A Coastal Walk - Golden Beach

Lately I've been going down to Caloundra quite a bit.  It's a beautiful place and only about a 20 minute drive from our house so it's not far to go when you need a bit of an ocean fix.

Today I'm going to show you the Golden Beach area which is not quite as touristy as other areas of Caloundra.

Golden Beach is along the Bribie Passage and has no surf like the other beaches as it's protected from the ocean by the northern tip of Bribie Island.

In the next photo you will see what looks like a white building peeking over the top of the vegetation.  That's actually a container ship out in the ocean, making its way either in or out of Brisbane.  

All ships going into Brisbane have to go past Caloundra as it's the only passage deep enough because of Moreton Island a little further off the coast.

There are also some small beach areas on the western side of Bribie Island which you can see in this post from New Years day when we took the boat out for a picnic and the kids and I had some fun on the surf side.

Golden Beach is also home to sections of mangroves which you can explore on a short section of boardwalks.

There's always plenty of watercraft out and about whether it's sailing boats, fishing boats (tinnies), jet ski's, kayaks and plenty of other vessels that float.  No surfboards though because there's no surf here.

The canal estates of Pelican Waters have access to the ocean from here too so the area is split into two sections because of the main canal entrance.

I love that there's so much parkland in the area.  On the weekends all throughout the year people are out in force but there's plenty of space for everyone this end of town.  There's free barbeques dotted all through the parks as there are in most places in Australia.

Playgrounds are plentiful and popular with the littlies, especially with the sun shades to protect them during the hotter months.

Of course you can find plenty of spots to enjoy a quiet lunch and just enjoy the view.

(Thai squid cakes with a chilli lime dipping sauce.  Holy YUM!)

There are the obligatory fish and chip shops as all coastal towns have.  

I have a strong suspicion lovely hubby has pulled the boat up on the beach across for this one and bought some lunch one day when he was out fishing!

If you do catch some fish then you can fillet it freshly at the waters edge so you don't stink out your own bin at home.

Wildlife of the coastal kind is plentiful here too with seagulls and pelicans always flying, floating or wandering around.

There's plenty of evidence of crabs but they're not often seen.

I also love the fact that right down the southern end of Golden Beach you will often see black swans. They are such beautiful creatures and there's quite a few in this area busy diving for food.

So that gives you a little taste of Golden Beach.  Thanks for joining me as it reminded me how much I love that section of town and has given me more ideas of things to do with the kids now the weather's starting to warm up again.

xx Susan