Wednesday April 14, 2010 – Sunshine Coast.

Well it has not lived up to its name here on the Sunshine Coast. We did wake up to sunshine but that only lasted till about 10am. After a delicious blueberry pancake breakfast we headed out to Eumundi for the Wednesday market. Charles' Mom and I went there when we were here 4 years ago. We slowly took in the whole market. There are many stalls with lots of goods. If we were from around here we would buy the fresh fruits and vegetables on sale. There were delicious smells of food cooking, and popcorn popping. Wonderful colours from paintings, pottery and clothing. There were so many little girl cloths, we just don't have anyone to buy for. We did pick up a couple of things. We talked to a gentleman that worked on the Mica Dam in BC. He learned to ski while there. I found a stall that Mom and I had purchased some things from before. It was nice to see them still there. It was nice to talk to this gentleman again. It had clouded over while we walked amongst the stalls.

We then went on the Mapleton to see the falls. There was a 1.3km loop walk in an eucalyptus rain forest. We did the walk before we ate. What a wonderful walk. Even though I had not done such a strenuous walk in a while I was able to do it with little trouble. I was so glad. We learned about the flora and fauna of this type of forest. One of the most interesting is the strangling fig. This is a tree that starts at the top of a tree high in the canopy. It sends down roots along the tree truck of the host tree. It then proceeds to strangle the host tree. It also robs the host tree of nutrients. It was amazing to see how intertwined the roots become with the host. There were palm trees there that were so tall and skinny in contrast to the big based eucalyptus. Hard to believe these palms stand up to wind storms. Toward the end of our walk we saw lots of vines, some wrapped around trees, some sending out runners to find new trees to curl around. You could see marks in the trees where vines had been before. Unlike the strangling fig these vines do not take from their host trees. They just live together in harmony. That is until the trunck on the host gets too big and snaps the vine.

We were going to eat here at the picnic tables. Well that was until Charles went to the car to get our lunch and I got bitten by 4 mossies. That put an end to that. Charles would be spend his whole lunch time swatting mossies. He had already fed this wildlife enough on our walk. Eating in the car again. When we headed back we took a country road instead of the highway. It was very nice. We were heading for Noosa Heads to check on our boat cruise for tomorrow. After we knew the cruise was still on for tomorrow we went to the shopping area. I was looking for a bathing suit. Even if there was one in my size I was not about to pay over $200, on sale or $400 for ones at regular price. I think if I paid these prices the suit would never be in water. They most annoying thing is Charles was able to get a suit for under $20. I had an ice-cream cone which I managed to spill all over myself.

For the second time this week we got to see a special on TV. On Monday we saw the special about the baby elephant that everyone thought would be still born at the Sydney Zoo but lived. Tonight's was about the plane landing on the Hudson River in NY. Both specials were so interesting.

Should be off to bed as we have to leave here by 8am to get to Noosa Heads for our cruise tomorrow.