COTTON TREE BIRTHDAY

 Cotton Tree is a suburb of Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast 107k from home. My friend, Lyn, was having a 70th birthday there. They were in the caravan park for a week's holiday to be close to family and friends. So we booked an apartment for a few days just opposite the caravan park and we spent a lovely few days with our friends, Ben and Lyn. Ben migrated from Switzerland with Bill back in 1967 when they were in their early 20's. Now they are in their 70's. The weather was perfect and the company great.

We were pleased to see that we had a stunning view of the Maroochy River entering the Pacific Ocean.

You can just see the ocean on the horizon at the right and the caravan park opposite.

I tried a panorama of the river.

I took a walk down to the beach.

Looking south

Looking north

The mouth of the river. The river is tidal.

River on the left, ocean on the right.

Fun in the river . I walked a little further and entered the caravan park and found my friends.

Later in the day we had a celebration lunch with Lyn and her family and friends. It was a Thai Restaurant. I had crispy fish.

Happy Birthday Lyn.

I think it is important to keep in touch with old friends. We have been friends since the 60's.

MOOCHING AROUND MAROOCHYDORE

We visited our friends new home at Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane. They have moved into an over 50's Gateway Lifestyle community and we went to see what it was like. We were pleasantly surprised. They have a nice three bedroom house with ensuite and everything they need. Their deck looks over parkland and a lagoon.

We walked across the road to the river.

It was a dull day and looked like rain any minute.

We stayed overnight and played cards. In the morning we couldn't go walking and exploring because it was raining heavily. So we sat on the deck and played more cards and looked at the pretty back yard.

The rain was dancing on the lagoon.

Soon we had to make our way home. It poured heavy rain all the way. It was an awful drive home. 

MATES MEET IN MAROOCHYDORE

 I read on "Whiteangel's" blog "Thoughts and Happenings" that she was on holiday on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. She and hubby had driven all the way from Tasmania. As it is only an hour and a half drive from Brisbane we arranged to meet. TOH and I drove up to Maroochydore last week and met the lovely couple. We have been blog mates for about eight years so it was fun to meet in person.

 We had lunch together and then we went for a walk by the Maroochy River.

It was  a warm but windy day.

 Outside the resort where we stayed there was a lady feeding the lorikeets. Apparently she is a resident and does this every afternoon and cleans up the table before she leaves.

 Unfortunately some one has complained about her and she has been asked to stop feeding the birds. (the reason being is that they are wild and shouldn't become dependent on humans to feed them.)

"Clover" the white  egret (I think) also came for some hand outs.

That evening we had dinner with our new friends and we stayed overnight at the same resort. It was a lovely few days on the coast and great to meet another blogger.