I came across it at Cotton Tree this evening. 'Looks like a tourist' was part of the Horizon Festival, currently being played out in Cotton Tree and elsewhere on the Coast. It's 'a visual spectacle that saturates the landscape bringing our attention to the complexities of being a visitor in a new place'.
And then they went home....
Mind you, it was approaching 5pm and I was at Picnic Point. The iconic Bird Lady was doing her thing in the park below. I think they were waiting their turn.
Here's my previous post on the Bird Lady: previous post
It's called Envy, and I'm a little envious of those who discovered it before me. I only got there today, and it's all very healthy. But tasty too. It's one of many still-to-be-exploreds along Cotton Tree's Esplanade.
Today Sydney's City-2-Surf fun run was in the National news, back in business with its tens of thousands of entrants after a two-year Covid break. But up here we had the Sunshine Coast Marathon.
They take these things seriously here, and between the marathon, the half marathon, the 10km run, the 5km run, and the 5km walk, I suspect they had almost as many takers, all up.
I was a bit late getting up though, and
didn't enter anything. Or even witness the actual marathon. There was lots still going on though. Lots of fun running especially. I was particularly taken by the final event: the 2km Family Dash.
Some of these kids will be the marathon men and women of the 2032 Olympics.
It's part of the Banjo's Bakery chain, which originated in Tasmania, but since spread to other states with good taste.
This one's special claim to fame is that it's almost underneath the Next Level High Ropes Adventure Park ropery, so you get to watch the amazing adrenalin adventures being had up there. (Not today though - I think all the staff were off doing the Sunshine Coast Marathon - more about this later.)
It also serves a very nice coffee in takeaway cups, and about the best pies I've encountered. Pride of place goes to the Tasmanian scallop pie. Quite an institution.
It's part of the ubiquitous Coffee Club chain, but bear with me. The coffee's always good, the food's good too, and in this case, you're right next to the gorgeous Buderim Village Park.
Yesterday I had the Eggs Benedict with salmon and spinach, and it was, unexpectedly, one of the best I've ever had!
I think it might be a daily performance. I'll do further research and report back.
Picnic Point's legendary bird lady was out yesterday afternoon, welcoming some of the rainbow lorikeets back to their overnight roosts.
Raw Energy is a nice little outdoor cafe in the Zone shopping centre on Wises Rd, Maroochydore.
Some of its energy and style stem from the stylish barista and the particularly stylish coffee art he specialises in.
The grumpy coffee on the left, of course, was the decaffeinated one. The regular, caffeinated one was the smiley one on the right!
This is the one with the million dollar views. The food's good too, as I discovered today.
And as a bonus, it's attached to the Mary Cairncross Reserve in Maleny, whose rainforest walk is possibly the best curated tourist nature trail I've ever seen. See also here: earlier post
