Down Under - Day Twenty Three, Friday, February 28, 2014, Sunshine Coast, Australia

G'day mate.

Coffee at the Beach.  Kylie, Darcy, Stevie and Julie

Stevie and I hopped on a plane to the Sunshine Coast today to visit dear friends from Aspen who moved back to Australia several years ago.  The Sunshine Coast did not disappoint ... the sun was shining brightly, something we haven't seen for the past three days.  We had a fabulous day visiting and catching up with Darcy and Kylie who live in a beautiful area near Noosa. 
 

The beaches are beautiful.   Julie, Kylie, Darcy and Stevie.

We stopped for coffee on the beach.  The blue waters of the Pacific and the white sand beach was seductively appealing.  

The walkways along the beach are stunning.

I could sit on that beach for days and never get enough.  I'm thinking I could definitely come back here!!  I loved the walkways along the beach that stretch for miles around the peninsula.  

While wandering the walkway along the beach, I was introduced to the Australian Brush Turkey.

Brush Turkey

The not particularly attractive birds  are everywhere.  I'm thinking, hey, this must be pretty handy around Thanksgiving, but then I realized Thanksgiving is an American holiday AND apparently, the meat is quite tough. We met a guy on the walkway who told us how to cook one.  He said to put the turkey in a big pot of water with a brick and boil it until the brick was tender.  Sounds tasty, yes?

When I decided to visit New Zealand and Australia, everyone advised me to go to Australia first because I'd be disappointed in Australia AFTER visiting New Zealand.  But I'm not convinced.  I've found Australia to be beautiful, interesting, cosmopolitan, and I find the beaches very alluring.   The two countries are quite different, but I can't say that one is hands down more beautiful.   

Lunch at Bistro C in Noosa.

It was just marvelous spending the day with Darcy, Kylie and later in the afternoon, the children.  What a beautiful family.  When we got together, we picked up where we left off like no time had passed between us.  Thank you for making us feel so welcome and at home.  Be careful guys, I may take you up on that invitation to return.  How about November???

Flying Fish Restaurant 

Stevie and I returned to Sydney around 6:30 to a great dinner at The Flying Fish.  Situated on the wharf, The Flying Fish is renowned for their skill with seafood and passion for seasonal produce.  Serving only foods that are indigenous to the area, their Asian inspired flavor combinations were sooooo tasty.  Yum.  We've been on force feed for the past 23 days anyway.  Why stop now???

More news later.