Life on The Sunshine Coast❤
Not sure how but in barely 8 months, Sunny Coast really grew on to me. Moving from Dubai to the sleepy ol town of Maroochydore was one helluva change but somehow… it wasn’t the worst! As I drew the blinds in and locked the unit door one last time, I knew that what I had experienced here was unique and even though Gold Coast is just 2.5 hrs south and is also about that laidback beach life, it would never be like this….
Many of us like nature, we like the idea of lunch by a waterfall in a rainforest. Running on the beach at sunset. Sitting on a park bench, staring at endless blue. Sunny Coast is where one indulges in these aesthetic pleasures of life. Growing up, I was never a beach gal. It was only since last year that I sort of made myself acquire a taste for it the minute I knew I was going to move to Australia. And thank heavens I did. Beaches here are gorgeous and a huge ‘thing’ that people do. Every day can be beach day; people do not get sick of it. You have to see everyday nature as an attraction and that is a big thing I learnt out here. To be amazed day after day by gorgeous nature.
Sunny Coast served as my primer to Australian life.
This is where I did all of my note taking on what being Australian is all about. Here’s where I first encountered the oh so Ozzie “how’re you goin” that is now slowly becoming my choice of greeting too. It is very common to see a mum with 3 kids and no nanny in this region, so really family-centric. The other part of the demographic is old folks. Old ladies with flowy blouses, old men with their fishing rods and boats.
I learnt that a fun weekend means getting a sweet spot at the park for a barbecue, dip in the water, and the play pen on rotation until sunset. This is in stark contrast to a city kid (or even adult, let’s face it) in any part of the world who would be quickly bored doing the same things on repeat. I rarely saw kids addicted to gadgets. All forms of entertainment usually involve the outdoors. There is no such thing as too much outdoors time here. I have become really good at sunscreen application and really bad at dressing up in the last few months. My Dubai fashion sensibilities have no place here.
I loved the view from our house, the guarantee that any outdoor spot will be breathtaking, the Farmers Market at David Low Way (where I got my first parking ticket ever ugh), the very manageable traffic, the well maintained grass everywhere. It is as though the people know they’ve got a good thing going but are not feeling insecure yet about change and outsiders spoiling it. Perhaps because there weren’t too many outsiders to begin with. It is not very diverse here, which is just something to be aware of for someone moving this side. But more so for me with Zumba… I was pleasantly surprised to see how welcoming other instructors were and wondered how I wasn’t perceived as a threat on some level (not because I’m all thaaaaat, but just because I’m a newbie in a fairly saturated market). As admirable as this was, cynical me soon realized how loyalty was a given here. I’m not sure if that’s a “small town” thing (I don’t mean this derogatorily at all) but unlike big cities they aren’t always on the lookout for what’s new and what’s fashionable. They’re more likely to go with what’s familiar and where their friends are going.
What I couldn’t ignore for too long was the lack of avenues to meet people. Unless you have a kid or a job, this is always going to be a challenge. Oh and a word about the functioning of businesses: to live in a place where cafés close at 3pm or sometimes just on a whim was alien to me. Did they not want my business?! After being disappointed way too many times with mysterious early closures of cafés, I came to the conclusion that this was the consequence of working for yourself or working on something you love. A lot of the eateries here seem like passion projects which means everything is super thoughtful and nice… but can disappear any minute due to the chef not ‘feeling it’ or ‘needing a break’. Too many unreliable cafés who dgaf about money and want their impulsive time off. Which is cool, which is cool, super chill….. unless you’ve stupidly planned your entire weekend around their $10 nachos deal (welp).
Seeking Slow by Melanie Barnes is one of the books I’m currently reading and in it she talks about slow living. In essence, that’s what life on the Sunshine Coast is: expanding tasks into a leisure 24 hour space with beautiful scenery and picturesque moments. Though it is touted as a vacation spot, the crowds are seasonal unlike GC. People here like to enjoy sunrises, a good run on the beach and nice fancy dinners. A lot of people say that’s Down Under for you — work is work but life is about the small things — but I doubt you’ll recognize this Australian mentality in the locals in say Melbourne. Cities are melting pots and I suppose you can’t really comment on the culture of a place unless you’ve spent a few months in rural or regional areas. Landing here took me straight to the heart.
Thanks and goodbye, dear Maroochydore. Here’s to embracing what GC has in store for me!
