The rain had a rhythm against the tin roof of the flat, a steady percussion that started before I opened my eyes and didn't let up as I rolled out of bed. It wasn't the drizzle of yesterday—this was a proper winter downpour, the kind that turns the gutters into rivers and makes the outdoor showers at the beach look like a mistake. I pulled back the curtain and watched the street outside Mooloolaba, the palm fronds drooping under the weight of the water, the footpaths empty except for one bloke jogging in a bright yellow raincoat. He looked miserable, but I admired his commitment.
I made a flat white with the milk I had in the fridge, using beans I'd picked up from The Colombian Coffee Co. in Maroochydore a couple of days back. The coffee was solid, maybe $5 worth of taste if I'd bought it at a cafe, but it cost me less than a dollar per cup at home. That's the thing about settling in somewhere—the small economics start to shift. A coffee you'd happily pay $5 for at a cafe becomes a habit you can't justify when you've got a stove and a grinder. Still, the rain called for a proper outing, so I decided to brave the bus system. The flat 50-cent fare is still the best bargain in Queensland, and I wanted to see how the local bus handled a wet weekday.
I grabbed my jacket, the one that's supposed to be waterproof but isn't, and walked the two blocks to the Mooloolaba bus stop. The rain hammered the footpath, and by the time I got under the shelter, my jeans were wet to the knee. A couple of locals were already there—a grandmother with a tartan umbrella and a kid in school uniform who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. The bus arrived four minutes late, and the driver nodded like he knew us all. I tapped my contactless card, paid 50 cents, and found a seat by the window as the bus pulled out. The roads were rivers, and the palm trees lining the esplanade bent their heads to the wind.
We rolled through Maroochydore, past the Sunshine Plaza—which was a hive of shoppers despite the weather—and then south toward Caloundra. The bus was nearly empty, and the windows fogged up from my breathing and the wet clothes. I got off near Kings Beach, where the swell was messy and grey, and the surfers looked like they were wrestling the ocean for no good reason. I walked along the esplanade, past closed ice-cream shops and a cafe that had a queue out the door, despite the rain. It was the kind of day where the sea disappeared into the sky, just a smear of grey on grey, and the only colour came from the flags at the beach, tethered and soaked.
I stopped for lunch at a small bakery on the main strip in Caloundra—not one of the big names, just a local place with a line and a glass counter. I ordered a pie and a coffee, and it set me back about $10, which felt steep for a rainy day in a beach town, but the pie was good, flaky and hot, and the coffee was better than it had any right to be. The girl behind the counter said they'd had a rush of people hiding from the rain, and she was glad for the business. It's winter, she said, but this is when the whales come past, so the tourists stick around. I asked her about the street party at Moffat Beach at the end of the month—the rodeo thing—and she said it was a big deal, the whole Seaview Terrace closed off, a market, live bands. Worth checking if I was still around, but I'd be long gone, heading north.
I decided to skip the return bus and walk the Caloundra Coastal Walk, even though the rain had settled into a steady drizzle. I'd done the walk on a clear day a few days ago, when the views across to Bribie Island were sharp and the lighthouse at Point Cartwright stood out like a white tooth on the horizon. Today, the path was slick, and the sea was a strange milky green under the grey sky, the foam streaked with sand and bubbles. I passed a family huddled under a picnic shelter, a dad trying to light a portable barbecue while the mum held a towel over the kids' heads. It looked like an argument waiting to happen, and I gave them a wide berth.
The walk took me down to Bulcock Beach, where the rain had driven the dogs and their owners off the sand, leaving only a lone woman with a surfboard, staring at the break like she was waiting for a sign. I stood on the rocks by the headland and watched the water for a while. That's when I spotted them—a pair of humpbacks, maybe half a kilometre out, spouting and then turning, their dark backs arching out of the chop. They were heading south, mothers and calves, hugging the coast as they made their way down to the Antarctic. I must have stood there for ten minutes, just watching, the rain soaking through to my skin, and I didn't mind it one bit.
I got back to the flat in the early afternoon, shivering and ready for a hot shower. I hung my wet clothes over the rail and made another coffee, this time with a splash of something warm—a bit of whiskey I'd bought at the bottle-o in Maroochydore, for the cold. I sat by the window, watching the rain pour off the roof and onto the street, and I thought about the week I'd had here. The Sunshine Coast has a way of making you slow down, even in the rain. The whales passing by, the empty buses, the coffee with names you learn—it's a quiet version of Australia, and I can see why people settle here.
I pulled out my notebook and did some rough sums for the episode, because the cost of this place is part of the story. The flat here—a modest one-bedroom—would go for about $1,410 a month, and rents are climbing, up maybe 8% year-on-year. A meal at an inexpensive local spot, like that bakery, is about $25. A fancy three-course dinner, say at Humble on Duke in Mooloolaba, which I'd tried earlier in the week, would set you back around $53 per person. The bus is the killer deal, though—50 cents for any ride, and a day pass at $1.50. My flat white habit, if I bought it every day, would be $4 to $6. It adds up, but it's not Sydney or Melbourne money.
I pulled out my map and traced the route north, the one I'd drive in a couple of days up to Cairns. The Sunshine Coast is the last bit of this subtropical golden stretch before you hit the beef and sugar towns, places like Maryborough and Bundaberg, and then the arid dry-season tropics up past Townsville. I'd need to sort the ute a little before that—check the oil, fill the tank, maybe grab a spare tyre from a wreckers in Nambour. But the plan was set: two more days here, then the road. I checked the weather forecast again on my phone, and the rain was supposed to clear tomorrow, so I jotted down a note to do one last dawn walk along the Noosa headland, before the light got too busy.
As the grey afternoon faded into an early winter evening, I stepped out of the flat and walked down to the Mooloolaba Esplanade. The rain had stopped, and the sky to the west was doing that thing it does, a pale gold band where the clouds had pulled apart. The streetlights flickered on, and the surf was still loud, but the air had that washed-clean smell of a place that's been soaked all day. I walked past the holiday apartments, their balconies empty, and down to the beach where the flags hung limp. I stood at the water's edge, watching the last of the light fade, and thought about the whales out there, and the road north, and the fact that I was lucky to call this place home, even if only for a fortnight.
That's the thing about a winter day like this on the Sunshine Coast—you can't control the weather, but you can let it shape you. The rain becomes a rhythm, the whales become a promise, and the bus fare becomes a bargain you'll remember. I'll be packing up day after tomorrow, heading up the highway to Cairns, but I'm glad I had this rainy day to slow me down. Everything I've mentioned—the bus fares, the cost of a meal, the whale-watching operators, the walks—is in the episode notes, so you can plan your own rainy day wherever you are. G'day for now.
I stood on the sand a little longer, as the first stars pushed through the clearing sky. The air was cool, 13 or 14 degrees, and the beach was empty save for a dog chasing its own shadow in the wet sand. It felt like the right note to end on, before the road north.
One last thing: check the notes for the link to the whale-watching boats out of Mooloolaba, and the bus timetable if you're feeling brave. Thanks for listening, and I'll talk to you from the road.
Good night, Sunshine Coast. Good night, whales. See you on the highway.
End episode.