Marian and I drove up to Kippa-Ring on Christmas Day and spent a couple of nights with her sister, Dorothy. We had Christmas Day lunch at the Tempest Seafood Restaurant at Scarborough (see cover photo). It was a beautiful seafood buffet with plenty of traditional Christmas fare as well. In the cool of the evening Marian and I strolled along the beach path at Suttons Beach with many multicultural groups ending their Christmas Day celebrations.

Windy stroll at Suttons Beach

We followed the Gilbert family tradition and had a Boxing Day bbq at Beachmere. The council bbq cooked our sausages right next to a shady table.

A muddy walk along the beach at Beachmere with the tide out

The next day we drove north to spend a few days at Mooloolaba at Sandcastles near the surf club.

Mooloolaba looking NW from our balcony

While waiting for our room to be available we drove south towards Caloundra for some shopping at Kawana and then to Moffat Beach.

Near the bar at Moffat Beach

We enjoyed another pleasant evening stroll along the main beach at Mooloolaba.

Main beach Mooloolaba

The following hot day we did a looping drive to the north dropping in on Marian’s old haunts parking at the beach at Cotton Tree where there was a Sunday market.

Maroochy River at Maroochydore Rotary Park

Cotton Tree

Then we drove north up the beach road towards Noosa in search of some of Dorothy’s Pumpkin and Soya Bean sourdough bread and found it at Coles. We stopped for a photo at Sunshine Beach on the way.

Sunshine Beach

Then it was west to Cooroy along roads new to both of us. We turned south and eventually stopped at the Ginger Factory at Yandina where we could not resist the ginger and macadamia ice cream.

Great ice cream at the Ginger Factory

After a quick visit to Nutworks for nut supplies we headed back to Mooloolaba for a fish and chip supper.

The drive home was straightforward but we had congestion just north of Brisbane and south of Beenleigh. Jasper did us proud throughout the whole trip.