For any of you that follow my blogs, you may remember meeting Margaret late last year when she came for a visit to Tassie. Margaret is one of my family’s dearest friends and I was very much looking forward to catching up with Margaret again on this visit.

Margaret had a day planned for us today that included eating, chatting and sightseeing. What more could a girl want? Oh, yes, there was even time for a spot of shopping.

 We started out with brunch in a cafe across from the beach in Cotton Tree, I’ll try to remember the name of it for you, but as I was too engrossed in the chatting part of our day to even remember taking a note of the name of the restaurant, there will not be a review to follow. However, I will say it was a wonderful place for brunch, Margaret and I both had eggs of some description with coffee, and we both thoroughly enjoyed our meals. We sat on the deck soaking up the atmosphere and sunshine having a wonderful time.

The next part of our day was the sightseeing. Margaret first drove us to the lighthouse at Pt Cartwright. A little piece of information about this modern lighthouse, it is white except when it catches the last rays of the setting sun, which gives it a gorgeous orange glow. I missed seeing the lighthouse at sunset, but it doesn’t matter what the time of day is, the views from Point Cartwright are stunning, and it is a very interesting lighthouse.

Dicky Beach was the next pit stop on our little beach hop. The beach got its name from the “S.S. Dicky”, shipwrecked on the beach in 1893, carrying 11 crew and 40 tonnes of sand, the attempts to refloat the ship were unsuccessful. I’m still trying to figure out why there was 40 tonnes of sand on a ship sailing off the east coast of Australia.

After a little bit more sightseeing and beach hopping, Margaret and I headed to the Mooloolaba surf club for afternoon tea. I have been to the Mooloolaba surf club for dinner and drinks before, but this was the first time for afternoon tea. Margaret has often come here with her girlfriends to enjoy the afternoon with great views some nice food and a glass of vino. At a cost of $20 for two people, the afternoon tea is extremely good value for money, and it included a glass of bubbles if you would prefer that to coffee or tea. Of course I chose the bubbles.

From Australia my wife and I have travelled to many countries, usually without the 'benefits' of planned itineries.

I have sailed to Antarctica and we have sailed the Queensland coast of Australia and the Greek Islands.

We have travelled through Thailand, India, Java and Bali, Fiji, Brunei, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, and USA.

I have created a website for fellow travellers to list any type of holiday accommodation, vehicle, boat, or tour, so as to swap holiday time with something they have for something someone else has.

Have a look at http://www.sosimpleholidayswaps.com and read about the "Life and Travels of a Non-famous Person".

Three weeks staying with my dad, will we both survive? Now THAT is the question.

Dad lives on the sunny Sunshine Coast, one hour north of Brisbane. I had a wonderful time soaking up the sun and relaxed atmosphere, and catching up with my dear friend Renee, who is like a sister to me and another daughter to my dad.

I spent my days walking to the beach and swimming in the surf with Renee, hitting golf balls at the driving range with dad, walking in the lush rainforests of Buderim and spending time with my beautiful niece and two nephews. In the evenings, if we weren’t discovering new restaurants, we walked along the boardwalk at Mooloolaba enjoying the balmy weather.

Renee and I took a couple of drives up to Noosa, the wonderful resort town, where we enjoyed lunch and sat drinking wine overlooking the beautiful Noosa Beach, then walking along the boardwalk licking ice-cream.

Christmas lunch was a wonderful occasion at an old friend’s home in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, sitting out on their deck enjoying the view and the beautiful warm weather.

For New Year, Renee and I went to the largest folk festival in the Southern Hemisphere, the Woodford Folk Festival (see review).

It was wonderful spending three weeks in shorts and t-shirts, something I don’t get to do very often living here in Tasmania. The Sunshine Coast is a fantastic summer destination, with warm balmy nights and hot days, sandy beaches and wonderful friendly locals.