The Sunshine Coast

Jose and I, along with mum and dad, headed to the Sunshine Coast on Friday afternoon. We bought tickets for the 3.50 ferry; however, we were supposed to leave earlier. Dad had reserved tickets, but in reverse. We had a return on Friday and a departure for Sunday.  Mum and dad managed to catch the 1.40, but we missed it by about 3 minutes. To pass the time, we went for lunch. One of our favorite restaurants is in Horseshoes Bay and it is called ‘The Olive and Anchor’. We have been quite a few times now, and every time the food has been excellent and the service is always really friendly. It used to be Ya Ya´s Oyster Bar, but we have come to the conclusion that a Korean family owns it now.

I think one of the best things on the menu is the Smoked Salmon Flatbread with Capers. My other favourite is the Chicken Tikka Masala. Completely different to traditional takeout CTM; it has Brown rice, edammame beans and carrots. I also ordered a Caesar and I played around with the camera, so I didn´t mind so much that we had to wait. I picked up some new sunglasses, faux D&G and some invisible band aids to cover the world’s biggest and ugliest spot on my chin.

After waking up on the beautiful sunshine Coast, lounging on the sofa, drinking a nice cup of instant coffee, and eating a good English breakfast, Jose and I headed out for a walk on the beach. The weather wasn’t great, but it wasn’t raining either. I threw the stick into the sea for Rocky about 30 times, until my hands were red, raw and wrinkly.

After, I exercised on the beach. I did three rounds of jumping jacks, push-ups, knee-ups and jumping step-ups. Next I did 6 sprints on the beach. To finish off, I did three rounds of 20 lunges and frog jumps. I’m not sure how long it was, maybe 30ish minutes, but enough to leave my red and sweaty.

In the afternoon that day, I got a massage from the lady who owns Halfmoon Haven, the beachfront retreat where we were staying. She specializes in holistic health, therapeutic massage and whole foods nutrition.  Her hut is just next to the cottage, its very small but very cozy. I am always nervous about this sort of thing, I wasn’t sure exactly what I was supposed to do, and when it involves taking your clothes off, I feel even more nervous. When I entered, she told me to go through and would be back in a few minutes. I interpreted this as - get your kit off. 

I snuggled under the thick blankets, but then suddenly felt that I should have waited. In a split second I wanted to get out of the bed and get dressed again, but just in that moment, she slid the door open…too late. For the rest of the massage, which was absolutely incredible, I was convinced she didn’t like me and was angry that I had rudely invited myself into her spiritual sanctuary and disturbed her flow. After the massage, I felt the need to be extra thankful, but I truly did mean it. We talked about digestion and acidophilus, she game me a sample of her pure rose cream, and then I said I would consider online holistic nutrition sessions with her. 

On Sunday, we went for some lunch in Gibsons. I ordered a Portobello mushroom burger, which had a distinct lack of portabella mushroom.

We took the 2.45 ferry, which is where I am right now. We had a lovely time, the weather wasn’t totally in our favour, but I am already looking forward to our next visit here.