On the Noosa River

Yesterday, Walter and I took the ferry along the Noosa River. The ferry goes from Noosa Heads to Tewantin, which was originaly a logging town. The trip takes about 55 minutes in total. The nice thing, though, is that there are five stops along the way, and we could get on and off as many times as we liked for the price of an all-day ticket. Each stop has its own attractions - beaches, shops, and restaurants. Everything from take aways to fancy restaurants with white linen table cloths and view of the river.

From Noosa Heads to Tewantin, there are about 1000 boats on the river, according to the ferry captain. Several of the boats are houseboats, where people live all year round. Some are pleausure boats for the river only, and a few are ocean-going craft. However, there are only 100 moorings, Many of the moorings belong to the houses on one side of the river. These are million dollar homes, with huge glass frontages to take advantage of the river views. Mixed in with them are the more upscale holiday homes that are let, or rented, out when not in use. Threre are also a few holiday resorts. On the other side of the river, is the Cooloola National Park, a beautiful undeveloped area. In the middle, in one section, there is a big sand bar. During the busy season in summer, there would be up to a hundred people on it, enjoying the river. Now, as the busy season is over, there are only a few if any. There are other sandbars, not visible above the water, and so anyone on the river needs to pay careful attention to the channel markers to avoid being grounded on a sandbar. Looking back from Noosa Heads, where we boarded the ferry, we could see a huge sandbar in the distance, and the surf from the sea, coming across Noosa Spit into the sound.

We got off the ferry at Big Pelican, and wandered around the shops for a bit before having lunch at a local Indian restaurant. That was followed up by a walk along the beach, and a treat of ice cream (mango, mmmmmm good) before we boarded the ferry again at T-Boats for the trip back to Noosa Heads.