Sunshine Coast Day Trip

Newest first

Trip start
September 15, 2024
Sunshine Coast Day Trip Travel with Carl
It’s been 32 days since my last flight
September 15, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C
Welcome back to the next adventure on my 🐧 blog. In preparation for an early start I went to bed at 7:30 last night, watched a few episodes of Heartstopper (such a feel good show that warms the heart - I’m pretty sure I’m a Charlie; nerdy and romantic at heart) followed by a great sleep.

Normally these early morning wake ups are horrid when the alarm blasts you out of bed at ungodly o’clock. Or worse, the waking up every 30mins wondering if you slept through the alarm. Today I woke up 15mins early actually feeling quite alright. I got ready leisurely and drove to the airport for another one of my signature day trips - today to the Sunshine Coast.

No traffic on the road at this hour of a Sunday morning so arrived super early. First step once inside the terminal was to continue a mini threads argument with a random who was whining about it being hard to find Virgin’s baggage claim. Nothing like a pic of the sign above the door to prove a point. You can’t blame an airport for people blindly following others like lemmings. Petty, yes. Satisfying, also yes.

A quick bite of breakfast in the terminal went down nicely. The Soul Origin has some nice toasted sandwiches, washed down with a hot chocolate of course. It’s currently 5 degrees in Melbourne and yesterday was a horridly cold day here. Today I’m flying north to thaw out where it will be a lovely 24 degrees ☀️.

With avgeek mode activated I took a few obligatory plane pics, checked for fellow travel gays on Grindr (none), bought some overpriced airport snacks and was ready to go. Next stop! Warmth!Read more
TravelerExcited for come along for today’s adventure with the 🐧
9/14/24Reply
2 likes
Sunshine Coast Day Trip Travel with Carl
Jetstar 792 to the Sunshine Coast
September 15, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
Time to get this day trip off the ground. Boarding started on time and was completed in 15 minutes without any delays. I was happy to have the middle seat empty once the final passenger had boarded. Economy lottery winner! We pushed back 4 minutes early, a great start to a short day trip where every minute of extra sunshine and warmth counts. We overtook a sexy Singapore A359 who was slowing down our taxi and by 7:30 we were above the clouds where it’s always good weather and zooming north.

I had a $15 voucher to spend onboard for food and drinks today. Trying to maximise the voucher I bought more than I needed. I kinda felt like a cup of tea so went with a combo of tea and tea cake, with a side of Lindt chocolate. A perfect pre 8am snack. That was $13, not quite the full value of my voucher which really means the combo doesn’t actually save me money as you loose the $2.

This is the second time I’ve flown on this A320, VH-VGV, a 14 year old bird. With the middle seat empty it’s comfortable enough for the 1hr 57min flight up north. I do like the A320 family of aircraft over the 737’s so will be looking forward to Qantas getting some of these next year.

I watched a couple of Heartstopper episodes on the flight up and otherwise chilled listening to last year’s Eurovision playlist. There isn’t too much to say about a low cost Jetstar flight as we fly north passing to the east of Albury, Wagga then over the coast just past the Gold Coast.

We begin descent off the coast with Brisbane in the background. The colour of the water below is beautiful and already warming me up. It’s my first flight into the Sunshine Coast, and like its southern neighbour (the Gold Coast) most of the approach is over the pacific. The dad seated in my row next swapped seats with his kid who decided to kick the seat for the remainder of the flight.

A lovely smooth touchdown and arrival at the gate 5mins early. Next stop rental car and some local exploring.Read more
2 likes
Sunshine Coast Day Trip Travel with Carl
Crikey, not an Irwin in sight 🥱
September 15, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
You come all the at to Australia Zoo and don’t get to see a real life Irwin. They should really put them in a big brother style enclosure. That would be fun. With no Irwin sightings, I decided to switch to plan B for why I came here. I need to return the favour to Bridget by getting the most kitsch housewarming gift possible. The rental car guy said I’d need to be here from opening to close to make my way around. Clearly he doesn’t know me cause 1.5hrs in I’m done. Oh well.

It’s a nice (ish) park, but it didn’t really land well with me. Most of the animals I’ve seen elsewhere before, and half the enclosures the animals seemed to be napping or hiding. I’m all for a nap, but when you’re working, come on. The kangaroos were very mindful, but not sure about demure. The Koalas were cute af, even if they probably have more chlamydia than a gay sauna.

