Sunshine Coast

Today was suppose to be a rest day after the big day at Australia Zoo yesterday. however it didn't really turn out that way.

First stop was the Queensland Air Museum in Calloundra.  It has a large number of civil and military airplanes and jets, along with all sorts of flying related parephenalia, including a Norden Bomb Sight.  My two favourite things were the Westland Wescott Helicopter - first time I've seen one in person, they are huge - and the wing of the P51 Mustang that had been openned up to show the workings and ammunition storage of the cannons.

Next was a quick stop at the Ettamogah Pub, just a few KM's up the road.  Not much to see here, so grabbed a souvenir and then off again.

From here, I drove to the town of Buderim on the assumption that this is where the Buderim Ginger factory was - oh, silly me !!!!! It's a lovely town in the hills (some streets have a 20% incline - ouch), but it turns out the ginger factory moved about 20 years ago - oh well.

From there it was back to the highway and on to the Big Pineapple. Turns out it's not really operating as a major tourist attraction any more.  There's a small cafe there, and you can still walk inside the Pineapple, but it's only just getting back on it's feet after apparently going broke.  So I wasn't able to rekindle my memories of the plantation tour from where I was a kid.

Then on to Yandina, where the Buderim Ginger factory REALLY is - I promise.
I booked myself on a couple of tours (Ginger one & Honey Bee one), then had lunch - including ginger beer.  I went on the Ginger Tour - including 5 ginger tasting and more ginger beer, then had a lime and ginger slushie (very, very refreshing - must make some when I get home).   By this time I was nearly all gingered out, so it was on to the Honey Bee tour - with more tastings, this time of honey.  The guide for the Honey Tour was a bee keeper herself and gave a very interesting tour.  I was keen to find out a bit more about the mysterous "colony collapse" syndrom, and she mentioned that there is no specific/known reason, but one cause may be GM crops.  An impact of some GM crops is that the pollen produced by the crops is just a fraction more "sticky" than regular crops.  When bees feed on the crops, then get covered in pollen (normal), and then groom themselves to push the pollen down into little baskets on their legs.  However with the stickier pollen they are expending way too much energy grooming themselves and often collapse and die while out foraging.

By the end of both tours I was feeling really great and full of energy, but I suspect it may have just been all the sugar.  I bought some ginger and honey products for my trip, along with a few souvenirs (fridge magnet anybody?) and it was time to hit the road to find somewhere to stay.   I felt Noosa was probably a good spot - not too far, on the coast, had heard of it before - so drove there.

Here's a LINK to other photos from the Sunshine Coast.