So Jane’s flown back to Perth from Townsville for some appointments, leaving me to head south solo until Brisbane. I could have meandered slowly down the coast, but damn it I haven’t surfed for like 4 months, so off I hooned, heading for the Sunshine Coast and the first real prospect of surf since Exmouth (which hardly counts as a surfing destination - sorry Sam!).

This morning I made it to Noosa Heads; as I passed through Gympie, it began to rain, progressively heavier the closer I got to Noosa. Threading my way through the multiple Noosa suburbs (Noosaville! Noosa Junction! Noosa Hill! Did I already say Noosaville? Seriously.) replete with interminable roundabouts in near zero visibility, heavy traffic, no map and no idea was kinda taxing to say the least. (As an aside, what is it with Queensland traffic authorities and roundabouts? They love them up here - and not just any old roundabouts: big, multilane things with these weird right then left curved approaches. If you’ve ever driven north out of Cairns, you’ll know what I mean.)

Anyway, I made it to the main beach, parked up and went for a wander. And the culture shock set in. It’s not that we haven’t been in urban centres (Cairns, Townsville) lately, or tourist traps (Palm Cove, Port Douglas), but there’s something really claustrophobic and intense about Noosa’s main drag - the streets are crammed with upmarket boutiques - few ‘real’ shops, just clothes, lingerie and homeware bric-a-brac, the sort of thing where idle ladies browse as a holiday past-time with desultory-looking partners either at heel or minding the kids in the stroller outside - and above and behind the shops an endless sea of holiday units. Overlooking it all is the steep green mound of the headland, patchworked by yet more holiday rentals clinging like moss to the hillside. Oh, and apropos a tourist market, note the bakery display above: almost $5 for a bog-standard custard tart. I mean, WTF? It’s not even something with a European sounding name like ‘friand’.

I’m not sure why I felt the culture shock I did - maybe the recent long solo drive, maybe the rain and low visibility through heavy traffic, or the cooler temperature (I’m in a hoodie and beanie, ferchrissakes!), or maybe I’m just noticing the lack of a certain tropical laid-backness that characterises more northerly towns and tourist traps.

Or maybe I’m just down cos the surf was flat I’m missing Jane.