I’m not sure if you could all handle more of the Aussie lingo, so back to boring English…

Tanya’s family was one of the first to settle in Caloundra, one of the main towns along the Sunshine Coast. There’s even a Rinaldi Street. I had the privilege of touring the coast and country with her and her mum yesterday. We drove through the towering Glasshouse Mountains to visit David’s spectacular house. We passed charming B&B towns in The Hinterlands, and stopped for fudge and coffee when it started to rain. We parked the car in Noosa, an upscale beach spot, to walk around its National Park and search for wild koalas in the treetops. But the day wouldn’t have been complete without a stop at the Big Pineapple. Like the Corn Palace in South Dakota, this larger-than-life piece of fruit was an obvious attempt to draw tourists to an otherwise insignificant site. And it worked. I loved it. In my book, the Big Pineapple of Nambour is up there with Angkor Wat and the Taj Mahal…except you can’t climb on those wonders.

This morning I felt like I was running away from home. Tanya woke me up earlier than normal, telling me to pack for 3 nights and be ready in 5 minutes. With a little knapsack slung over my shoulder, we hopped in her truck and headed for the Cooloola Shire before high tide.

The Cooloola Shire is a locals' island, for driving along its beaches requires practice and a 4-wheel drive. There are paved roads, but what fun is that? During the holidays, hundreds of cars line up at the barge to cross the river, and then cruise the shores in the daytime and camp on them at night. If you’re not experienced in reading the sand and following the tire grooves, it would be a frustrating and dangerous outing. Or if you don’t heed the water levels – a race against the tide. Luckily, Tanya’s a pro. She learned to drive here as a kid, and now owns a house on Rainbow beach, a popular area named after its colored sand. As she maneuvered the blue beast of a car, we bounced and jolted like the ghetto vehicles that rappers drive in their music videos. On one side of the car, there were massive sand bluffs sculpted over the years by wind and water. On the other side, crashing waves. A feeling of freedom that will make it painful to ever return to LA traffic.

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