Quintessential Queensland: The Beach Stay

(Daddy recounts)

Day 3 and as we bade farewell to Lilydale Farmstay, the original plan was to head on down directly to Glass House Mountains for a 3-night stay at an Ecolodge accommodation. But all rooms were fully booked for that particular day so at the suggestion of Tourism Queensland, we made our way down to Caloundra for some sun, sea and sand!

And I was glad we did. Because we got the chance to experience a relaxing beach getaway, even though it was only for one night. 

Caloundra is located at the southern end of Queensland's stunning Sunshine Coast and is fast becoming recognised as one of Australia's fastest growing holiday destinations. In fact, many of the locals come here for their staycations and I think I know the reason why - 7 beaches, that's what!

For our accommodation, we were put up in the swanky Rumba Resort, which was voted one of the Top 25 Trendiest Hotels in the South Pacific.

Rumba Resort has the best of both worlds - boutique hotel facilities and a variety of 1, 2 & 3 bedroom serviced apartments. We got the 3-bedroom apartment and my word, it was huge!

Not only was the apartment huge, the balcony was extra-large as well. And with a stunning view of Bulcock Beach and Bribie Island Marine Park to boot!

As usual, the monkies acted as my scout team whenever we first step afoot into any new accommodation. And I knew exactly which areas they would immediately zoomed in.

The bedrooms! Even Ale couldn't resist taking a breather on the comfy bed.

Speaking of comfy bed, I have to put on record that the wifey fell madly in love with the mattress and pillows in this resort. In fact, it was her who lamented that one night wasn't enough to enjoy the comfort level of the bed fully!

And as with all serviced apartments, it came with a fully equipped kitchen. Which we would make fully use of come dinner time.

But the thing that captured the attention of all 3 monkies had got to be this.

An ensuite Jacuzzi! 

But luckily, the beach proved to be a far greater draw for them.

So yes, despite the cold - it was 22 degrees - we ventured out bravely to Bulcock Beach. Not that the monkies minded the cold of course.

But as you can see, the wifey did. With a sweater no less. LOL.

As for the boys, they were just content to hop from rock to rock and... actually, I am still not certain what game they were playing during our time at the beach.

The girls, on the other hand, were content to laze on the bed of rocks.

But I heard that King's Beach is the most popular beach in Caloundra as it offers the usual water sports activities such as surfing and swimming. Plus a water feature fun park for kids! Pity we could not find time to head down there.

But what the kids don't know ain't going to hurt them, so they were already mightily pleased to get some time out at the beach.

The good thing about Rumba Resort is its location, so it boasts a host of restaurants, cafes and other family-friendly establishments around it. As we had decided to prepare our own dinner, I headed down to the nearby supermarket while the kids go soak in their Jacuzzi.

And our dinner? We had steamboat!

Definitely a welcome change after meals of fish & chips, I say! 

And nothing beats having a snack after that - in Ale's case, a chocolate - out at the balcony while enjoying the cool temperature at the same time. The wifey, though, might beg to differ.

In the end, we were all glad to have made Rumba Resort our choice of accommodation for a night. There were no places or attractions to visit; just a relaxing day spent together as a family out by the beach. And sometimes, that is good enough.

Our Queensland itinerary did not allow us ample time to explore Sunshine Coast as we would have liked. But we have toured the Sunshine Coast back in 2009 before and we loved it! Do click on the respective links if you are thinking of heading up to Noosa and Eumundi, or the Ginger Factory (a must-go if you are in the vicinity!).

This post is part of our Queensland Holiday series of posts. Do click the label "Queensland" to view all posts related to our vacation. We would like to express our sincere thanks to Tourism Queensland and the respective hospitality operators for their amazing support!

See MORE photos of our Queensland Adventures in our photo album on our Cheekiemonkies' Facebook page HERE.