were no hold buttons or anything like that. At one point we won 50c but in the end the house won and took all our money…all $1 of it. Neither Nicola nor I could quite work out how people could get addicted to those machines, but Scott was telling us that in his bar, the 50 or so gambling machines pay for all the outgoing of the bar, such as wages, drinks etc. and everything else the bar makes from drinks is pure profit…crazy.

After the adrenalin rush from the fruit machine wore off, Nicola and I retired to our rooms for the night…one of us potentially having picked up a gambling habit.