Portia - Victorian Women Lawyers

Noosa
Noosa has, perhaps unkindly, been dubbed
‘Melbourne in shorts’. If your regular Victorian
summer haunts are Lorne or Portsea, you’ll most
likely love Noosa.
I spent a week there in December. It had been a
number of years since my last visit and I had vowed
I would not be returning until:
1. I could afford to! Noosa is expensive. Be
prepared to spend upwards of $1,500 a week for a
self-contained apartment within walking distance of
the beach - even more in high season. A single
return airfare from Melbourne to Maroochydore
(the closest airport) is about $500.
2. I was old enough to wear gold
belts, gold shoes and take a gold
handbag to the beach. There is
something unique about the Noosa man and
woman. I’m sure that Richard Attenborough would
enjoy cataloguing the various habitual rituals of the
Noosa species. Noosa is not really a “let it all hang
out” beach holiday and is as close as we get in
Australia to imitating French beachgoers who wear
their suits and high heels to the beach. Noosa is a
place to be seen.
3. They worked out how to make real coffee. Noosa
has quite a lot of Sydney in it and they still serve
cafe latte in Irish Whisky glasses, which is great if
you don’t like the taste of coffee and prefer a nice
warm glass of milk.
Despite my prejudices, I went back lured by the
idea of a cheap holiday in the sun. It was cheap
only because my brother has moved to Noosa to
work and has since been inundated by members of
our family!!
Noosa is not really a
“let it all hang out” beach holiday...
So what’s changed?
Noosa is still very expensive. I arrived shortly after
the Noosa restaurant awards. There are many
varieties of food and Noosa is often hailed as
having great eating houses. The atmosphere is
certainly fantastic - there is nothing like being able
to eat in outdoor restaurants at night without
having to pull on a jumper. But I found the food
mostly overpriced. Main courses generally start at
$25 for a quality of food that we would probably
pay $15 for in a café in Melbourne. The service can
be pretty ordinary as well.
Thankfully there were less gold belts in 1999 - but
Noosa is still a major holiday
destination for the well heeled.
Hastings Street is a bit like Toorak
Village with sand.
And the coffee? Irish Whisky glasses still prevail,
but I did manage to find one or two café’s who
prided themselves on making great coffee.
Pelligrini’s would make a fortune if they opened a
Noosa café.
Despite the Noosa ‘scene’, the beaches are great.
The water is warm and clean. The national park
which abuts the beach provides a scenic setting
and great walks. And there’s a height limit to new
development so Noosa retains some of the old
beach holiday feeling before high rises took over.
And the weather? Who cares about gold belts and
weak coffee when it’s warm enough to be on the
beach at 8.30 in the morning and jumpers are only
needed for when you get off the plane at
Tullamarine.
Tell me again why we choose to live in Victoria?
Wendy Kayler-Thomson
AY OUT
like a Devonshire tea. A big scone with lots of jam
and cream is a must. Also worth a look is the
William Ricketts Sanctuary which is close by.
Mornington Peninsula National Park
This park is 80 kilometers south of Melbourne via
Mornington Peninsula Freeway and Point Nepean
Road. Greens Bush, Point Nepean, Sorrento
Ocean Beach and Cape Schanck are the main
walking attractions with Greens Bush providing
the more challenging task.
More information
Parks Victoria is a wonderful resource. They have
free flyers on all the National Parks in Victoria
including maps of how to get there and what to
see. They are situated in the floor above
Information Victoria in town. For those of you on
the net the homepage is
http://www.parks.vic.gov.au. Alternatively phone
13 1963.
By Karen Streckfuss
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