Back from holidays

 Last week a classmate and I drove to Caloundra for a holiday which we have done for the past three years. We always arrange a mini reunion with our old classmates at the same time as we are all in our seventies now and some have retired to the beach or the surrounding areas. 

Even the seagulls got out of the water quickly in the cold snap

We had a great get-together with lots of chatting about when we were young. We have known each other for over seventy years. 

Our visit coincided with a cold snap that swept up to Queensland bring freezing temperatures and even Caloundra turned very cold so we lived in our parkas most of the time. This was unusual weather which hadn't been experienced for a few decades apparently and it certainly was cold weather for the beach. 

Despite the cold I was determined to do my early morning walks along the Boardwalk even though it was so cold even the seagulls didn't stay in the water for very long. The water was like glass at first light when we first arrived but then the wind started blowing and the next morning the water was choppy. 

I have been wanting to walk across to Bribie Island for years since a couple of cyclones caused heaps of sand to be dumped where boats used to sail out to do fishing etc. Of course that is not possible anymore as the coastline has changed incredibly in that area and the ocean has forced its way through Bribie Island. So this year my friend and I walked across the sand to Bribie Island so I could wipe that off my bucket list. 

We were trying to walk across the sand to the ocean but it was too far and the wet sand was a tad too cold for our feet. 

This is a photo taken from the island looking back to where we were staying at Happy Valley. Who knows whether in a few years down the track the sand will disappear again and the ocean will get back to normal. 

We don't drive very far once we get to the coast as neither of us are fond of the traffic there but one day we went to the beautiful Moffat Beach and found that half the carpark was cut off due to work being done on the seawall. 

We found that the beaches are kept in really good condition in that area thanks to the Council work. 

We didn't watch out for the cargo ships like we normally do but they still cruise by the coastline and seem to be really close due to all the sand  dumped where there used to be ocean. 

The skies were overcast the last couple of days we were there and my last early morning walk continued regardless. The sun was rising at about 6.30am but some of the cafes were already open and the Council workers must start work in the dark as they had cleaned a lot of the Boardwalk by the time I got there.

If anyone from interstate or overseas wants a nice place to take a holiday in I can recommend Caloundra. It is only an hour's drive to Brisbane and Australia Zoo isn't far. I can't seem to copy and paste the link to Australia Zoo at the moment for some reason. Not sure if it is a Blogger issue or a PC issue. Sometimes Blogger becomes a bit of a mystery particularly when trying to leave comments on blogs. I have given up trying sad to say. 

I hope everyone is keeping well and enjoying life.