Elizabeth December 30th, 2009
Part of my 101 Things in 1001 Days challenge.
My Mum and Dad gave us a little trip to the Sunshine Coast for an early Christmas present this year, up near Noosa. We stayed in a beautiful resort for 4 nights, slept in late each morning and had long, luxurious breakfasts beside the pool. It was nice to live the life of the rich & famous for a little while!
There was a tour desk in the foyer of the resort, and on our second day I had a browse through the racks of brochures on the walls. For some reason I was really looking forward to seeing the Sunny Coast through the eyes of a tourist rather than going to my usual haunts. I picked up a bunch of great brochures, including two for horseriding.
One of the two offered beach rides, and I was hooked! We were off to the Noosa North Shore that same afternoon, which involved taking our car across the river by ferry.
We were lucky enough to be riding with only one other couple, plus the two riding instructors, and it meant that we were all able to chat during our two-hour ride. The company was great and the views spectacular – particularly as a storm was beginning to brew in the distance.
My little fella was called “Chappy”, and he was the most docile horse I’ve ever ridden. In fact, that was my only real disappointment – I could have let go of the reins for most of those two hours and he’d have just followed his pals. Monkey see, monkey do… one foot in front of the other.
It was clear right from the start that I wouldn’t be able to go ahead of the group and have a little trot or canter. The other girl in the group had done lots of riding as a kid, but the guys didn’t have any experience. It was very obvious that if one horse was to pick up speed, the others would have bolted too.
It’s only a small disappointment really, as the whole experience was still wonderful. It was beautiful to watch the waves crashing against the sand, and wade through the shallows with Chappy. The wetlands that grew beside the beach was home to lots of black cockatoos, and we saw a couple of wedge-tail eagles hovering overhead as well.
From the far end of the beach we could see Hastings St clearly, and when we caught the ferry back to the mainland we decided to head there for dinner. There was just enough light when we arrived that we could see the beach we’d ridden along just an hour earlier.
Noosa was lit up beautifully for Christmas, including this fairy-light tree in the main roundabout on Hastings St. We found a great seafood restaurant to sit and eat, while complaining about our sore saddle bums!
I managed to cross a few items off my list during my QLD vacation, but this was one of my favourites!
