Kelly's World

Last night after dinner I went over to C’s place for the evening. When I got there I found that he was pretty tired, but he was happy enough to go for a walk down to the beach to get a coffee and just chill out a bit on the sand. It was sSomething different from sitting in front of the tv at night anyway.

When we got there, we knew we had made the right decision.

After buying a coffee from Starbucks in Mooloolaba, we kept walking towards the beach and began to hear the beat of some drums. Initially we thought it might have just been some music playing through speakers at one of the nearby restaurants, but as we got closer to the landmark “Loo with a View” the sound grew louder. As we rounded the corner to the wooden deck downstairs we came across a group of 20 (possibly a few more) drummers sitting in a big circle.

Drums ranged from your basic bongo drum to the kind you would usually see in a band parade. They weren’t playing anything in particular, but rather they all joined in together as they saw fit, changing the pattern or having “solo” moments whenever they thought it was appropriate. C and I were mesmerised, as were the large crowd that quickly grew. We finished our coffees and watched the finale, when the drummers all pointed us to a busker standing by, ready to start his own set.

He was a juggler, and his tools included some regular juggling balls, solid glass balls and even the good old yoho diabolos.

Remember these?

At the end of his performance he brought in some flaming sticks, which proved to be quite a challenge in the windy conditions. He still entertained us though, and his antics were a hit with the kids in the audience.

At the end of the night, C and I both agreed that going for a walk was a great idea. I’m so glad that C has moved into a house where it takes only a few minutes to walk to Mooloolaba beach, because it means that we can enjoy nights like this on a regular basis. When you can experience a beautiful view, great coffee and even better company, why would you want to stay inside?

Who else is sick of this rain?! Not looking like it’s going to change much for Christmas Day unfortunately, but when I took this pic the Maroochy River was SO high.

Tuesday night some friends and I decided to go around and visit the Christmas Lights on the southern end of the Sunshine Coast, particularly Bokarina/Currimundi area. As a kid I have fond memories of parking the car and walking around several blocks of Bokarina, with each house putting on a spectacular display. Alas, it turns out they don’t do that anymore and it’s almost rare to see the most basic of lights in Bokarina. Pretty devastating.

After we looked at the non-lights at Bokarina, my friends and I headed out to view a few of the houses on the list published in the Sunshine Coast Daily (republished on my blog for those who might have difficulty locating it in the paper).

I have to try and put on my nice voice here, and say that I truly appreciate the effort that people have put into putting up Christmas lights, but given these were entered into a competition we felt a little let down. It took about three or four houses before we found that we were compelled to actually park the car and get out to take a look.

I guess I can base this all on my memories as a child; running into the front yard of the houses, looking at all the figurines and numerous Santas all over the place; it really made it feel like Christmas. Now it’s more or less that people just decorate their front yards with the lights making pretty shapes, or using the sets you can buy straight out of the shop. Where’s the creativity in that? I mentioned earlier that I have fond memories of the houses around Bokarina, but if you’ve been a local on the Sunshine Coast for a few years you might remember the house in Buderim that had dedicated almost their entire property to Christmas lights. Their display was incredible, and I think they won the award a few years running. They had waterfalls and fairies and Santas, and you truly went on a journey in their front yard. They also raised money at the same time for the Wildlife Warriors, a very worth cause.

I’m also going to put in a note here: yes, I’m aware that running Christmas lights are expensive, and yes, I know that we’re in the midst of a period where money is tight. My problem isn’t that there’s not enough lights, my problem is  that it feels like there’s no creativity and originality behind it all. You don’t have to be constantly running LED lights to put on a great show. Set up a Santa village or something?

So my hot tips if you’re looking to go out Christmas light looking on the Sunshine Coast is that there has been three standout properties so far:

• Tibouchina Pl Currimundi (it has a SNOW MACHINE!!! Made from foam, but so much fun to dance in, and also has a garage full of little villages with railroads etc)
• Warratah Ct Wurtulla (the owner is also great for a yarn)
• 8 Ivy Crt Buderim (great if you have a passing interest in cars, I believe the owner of Motor ‘Mazing does this display, or at least someone affiliated with the company)

I’ll keep you posted on any more that I find, as I’m going to be going Christmas Light looking with Mum again very shortly…hoping to find another few gems!

I decided to publish the list of entrants in the Sunshine Coast Daily’s Christmas Light Competition on my blog, since I had extreme difficulty locating this list anywhere online. And unless you purchased the paper on either Saturday 4th, Monday 6th, Tuesday 9th, Saturday 11th, Monday 13th or Thursday 16th December, then bad luck – you’re not going to find the list.

