Caloundra, Australia
A lovely long weekend with Kylie Scott and our hubbies on the Sunshine Coast
This was sitting in my drafts and it’s time to post.
Have you heard of Caloundra, Australia? I hadn’t until author Kylie Scott, for whom I’ve narrated over 20 titles, suggested we spend a long weekend there with our husbands earlier this year. We shared a condo with a breathtaking view of a place unlike any I’d ever visited before.
Caloundra (loun rhymes with gown) is on the Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane, Queensland and is famous for its beautiful beaches. This was to be our next stop after several days in Sydney.
Kylie & Hugh picked us up at Brisbane Airport and took us to their go-to lunch place in Caloundra. We sat on an outdoor balcony with a view of a lake-like inlet and the Glass House Mountains in the far distance. We had seafood and a beverage or two and then it was time to check into the condo. What a place! Our favorite spot to hang out was definitely the large balcony. It was great for people watching, looking at the gorgeous vista, and listening to the cacophony of birds fighting for the best sleeping branch at twilight. The birds in Australia are not shy about sharing their feelings, that’s for sure. I’ll always remember Kylie’s translations of the squawking: NO THIS IS MY BRANCH YOU CANNOT HAVE IT etc.
Caloundra is a chill beach town. A lot of what we did together and on our own was just stroll around the shops, have coffee, ice cream, get a pedicure, massage, souvenir, have a drink, dip toes in the water, lounge in the pool, listen to music, watch the sun set…it was all lovely and the four of us got along so easily too. It was pretty clear from Kylie’s and my backseat spot that our husbands would have no shortage of things to talk about, or as she put it so well, “let the bromance begin!”
In addition to Caloundra, we made a couple of short trips to see more of the area. One day was a bit dreary so they drove us up into the hills to a town called Maleny. It’s a great town for strolling up and down the main street to check out the shops. We hopped into Rosetta Books and ta-da, there was End of Story, Kylie’s latest release! They had three copies, which she was invited to sign and happily obliged. We also poked our heads into a chocolate shop and looked around a really cool antique shop, the kind that has oddities in addition to the usual - carousel horse, anyone?
The other side trip was also well worth it - we had dinner together at an unforgettable spot and it was absolutely magically delicious and wonderful! Harry’s On Buderim is billed as the “Quintessential Queensland Experience” and features modern Australian cuisine. The duet of pork loin & crispy belly that I had was mouthwatering, unforgettable. We ate on a wraparound porch overlooking lush woods, and the house itself is up high above the ground, apparently to counteract flooding, extreme heat, and critters. Highly recommend trying to get a reservation if you find yourself in that area.
That Sunday, streets were closed in central Caloundra for a street fair. It went for blocks, radiating out from a little traffic circle. In that circle were food trucks and coffee stands. Kylie & Hugh’s friends had a band, set up in the midst of the festival, and they were playing covers of various rock / folk standards. I hopped up and joined them to sing Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” and Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” (with a little lyric change from Reseda to Caloundra just to see if anyone noticed).
I split off from the group and walked thru the street fair a bit, buying some kettle corn and a bracelet of dalmatian jasper with a row of colored beads representing the chakras as an accent. We all lazed the afternoon away, walking by the water, Italian takeout for dinner, and more great conversation on the balcony as the sun set and the stars came out.
The next morning, Hugh and Kylie dropped us at Brisbane Airport for our flight to Melbourne, where we’d settle into a townhouse rental for the next three weeks (that’s another post or several).
It’s a big risk, traveling with a couple for the first time and staying in the same place together. Just because you get along with someone (amazingly well) in short bursts doesn’t guarantee you’ll do well over several days and nights, but I think we all agreed that the four of us all got along well enough to plan another visit together, there or here, in the (we hope) not too far distant future. Here’s to friendship - cheers!
LOVE IT!!! I can't wait to go to Australia someday. <3