News

It was serendipity that brought me to the Sunshine Coast of Queensland in Australia. I could have ended up in one of the metros. Sydney or Adelaide perhaps. But fate and Google conspired, and I found an internship project here, in a place so pretty I’m often overcome by the surreal feeling of being in a picture postcard.

The Sunshine Coast occupies a small corner of southeast Queensland about an hour-and-a-half’s drive north from Brisbane. It covers the area from Caloundra at the bottom to Noosa at the top. The four major towns are Maroochydore, Caloundra, Nambour, and Noosa. Drive inland from the coast and you enter the picturesque and artsy mountain towns of Maleny, Montville, Eumundi, and Kenilworth. Tourists usually stick to the beachside towns like Mooloolaba, Alexandra Headland (“Alex” to the locals), Coolum and Noosa Heads.

I find the names intriguing, doubtless deriving from aboriginal roots.

Sixty-five kilometres of the stunning Pacific coast by itself would be a magnet, but throw in the climate, and it becomes irresistible. It’s cool without being chilly, and the sun is out everyday. All rather idyllic, a little removed from reality.

Walking to my bus stop in the mornings, I often see young children lining up with their surfboards for the morning class, and sun-reddened 60 and 70-year-olds packing away their surfboards into their cars. A lot of people move to the Coast and accept lower paying jobs, for the lifestyle. There are jogger’s paths laid out all over the town and there are always people jogging, walking their dogs, or ‘power-walking’ alongside them.

After rugby, Australian Rules football (‘footie’), and cricket, barbecuing seems to be the country’s most popular activity. In the few weeks since I arrived, I’ve…More