Our holiday started with a nice easy check-in, although in a strange twist, the Australian budget airlines don't let you have much carry-on luggage so we had to put one bag in the hold. After our uneventful flight - well apart from a little bit of bickering from Adam and Emily over who could have the seat, we arrived in Maroochydore airport - also known as the Sunshine Coast. We got our hire car with little fuss (well apart from me queueing for Hertz when the rental was with Budget) and following the directions of the nice lady from tourist information (turn left and drive in a straight line) we arrived in Noosaville and our resort.

The Islander

We got checked in and unpacked in our lovely little villa - two bedrooms (air con in master bedroom and living area - essential as although it wasn't super sunny in Queensland, it was very humid), nice fully kitted out kitchen and living area. We then went exploring and found the pool and the cafe called Moondoggy. After lunch we went to the pool and after a bit of nervousness, mainly because the water was so cold, we all ended up in the water. Emily has no fear of the water and quite happily launches herself into the water. Adam, thankfully is a bit more cautious, but still enjoyed jumping in the pool.

In the evening we went for a nice long walk to explore Noosaville and after a bit of exploring, found a fabulous restaurant called Maisie's. Like so many places in Noosaville, they had a nice children's menu and as we had a table in the pavement seating area, we didn't feel like we were distracting other people.

The only downside of our villa was that with only two bedrooms, Emily slept in our room so when she woke at 6.30am and saw us in the room, she was not for going back to sleep.

On the Sunday we decided to relax by the pool - mainly because Colin was hungover! - the fabulous Moondoggy cafe sold brilliant fruit smoothies which made us feel much better. Again, Emily loved throwing herself into the pool and we bought a few toys that kept both of them very entertained.  Lunch was entertaining just for Adam enjoying his chicken-fish nuggets!!

Another relaxed afternoon followed by another great, family friendly restaurant.

On Monday we hit the beach - gorgeous sand and brilliant waves. After a bit of persuasion, Adam was happy running away from the waves - a few times he got caught and got knocked off his feet! Emily, on the other hand, did not like the waves at all, she even screamed at Colin and me when we were in the sea. The strength of the waves here is amazing, you could really feel the pull of the rip-tide as the waves receded.  We then explored Noosa Heads - the Hamptons equivalent, apparently - and had lunch. Unfortunately, Emily developed a sore eye - either salt, sand or sun-cream so she was really clingy and not happy. She then did a very un-Emily like thing - she fell asleep on my shoulder which helped rest her eye. We got eye drops from the chemist and it cleared up her sore eye in no time.

We visited the floating restaurant opposite our resort for our last Noosaville meal and it was delicious. Again, Adam had chicken-fish nuggets.

Tuesday was our last day, so after loading up the hire car and then checking out, we headed to Maroochydore to kill some time til our flight. Again, we had no hassles with check-in (the airport was smaller than Prestwick) or the flight. One of the best things about the trip was how easy it was to get through Sydney airport - our flight landed at 6.15 and we were home by 7.15 - getting our luggage and getting the car from long term parking was super easy!!

We hope to go back to Noosa again bit for a bit longer so we can explore some more of the sights.