I managed to hunt down a newsagent who still had a copy of yesterday’s paper, and thus was able to locate the list. If I wasn’t going out tonight with friends purely to look at the houses in the competition I wouldn’t have cared so much, but alas I made the effort just to make sure we knew where we were going.

So without further adieu, here are the houses competing in the Sunshine Coast Daily’s 2010 Christmas Lights Competition (list sorted by suburbs, google map link at the bottom)

• Alexandra Headlands – Unit 31, 6 Marina Walk
• Beerwah – 3 Chantilly Crescent
• Bli Bli – 11 Mona Court, 93 Francis Road
• Buderim – 8 Ivy Court, 17 Kerenjon Ave, 2 Nara Court
• Burnside – 6 Dalzel Court, 7 Flinders Ave
• Coolum Beach – 9 Kanooka Ave
• Cooran – 6 Elizabeth St
• Cooroy - Maple St, 13 Koala Cres (Lake Macdonald)
• Currimundi – 14 Coraki St, 2 Tibouchina Pl
• Dulong – 241-243 Dulong Rd
• Glenview – 393 Glenview Road
• Landsborough – 10-44 Caloundra St, 3324 Old Gympie Rd
• Maroochydore – 23 Valencia St
• Meridian Plains - 7 Lacebark St
• Minyama – 32 Chelsea Cres
• Mooloolaba – 24/94 River Esplanade
• Nambour – 8 Princess Cres, 2 Yarrawah St, 39 Washington St, 7 Bilby Crt
• Palmwoods – 16 Bonaparte Pl, 32 Jane St, 12 Palmwoods School Rd
• Peachester – 487 Commissioners Flat Rd
• Sippy Downs – 7 Ribbonwood St, 3 Courtenay Pl, 4 Elston Crt, 263 University Way
• Sunrise Beach – Cnr Boxsell Rise & Wollamia Way
• Tanawha – 143-163 Tanawha Rd
• Tewantin – 28 Coreen Ave, 4 Fyne Crt, 6 Homestead Drive, 12 Murra Court
• Warana – 94 Nicklin Way
• Woombye – 6 Homestead Pl
• Wurtulla – 22 Helm Cres, 1 Warattah Crt, 29 Halyard Dr
• Yandina - 26 Fleming St

View Sunshine Coast Christmas Lights Competition 2010 in a larger map

Starbucks Mooloolaba

A well-known chain coffee brand, Starbucks usually has its critics. It also hasn’t had the best run in Australia, recently having to close 60% of its shops on Aussie shores.  However “large scale” they may be, I think they have still managed to capture a small business feel through their outstanding service.

Price: $3.80 for a tall takeaway skinny cappuccino

Presentation: 5/5 – They got a couple of bonus points here for the presentation of the takeaway cup (which is hard to make unique). There was the standard takeaway cup with lid, but I was happy to see they’ve embraced the festive season through the use of Christmas themed cups. The clincher to get them to a 5/5 rating was they put on a cardboard band around the middle, which helps to hold the cup while it’s hot. It’s been quite rare to find this in Mooloolaba, and when you’re walking back to the office with a coffee it can sometimes be unpleasant. Or maybe I just have girly hands…whatever.

Atmosphere: 4/5 – It’s the typical “Starbucks” affair, which doesn’t change much from store to store. Inside was a big display of food items, and everything was fitted out with the red/wood theme. There are some comfortable couches surrounding a number of tables and chairs (including some couches facing the beach), and for the corporate clientele there are some power points available. If you’re an iinet customer, there’s also wi-fi available as well. It’s well placed on the esplanade, having a great view of the beach and situated within the beautiful Sirocco hotel complex.

Service: 5/5 – The lady who greeted me had a smile, and a ton of personality. She made my visit seem personal, and we had a bit of a laugh together. Definitely a reason to come back.

The taste: 4/5 – Good temperature, decent coffee. Not enough to make me scream “that is an awesome coffee”, but it definitely satisfied my need for caffeine.

Overall score: 18/20

**Update**
I wrote this update yesterday, went back this morning to get a coffee and it was the same lady that was working yesterday. Amazingly, she remembered my name. I knew she had great service skills, but that just made me even more impressed.

Starbucks Mooloolaba
Shop 108, Sirocco
51-57 Mooloolaba Esplanade,
Mooloolaba QLD 4557