The day started off interestingly – we were sitting in the room, making sure nothing was left behind when the power went off. It was light enough to finish packing though so we did and then headed to the reception office to check out. Another problem – the computers were down so the clerk couldn’t check us out – John told him the only charges were 3 local phonecalls (75 cents each) to the wireless internet help desk (the problem never was resolved), so he reluctantly let us leave. The cab didn’t take long to get to the hotel and soon we were at the airport – where the power was also out. They were working on auxiliary power and managed to get the check in done and our baggage checked. Another easy trip through the security screening – and you can even take water on domestic flights here. Of course, then we had over 2 hours to wait for our flight but we browsed through the gift shops (more expensive than the ones in Melbourne – maybe because it was the domestic terminal?) and had a cup of coffee and then our flight was called.

After an uneventful 2 hour flight, we landed at Brisbane, found our luggage and the rental car agency. We have another Toyota Corolla – not as nice as the last one but it will do. We headed north to Caloundra, got groceries and found the condo with no problem. We’re on the 5th floor and we have a nice view from here. I see now what Karen (my sister) meant about the bedroom set up. The louvered doors in the photos are surrounding the bedroom area – a different kind of set up.

To counteract that, the doors to the balcony open up completely so that you have an open fronted living area. It’s kind of neat.

We settled in and then went for a walk down Esplanade Street. The pathway takes you through

a mangrove swamp (on a boardwalk) and is quite sheltered from the breeze.

That’s it for now – tomorrow we’re going to look for somewhere to park the car overnight (in Noosa Heads) while we go to Fraser Island on Tuesday.

Temperature: 23 C – sunny with some cloud