Sunshine Coast retreat + Birthday celebrations

 Well 2020 has certainly been a tough year and it has been challenging to plan some down time to just switch off and relax. We have been extremely fortunate to be able to make our way across the border to Queensland, we had planned this trip in July when the borders had only just reopened to NSW and then a few weeks later they were closed again. So to be able to get away, which seemed like a dream only a few weeks ago as we had changed our booking to fly to Coffs Harbour in NSW instead. As soon as we heard that QLD was open to residents of Sydney again, we decided to change our flights back to the Sunshine Coast (MCY). This change has been one of many to get us to where we had always wanted to be for a holiday and for my birthday. 

 We've basically done very little since arriving, apart from a visit to the shops to pick up supplies, our days have been mostly of walks along the beach or foreshore, swimming in the pools at our fabulous accommodation (The Point, Coolum Beach) and relaxing out on our balcony with stunning views of the ocean and watching the world and weather go by.

We did venture out to the club for pre dinner drinks before dining at one of our favourite restaurants.

This may be our one and only blog post for this short trip away and we are looking forward to getting home to spend time with our families for Christmas and hopefully the situation in Sydney sorts itself out so we can return in January as per our plans, our fingers are crossed.

Merry Christmas to you and your families and thank you for reading this blog.

Flying into MCY

Peregian Beach - great to have the beach to ourselves

Our view from The Point

Ballina - Evans Head day 6

We did a trip south today to a quaint little seaside town - Evans Head. Amazing beach, break wall and lookout. We walked along the beach to the break wall and saw another pod of dolphins in the channel. We then drove up to the lookout. It was such a perfect day, the water was too cold to go swimming though.

Evans Head beach

A dolphin swimming between the break walls

A view of the break walls from the lookout

Ballina - Lennox Head - Byron Bay & Brunswick Heads day 5

We enjoyed a lovely meal at Che Bon (French Restaurant) Wednesday night, the food was lovely, the wine was delicious and the service was great. Hats off to this little piece of Lyon, France in the middle of Ballina.

Today was spent visiting the Northern Rivers towns now that we had some wheels. It was an early start, not because we had a car but we were up much earlier today. We took the coastal route up to our first stop, the Richmond River Light (Lighthouse). We then continued onto Lennox Head for a coffee stop and look around. Such a quaint little town (very busy).

Next stop was Byron Bay and the Cape Byron Lighthouse and a walk out to the "Most Easterly Point of the Australian Mainland", it was raining and so the walk was done with some haste. We then ventured into the town centre but it was crazy busy and the roads were like car parks. We headed south towards Ballina to continue the drive north to our next stop. It was very much the long way around but the traffic and town centre were way too busy. I am glad that we didn't end up staying in Byron.

We headed up the M1 towards the Queensland border, knowing that we wouldn't be allowed to cross over. We headed into Brunswick Heads and found a pub "Hotel Brunswick" overlooking the creek and we just managed to find a table when the rain became much heavier. We were very lucky. We enjoyed a typical pub lunch of fish and chips and a burger and it was perfect timing as the rain eased up and then stopped. After lunch, a quick look around before heading south to Ballina.

Richmond River Light - East Ballina

Cape Byron Lighthouse - Byron Bay

Looking south - coastline

Ballina days 3 & 4

Apologies for the lack of a blog yesterday and the double blog today, but there hasn't been much to say when you are just lounging around by the pool, eating, drinking and going for walks. Needless to say we are having a great time.

Tuesday we walked along the river to the break wall in the morning and spent the afternoon in the pool, then we decided to run along the river up to the break wall in the afternoon. We enjoyed a lovely meal at Riva which is a grill - bar and also under our hotel. We pretty much had the place to ourselves so it was very easy to social distance.

Wednesday was pretty much a repeat of Tuesday, without the run. In the afternoon we headed back out to the airport to collect our rental car, so we now have wheels for the remainder of the stay. The blog for the next two days will be very different. Although the weather forecast for Thursday doesn't like that appealing so having a car may have a big advantage.

We saw so much wildlife over the past two days, we've had dolphins, turtles, pelicans and all types of birds just outside our balcony plus we've seen all of these and lizards along the walking trail alongside the river.

A pod of dolphins heading out to sea

Lighthouse beach

Pelican floating in the river

 

Ballina day 2

 We finished the day (Sunday) with a very nice meal at an Italian restaurant which is next to our hotel. The food was delicious, the staff were a little bit inexperienced but we weren't in any hurry. It was a busy Sunday night and we thought it may have proven difficult to get a reservation.

Monday we had a mixed bag with the weather but made the most of the day. A morning walk to Ballina Fair in search of some new footwear. We then picked up something to eat for lunch and in the afternoon we went for a walk towards the break wall and it was remarkable the difference with the crowds from the weekend to a week day. There was nobody in sight it was as if everyone had left, I guess it was a work/school day after all.

We enjoyed a swim in the hotel pool in the afternoon, whilst it was windy with a strong southerly, the pool faces north and so the hotel acted as a wind break which allowed us to enjoy the water. We shared the pool area with one other couple, but we had the pool all to ourselves. The perfect way to relax.

This sums up the morning views / weather

Our afternoon walk

Later in the afternoon

Ballina escape day 1

 A long time between posts... 2020 has been quiet the challenging year with the pandemic and lockdowns and self isolating. We have been working from home since early March and all of our travel plans like everyone else have gone out the window. We even had to replan this vacation due to the borders being shut and the inability to visit Queensland.

We chose Ballina in NSW as that was as far north that we could reroute our flight booking and after looking at accommodation options the Ramada Hotel and Suites ticked all boxes with a place to get away to.

We anxiously took to the air, my first flight since February and Jeff's first flight in 2020 and with limited services at the airport and on board the almost new Virgin 2.0 took us 57 minutes north to BNK. I have to admit it had never crossed my mind that one day i'd be flying into northern NSW but here we are.

First impressions of the area are that of a typical regional town where everyone is friendly, not in any hurry and there was also a sense that half of Sydney was doing the same as us. We had a small wait for a taxi from the airport to our hotel as the taxis were very busy at the moment. The trip to our hotel was fast and the check in process was a little bit different than usual with the COVID-19 questionnaire.

We were soon in our room unpacking and getting ready to get out and explore the area and more importantly pick up some supplies so we can make the most of the kitchen in our suite.

We decided to eat in and we ordered our first meal from the Indian restaurant next door. The food was nice enough and were impressed with the quality of the food.

The following day we went for a walk along the river and out to the break wall. The weather was perfect and everyone was making the most of the sunshine and enjoying the many beaches along the river.

Sexy wing tip VA1141 B738 VH-YFU SYD-BNK

Our view from our suite @ Ramada Hotel

Sunset Saturday evening 17-Oct