Just before New Year’s we headed off to Habitat Noosa for 2 nights of camping on Lake Cootharaba. Just before we hopped in the car Bitti realised she had misplaced her ‘eagle eggs’ (marbles they’d got out of the xmas crackers) and a quick emu bob did not reveal them. She was devastated they were lost and cried for most of the 2.5 hour journey to camp. So that was fun.
Based on the photos of Habitat Noosa, we had expected too much sun, days spent swimming, stand-up paddling boarding and four extremely tried children who would go to bed early. Ha! Right from the start we knew it would go differently as we pulled in under a grey sky and observed other campers’ gazebos bending under the strong wind that had come up.
The kids hopped out and disappeared in four different directions, despite the poor weather it was still a beautiful setting amongst huge trees. We set up our tents and gazebo, making sure to use every available guide rope and peg! R and I were starting to get in a good rhythm, so set-up was quicker than at Sandstone. Although the website had said they were booked out, there were empty sites on all but one side. Directly behind were two couples with kids the same age as ours so they all struck up a friendship and began playing various games involving a lot of bellowing.
R and I started up dinner and sat down for 20 minutes of repose with a cider.
The next day was New Year’s Eve and it was rainy. Bitti and I went out for a bushwalk with our neighbours. Turned out they were locals who often came camping at that spot. They regaled us with tales of how they usually spend their time at HN: parked in the shallows under the gazebo in the lake while the kids swam all day. So this year was a little different for everyone. But the short walk we did was restorative for Bitti, who had found a new friend her age with a similar imagination. In fine weather you could kayak up the Noosa river to kill a day, in miserable weather it was card games under the gazebo.
We had booked a late lunch at the on-site overpriced bistro as a treat to ourselves, hoping that the kids would let us enjoy a beverage or two. There is a fenced grassed area next to the outdoor dining so when it started to rain the kids went out there and engaged themselves in becoming muddied urchins, providing us with 45 minutes of peace in which to enjoy passionfruit and gingerbeer cocktails. After a couple of those we could almost pretend we didn’t have any kids. But, eventually and we were forced to admit ownership and drag them out at 4 pm when our session time was up.
Somehow we made it to evening, the rain and wind was making everyone edgy. R had brought glo-sticks so that gave an hour of entertainment. The little kids dropped off at about 8 pm, but the two eldest made it to 11 pm before we put them to bed. Happy New Year!
The first action of 2022 was to pack the camp up. Everything was dirty and sodden. One of the kids, having not been satisfied with hammering a glass bottle the previous day, hammered her sister’s toes. After 2 weeks sleeping on camping mattresses my back was protesting loudly so I was moving about like an 80-year-old, trying to keep it from seizing completely. Even though the day was cool, it still somehow managed to also be muggy. So it was literally blood, sweat and tears getting the kids arranged and psychologically prepared to tackle the next leg of our journey.
We headed to Noosa Heads Main Beach for a swim, trying to persist with our plans despite feeling a little disheartened. I drove around Noosa Heads for 45 minutes (and many swears) trying to find a park before giving up and parking in a random suburb and walking in with a moaning Bitti. R had found a park right on Hastings St.
As we finished our beach swim the heavens opened and a torrential downpour began. Bitti and I walked in it all the way back to car. My bag had my phone and camera in it, so we were worried about them as the water gradually soaked all our belongings. When we finally made it to the car we had to line our seats with 2 fresh towels each to keep the dripping to a minimum.
We were supposed to go directly to Kenilworth Homestead from there, but R and I were beat. Our gear was soaked and the idea of trying to set it all up, not knowing when the sun might come out to dry it, did not appeal. So when R suggested we head back into Brisbane to spend a night under a roof and regroup, I jumped on it. We turned south and headed home with our tail between our legs.
Two Little Travellers 