We are 2!

2 weeks ago, we celebrated our 2nd year of marriage and the start of our 3rd year. Hubby bought some really cheap holiday accommodation vouchers some time back and this time we could use it for a 3-night accommodation at Sunshine Coast, Caloundra. (The only catch is that we have to go listen to a 90-minute presentation to try to sell us something, of which we declined as it does not suit us.)

Sunshine Coast is much less commercialised than the Gold Coast. It also is a larger area with many beaches, hinterland, things to do and places to go to. There are too many to do in one weekend if we want to cover all of them. But this is not our first time to Sunshine Coast anyway and we did not want to spend much money doing the touristy activities. Hence we just want to chill out, relax and spend time with just the 2 of us.

We stayed in a studio apartment with a small kitchen and lounge and it is just by the Golden Beach. It is a small town with just holiday accommodation, little shops and some residential homes. It was so so refreshing to wake up and see the clear waters, blue sky and green trees, kids playing and swimming by the beach and some people jogging around. Simply relaxing just watching those... I am so thankful for God's beautiful creation of the waters, sky and earth that I am able to stand there and appreciate them.

In our studio apartment, Noosa river (smoke in background due to bush fire), having ice cream in a hot day, beautiful relaxing view from our 8th level apartment, sunset sighted from apartment, just us and the Caloundra city lights behind us

Food galore!

We made our own brekky - (bottom, 2nd from left: asparagus, tomatoes, ham, eggs; next to it: toast with omelette and baked beans; bottom right corner: maple syrup french raisin toast (Bill Granger recipe) with ham and tomatoes)

One of the highlights was the food (of course!)! We decided to splurge a bit and go for a seafood buffet (which my SIL has been raving about) at Noosa. Catos is part of Sheraton Hotel at Noosa. With our 25% Entertainment Book voucher, we ended up paying just under A$60 per person, probably our most expensive meal out ever! (I think hubby paid less than that when he proposed marriage to me with dinner on the cable car ;)) Anyhow, this was our "celebration meal" of which we ate so much that we were just so so full! I enjoyed the buffet more than hubby. Of the lot that we had, the oysters (so so fresh!), smoked salmon, prawns and the desserts were my favourite. Spanner crabs, mussels, Balmain bugs and other warm foods were available. Most of them were 'ok', I reckon.

Hubby reckons his best meal was having Moroccan meal at a small cozy place at Maroochydore. We had a chicken and preserved lemon tajine, lamb tajine with their apple and herb cous cous and saffron rice at Coral Tajine Moroccan Restaurant. The lamb tajine was superb - tender, sweet, tasty and went down perfectly well with the apple and herb cous cous. With the Entertainment Book voucher, we only paid for the more expensive main course A$24.50 and the cheaper one (chicken) was free (we also had to pay for the rice and cous cous, of course!)

Not forgetting also, our first meal there was at a local fish and chips cafe Mad Fish. I had a grilled salmon while hubby had a grilled sea perch. I loved my salmon, anytime! This grilled salmon had a crispy skin. Overall experience - was a nice cafe by Kings Beach but the prices were a tad steep. For a piece of fish, salad and chips, it cost us A$24.50. I think we'd prefer paying the same price for the Moroccan meal, any time! With Entertainment Book voucher, we only paid for one meal and our drinks.

We spent most of the other time resting, chilling, sleeping in (not too late), driving, strolling along Noosa beach, Noosa river, Kings beach, Golden beach, Noosa shopping street. We also attended a chinese church on Sunday arvo and was privileged to go along to their baptism of 3 of their members by the beach! It was a good weekend of enjoyment of each other's company, food and just breathing in the smells of sea water and most of all, being very thankful to God for seeing us through our 2nd year of marriage as we look forward to see more of each other growing and learning to be more Christ-like :)

Now, I am really looking forward to spending a week in Phuket, Thailand in May/June 2010 (more chilling out, beaches and cheap luxurious massages!). With the same cheap accommodation voucher (spending same amount of $), we will be putting up at a nice resort hotel for 7 nights in Phuket (air tickets from SG not inclusive). That is a little detour from our visit to SG at that time before church camp and catching up with friends and family :)