Drive to Miami on Sunshine Coast of Queensland - November 25, 2013

MONDAY – NOVEMBER 25, 2013

BOTTOM LINE:

Left the Cayman Quay Resort in Noosa

Visited Mt. Tamborine

Settled in Miami Beach on the Sunshine Coast

BACK STORY:

As we left our comfy resort and headed to the highway I spotted a sign for the “Ginger Factory.”  I took the next exit to see what it was.  It was indeed a processing factory and retail outlet for all things ginger!  Beyond the gift shop was the restaurant and ice cream kiosk.  Since neither of us had breakfast, we indulged.  I went with a scoop of ginger macadamia, which had a delicate essence of ginger throughout it.  With eight choices of ginger varieties (ginger nut, ginger vanilla, gingerbread, etc...) Bruce went for a waffle with vanilla ice cream and a ginger sauce…not a winner with him, but that didn’t stop him from cleaning his plate!

Ginger Factory

Ginger ice cream flavors

Bruce's breakfast!

Exiting the parking lot I noticed across the street that they had a macadamia nut processing plant with a self-guided tour and tasting area.  I have always been curious how the nuts are grown, processed and graded, so I took a few minutes to learn.

  

Today was to be the “test” for my driving skills as I tackled getting us through the toll road traffic of Brisbane, up into the Mt. Tamborine National Park and over the Sunshine coast of Miami Beach…no, we’re not in Florida.

The road system in and around Brisbane was easy to drive. The toll system however was a bit confusing.  Thankfully we had the two of us in the car…one to drive and one to take notes. 

There were no tollbooths and there was no indication as to what the toll was.  There were only two signs that gave a phone number and/or a website.  Both indicated that it was our responsibility to contact the government agency to pay the toll within two days of passage or be fined!  Bruce called the number and they did indeed have the camera record of our license plate crossing the bridge but had no means of receiving payment from us.  Ultimately we needed to take it up with the rental car agency that would be receiving the bill/fine.

As we headed south of Brisbane I spotted an exit for the city of “TOOWOMBA” and of course I chuckled thinking of Fried Green Tomatoes…”To Wanda!”  I had victory in my city driving!

The Hinterlands below Brisbane were beautiful having green rolling hills with groves of eucalyptus and pine trees.  The pines are like “iron wood” trees having long, wispy light green needles.

We had been told about a stunning waterfall that we should see.  We found it and maybe in the height of the rainy season it would be stunning, but that wasn’t a word that we would use.

Waterfall in center left

Driving down off the mountain we headed to the ocean to find Sunshine Beach Resort in Miami.  The GPS routed us through Surfer’s Paradise, which was a huge development of high-end shops and tall skyscrapers.  We imagined it to be similar to Dubai with the white sand beaches and turquoise water.

Surder's Paradise, Queensland

Our accommodations however were on the opposite end of the spectrum.  I guess sometimes-booking hotels online works and sometimes it doesn’t.  The only word that described our hotel justly was, “nasty!”