Blog By Noosa

A trip on the Valley Rattler

We've had some friends up visiting from Victoria and finally got around to doing something we've been talking about for ages: a trip on the Mary Valley Rattler.

The Rattler is an old steam train that does passenger trips through the Mary Valley, about an hour north of Noosa. It's a lovely old train, beautifully preserved, and the countryside you travel through is just gorgeous.

We opted for a half-day trip, departing from the old Gympie railway station and travelling to the little village of Amamoor, where we had a coffee in the sunshine while we watched them turning the engine around on a big turntable (I always wondered how they did that, clearly I haven't read enough Thomas the Tank Engine books), ready for the return journey.

 

Noosa Longweekend

The Noosa Longweekend Festival kicks off tomorrow, if you happen to be in town or want to make a trip. They mean it when they say long weekend - it goes for 10 days, through to June 27, so there's still time.

I'm going to be away for a lot of it, unfortunately, but I'm going to see "A Celebration of Short Films" with a friend on Sunday and I've promised to take the munchkins to some of the kids' events.

It's a huge and really varied program that I couldn't even begin to sum up (other than to say it includes theatre, music, film, dance, food and literature), so I'll instead say click here to have a look for yourself!  You can buy tickets through the Noosa Longweekend website.

Noosa Queensland

 

 

Hot tip: half price at Australia Zoo

I'm not sure if I'm meant to be telling the world about this, but if you're planning to go to Australia Zoo over the next couple of weeks, you can get half price tickets by going to this webpage and entering the promotional code BIRTHDAY (it's Australia Zoo's 40th birthday this year).

It's not available for family passes, unfortunately, but it brings the price of an adult ticket down to $28.50, which is a pretty small amount to pay for such a fantastic zoo. The zoo runs free buses from Noosaville and the Noosa Heads bus depot and it really is worth doing (says she, who has now been at least 20 times!).

Noosa Qld

Recommended: Raj Indian Restaurant

I had a fantastic meal the other night at Raj Indian Restaurant in Thomas Street, Noosaville. It was really authentic, fresh Indian food - none of that bain marie crap you get in some places. I particularly recommend the tandoori dishes, because they have a proper, charcoal-fired tandoor oven, but it was all good.

The service was super friendly, too, and they made such a fuss of the kids. I'll definitely be going back.

Noosa Queensland

Sunshine, good times

I love this time of year in Noosa. It's the sort of weather where you really feel like getting outdoors and doing things, because it's warm and sunny without being too hot.

I caught up with some friends at the river the other day and we ended up spending the whole day down there, watching the world go by and making the most of the fact that the kids were too busy romping around to annoy us!  Great views, great weather, great company, great wine - doesn't get much better than that.