Day 1 - Sydney to Noosa via Brisbane

As posted earlier, my departure Friday morning was from a cold and wet Sydney. We landed at a slightly milder and occasionally sunny Brisbane recovering from recent rain.

Mt was driving to Brisbane Airport to pick me up and rang on the way to check whether I 'was on the ground' just as I arrived at the baggage carousel to collect my luggage. Luckily my luggage was amongst the first to appear and I found Mt waiting for me at the pick up zone as soon as I walked from the terminal.

We had a couple of hours before we were due to meet at Ll's for the journey to Noosa and this time was spent with Mt showing me the sights of the peninsula region of Brisbane - Redcliffe, Scarborough and the like. We stopped for lunch at the Palace Hotel at Woody Point. The food mightn't satisfy the demands of haute cuisine aficionados but it was plentiful and edible. The hotel sits on a point with a fine view over the bay. I noticed rain in the distance and we encountered some of that on the way to Eatons Hill to meet up with Ll, Fd and Ml.

The five of us packed Fd's Camry and made the hour or so long journey to Noosa arriving around 5.30pm.

We had rented a three bedroom apartment there, not the house that I had thought previously, and our first impressions of the accommodation were favourable. I learned on arrival that most of the apartment complex was rented for the weekend by guests to the wedding that all bar Mt and I were invited to attend. (Mt and I are known to the parents of the bride but in no way were expecting to be wedding guests. We were piggy backing on this weekend to enjoy a weekend away with our friends.)

It didn't take long for the drinks and savouries to emerge and we five were joined in our apartment in time by Sy, driving from home at Hervey Bay, the sixth occupant of our apartment followed a while later by Rs, Gg, Jn, Jy and Hn.

Drinks turned into a party as we played hits from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s handily brought along by Rs. Jn had thoughtfully brought home cooked chicken wings and a savoury rice intended for the four in their party but in a magnificent loaves and fishes act this repast somehow managed to extend to all eleven of us partying in our apartment.

Before long we were up and dancing to those classic hits and Abba tunes back in focus because of the Mamma Mia movie. My personal favourite dance hit was Lesley Gore's 'It's My Party' which was replayed five or six times. We hit the wall shortly after midnight just as I was wondering whether the noise police would be summoned to silence us.


(Lesley Gore)

The party wound up around 12.30am and we were in our respective (or someone's) bed by 1am. That might sound early for many readers but given that all eleven of us are aged over 50; a few over 60 too, we thought we had done well.