Running with the Ward's: The Sunshine Coast Australia

Justin and I started our epic Australian adventure on September 1, 2013. Our holiday spanned 23 days and covered 5 areas on the east coast of Australia. The journey took us from the Sunshine coast to the Great Barrier Reef to Melbourne, to Tasmania, to Sydney! We went from shorts and tank tops in the north to freezing I pretty much wore the warmest sweater I brought for 5 days straight down in the southern most part of Australia. It was the trip of a lifetime that concluded back in Auckland where we said our goodbyes before moving back to Dallas.

We started our holiday relaxing and surfing on the Sunshine coast. We flew into Brisbane and drove to our little bach just steps from the beach in Peregian Beach. Most of the little towns along the Sunshine coast are just tiny little villages. Peregian Beach is a sleepy little place filled with what seem to be mostly retirees. Nearby Noosa has a nice shopping strip that runs along the beach and seemed to be mostly an Australian vacation spot. We ended up spending most of our time in Noosa as the beach there was quite nice and there were surf boards you could rent right on the beach. We enjoyed a few days of surfing and one day of stand up paddle boarding. There were no waves that day so we opted to try out the stand up paddle board. It was pretty difficult even without waves but we both got the hang of it after a little while.

Noosa Beach on a calm day

Justin stand up paddle boarding at Noosa

View of a surf beach along a path outside of Noosa

We celebrated my 32nd birthday while at the Sunshine coast and we did it up right! We started the day with pancakes on the patio followed by surfing and laying in the sun. We got slightly dressed up for dinner and had a fancy meal overlooking the beach in Noosa at Sails. It was a perfect day!

Another day we visited the Australian Zoo, Home of the Crocodile Hunter. We had so much fun exploring the zoo and meeting all of the uniquely Australian animals including the koalas, kangaroos, Tasmanian devil, and of course crocodiles! There was a really cool kangaroo area that was basically a park that the kangaroos could hop all around. We bought some 'roo food and fed and pet the cute little kangaroos. They ate out of our hands and if you raised your hand up, the kangaroo would hold onto your hand with both front feet to get to the food. I loved the koalas! Everyone could pet one of the koalas in the exhibit. One of the zoo keepers was just walking around holding a koala like a baby! It was so cute. So when we saw that you could pay to hold a koala and get your picture taken, I couldn't resist. Come on, once in a lifetime opportunity right? So I actually got to hold a koala and I have to say, it pretty much made my trip!