Coast Travelers

We have finally hacked someone else’s internet! Life on our end has been so much fun! We left Brisbane and we drove up the coast. We stayed Saturday night in an amazing town called Caloundra. We randomly picked the town and our campsite (a parking stall) and posted up for the day. Because we arrived in Caloundra around 10am we got to spend all day walking around town and playing on the beach. We went to two variety stores, their version of a dollar store, and got everything we needed for the van so far. A frying pan, dish soap, cleaner for the countertops, a wash basin, toiletries and a few other things. We now have the van very well equipped and are so happy we don’t have to spend any immediate money on stuff. Caloundra was the perfect first town because it had a long boardwalk right along the ocean. We walked and ran that a couple of times. It also had a free public pool. However, it was not exactly what I expected because instead of fresh water they pumped salt water straight from the ocean. I opted to lay out for a bit instead of swim. We also took advantage of the farmers market on Sunday morning and got all the fruit and veggies we could eat for $7.50. This was our first big bargain and we were so excited that our brekkie was made up of fresh tomatoes, avocados, bananas and apples.

We left Caloundra in search of some other great beach town and we seriously just keep finding one after the other. The coast line is breathtaking and the towns are awesome. We have decided to drive through a few towns, get out, walk the beach and hop back in the car. We decided if we got out and stayed at every great beach we would never make it up the coast in our year here. So we drove through Coolum, attended a Father’s Festival and street market in Maroochydore, ate lunch on a bluff overlooking a mile long beach and read for a few minutes on Noosa beach. We stayed last night in Noosaville. We parked right next to the Noosa River and made our first dinner in the van! We used the BBQs here and made ourselves an awesome spaghetti and meatball dinner!!!!! It tasted so yummy and the process to make it was even better! We are heading out again this morning for a few small hikes where we hope to spot koala bears and dolphins! We’ll post some more pictures when we find internet again!
A few funny tidbits:

It is really expensive here. Let me give you an idea. A box of cereal is about $7.00. However, we got the store brand corn flakes for about $2.50. All the clothes are ridiculously expensive so thankfully we are not here to shop. Going out to eat is impossible so right now so we consider Subway a nice meal out! We are so lucky that we were planning a trip like this because for us the bargain hunting and funny instances are comical and make the trip even better. We don’t pay for campsite but instead sleep in a parking lot. However, while this may sound a little strange it is practically perfect and definitely paradise. Our parking lot is always less than 20 yards from a beautiful sandy beach and there are always facilities within a short walk. The grocery stores all close around 9pm but without fail they all close at 530pm on Saturday. Why? We don’t know. We are never the only van parked in a parking lot for the night. It is always a really good feeling when some fellow van pulls in because we don’t feel like we are doing something completely illegal. We routinely go to bed at 8pm and get up at 545am. For right now it works perfectly. We get to bed early and than have nice long days on the road and in new towns!

We’re headed up the coast for now! Time for some brekkie and to hit the road. Love you all!