Unfortunately we didn’t get to see Noosa at its best. It was pouring with rain when we packed up to head into town. We could see Noosa would be stunning on a sunny day, but not this day. Due to the rain, we hadn’t been able to have breakfast at the van so, as we drove down the coast, we kept an eye out for not just a cafe but also somewhere to park with the van. After a few false starts, we found a double parking bay opposite a potentially lovely cafe. We felt dryer and warmer after a nice breakfast.

With the weather as it was, there was no point in following the scenic route so we just set the GPS to take us directly to Samford, out of Brisbane, where my friend Sue-Ellen lives. In fact it was a lovely drive particularly as we neared Samford. It’s been more than thirty years since I visited Sue here (although we have caught up in between in Melbourne and Sydney when visits coincided) and I really hoped the area hadn’t been built up and become just a suburb of Brisbane. Certainly there were more homes but they were all beautiful with acreage around them. Sue’s home sits up high on ten acres and is the epitome of a stylish and comfortable country home with a veranda overlooking the bush. We loved it.

It was wonderful to see Sue again after so many years. (We met in our early twenties when we shared a house with two others in Parramatta but since then have always lived in different states or countries). She made us so welcome and insisted on cooking a delicious dinner for us both nights. John pottered around on the first day while Sue and I talked non stop, catching up on all the news; but the following day, with the sun finally shining, Sue took us out for a drive around the local area. We had lovely lunch at the Lifestyle Garden Centre close by and nosed around the delightful ‘Baffies Oan Books’ before buying a book each. The garden centre was very nice with a beautiful gift shop too. But most special was the Horse Tearoom set out for horse riders and their ponies to rest. A few riders were taking advantage of relaxing with a coffee while their companions chomped on the grass alongside them.

Then it was back to Sue’s for a glass or three of wine and a chat in front of the open wood fire before dinner.

Too soon it was time to move on again so the next day we said our goodbyes to Sue and Bella, her lovely dog, with promises of not leaving it so long before our next catch up. We headed off in the sunshine towards Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

The drive out of Samford was beautiful and we were looking forward to having a look at Brisbane thinking that, being a Sunday, it would be quiet and there would be plenty parking. Wrong! The city was bustling and South Bank chock-a-block. It looked lovely but we were not going to be able to park so we kept moving south towards the Gold Coast which we knew wouldn’t be any quieter.

The traffic was thick as we drove into Surfers’ Paradise. I wanted to stop and look around because I was there in 1982 with my parents when they visited me from Scotland. They had loved it. I knew it would be more built up and it certainly was. The charm it had back then was less but we still enjoyed walking around.

Later we drove into Southport which was also very built up and busy. Of course this is the area for theme parks so we knew what to expect. The high rises didn’t look out of place, they just screamed ‘Gold Coast’. The beach was lovely and stretched all the way back to Surfers’ Paradise. The Surf Life Savers were patrolling the beach which was dotted with sunbathers and swimmers. It was a lovely day but definitely not hot enough for us to even put our toes in the water. Instead we opted for a cappuccino in a nearby Cafe.

Unsurprisingly we had trouble booking into a caravan park. We prefer to be away from the hustle and bustle but there are no free camps here. I finally managed to get us into a very quiet park in Advancetown near Nerang. We booked in for three nights to give us time to look around the Gold Coast.

After a good night’s sleep, we continued down the coast stopping at Palm Beach. This was more òur kind of place: it is a much smaller and quieter version of Surfers’ Paradise and Southport with great cafes and bars as well as the lovely beach. (John loved the shop names- Hunky Dory (the fish shop) and Well Bread Cafe and Pastries are two that come to mind). Families were enjoying the water – swimming, kayaking, using stand up paddle boards and so on. It had a lovely holiday-feel but with room to move around (and park!) We felt this was a far better option for people like us who liked the old Surfers’ Paradise before it grew so big.

Before moving on, we took a drive up to the Hinze Dam near the caravan park which supplies water to the Gold Coast area, and had a wander around. It was certainly worth the visit.

With a few days up our sleeves before our caravan was booked in for some warranty work on the Gold Coast, we decided to head inland away from the crowds and check out the Hinterland region.