I did enjoy the various statues of the Irwin family members around the park (not narcissistic at all right to out statues of your own family in your park?). I also enjoyed the sunshine and warmth so can’t complain. Would I recommend it? Probs not. There are much more interesting zoo’s around the country that while they don’t carry an iconic name, are better value. I think it’s time to try something bigger!Read more
0 likes
Sunshine Coast Day Trip Travel with Carl
The Big Pineapple 🍍
September 15, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
When in Queensland you have to visit something big. For me today this was the big pineapple🍍. A handy half way between the two things I’d decided to see today anyway, it’s mainly a roadside stop with an attached zoo and tree top climb. The zoo was advertising ‘phase 2 coming soon’ so I decided to give it a miss (even though it had a train ride) till phase 2 opens. Selfie taken with the big pineapple to join other selfies near say the big banana taken and it was back on the road. Still loving the warmth and sunshine today!Read more
3 likes
Sunshine Coast Day Trip Travel with Carl
It’s a (Small) Ginger World
September 15, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
As an avid Ginger lover the Ginger Factory was on my list of places to visit even before Annie told me there was a potentially culturally insensitive small world ride. When I arrived I also saw it had a train ride too. Kid in a candy shop much (before you ask, no I don’t have a formal diagnosis).

I asked the ticket agent how it all worked and when the tours left. Unfortunately I didn’t have time for a factory tour but could fit in the train and boat ride. He looked kinda puzzled when I asked for a ticket for 1, looking behind me probably in search of a small child. “So 1 big kid ticket for the train and boat ride?” he asks with a smirk on his face. “Yep, that’s me” I reply and part with my $20 for the combo ticket that I later realised is called “play combo”. 😂

The train was leaving in 2mins so I rushed like a kid at a train store to the platform and boarded the train filled with parents, toddlers and some kindergarten aged kids. This big kid took one of the few seats left before the gates were closed and we set off on the 15min loop around the property, me with a big kid smile happily onboard.

Before the rush of the train ride had worn off I was boarding my private boat for the search for the gingerbread man ride. I think it was called the ‘overboard’ ride but let’s face it, it was it’s a small world with some gingerbread men added. The ride progressed with lots of puppets and music. I passed through London, Paris and then into China and some Island tribes. I can see what Annie meant now. Still the whole ride was a hoot. Pictures and videos tell the story better than I can in words.

Once the ride came to an end I was greeted by the ride attendant who quizzed me on my thoughts on the ride. “Umm, yeah it was entertaining for sure”. I can’t tell whether she is being sarcastic or genuine when she says she loves it and always sees something new each time she rides it.

With rides done I needed to eat something with Ginger in it and Ginger Beer sorbet seemed like the ticket. Not the best Ginger sorbet but refreshing as I walked around the old town styled stores and forest walk. The last attraction was the rainbrella (rainbow umbrellas) art installation which was cute.

While totally designed for kids I had a great time here. I bought some Ginger treats to take home with me and with everything Ginger satisfied made my way to the airport. If I did it again, I’d have come here first so I could fit in a factory tour. Oh well - next time gadget!Read more
TravelerAnd the bee demonstration for next time! Such an array of things to do!
9/15/24Reply
TravelerWhat a fun day!
9/15/24Reply
2 likes
Sunshine Coast Day Trip Travel with Carl
And thats a wrap for the day trip
September 15, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C
I arrived back in the Sunshine Coast airport with 20mins to spare before boarding commenced. This was one of the shorter day trips I’ve done, with about the same time in the air as on the ground. Still it was a lovely escape from Melbourne’s cold weekend (not that I knew the weather when I booked this months ago).

A day of warmth and sunshine is what I needed today. I’ve been running a little hard the last few weeks, so was nice to do a bit of something out of Melbourne doing my traditionally happy space activity. Sure the Irwin’s were a bit of a flop, but the whacky Ginger factory was a laugh.

Jetstar was my ride home tonight, in the same seat as I was on the flight up. This time it was a full flight so a little more squishy. An episode of Heartstopper and Kaos filled in much of the flight before a little blogging and chilling to music. I’m glad I do these trips - such fun.

As we crossed the border into Victoria it felt like ATC slowed us down to a crawl. Although the pilot said we had a 10min slowdown due to single runway ops, when you’re this close to home it feels like you’re just hovering. With the wait I got nice view of Shepparton where I went to school, then flew over my childhood hometown of Rushworth and the Waranga Basin. It was interesting to see the area I lived all covered in large trees which were all relatively small when I grew up there. Might go for a drive there one day to explore as an adult.

Melbourne has a southerly wind and 11 degrees waiting for my arrival this evening. A slow 360 orbit to the east of Bendigo gobbled up a bit of the 10mins we needed to wait before making a straight in approach to land to the south back home in Melbourne. Thanks for coming along on this trip, till next time peeps!Read more
TravelerSuch fun!
9/15/24Reply
1 like

Trip end
September 15, 2024

Sunshine Coast Day Trip

It’s been 32 days since my last flight

Jetstar 792 to the Sunshine Coast

Crikey, not an Irwin in sight 🥱

The Big Pineapple 🍍

It’s a (Small) Ginger World

And thats a wrap for the day trip