Over the ANZAC Day holiday we flew north to Noosa Heads, a resort area on the Sunshine Coast. It's an hour flight from Sydney to Brisbane, and then another 90 minutes by car. Since we're below the equator here in Oz, the further north you go, the warmer it gets. I know, duh.The cool thing about Noosa Heads is that it's a beautiful area built on a delicate estuary, where the river meets the sea. The uncool thing is that it's BUILT ON A DELICATE ESTUARY! Estuaries probably don't like things like designer malls, expensive sushi bars or "pampered pet retreats" built on them, and they definitely don't like 4WD SUVs running all over them.
To be fair, the town of Noosa Heads has tried to hold the line on Development (unlike the rest of the Sunshine Coast or—worse—Gold Coast further south). The town founders had the insight in the late 1800's to protect many of the areas around the town as National Parks. So these areas are awesome, with great bush walks along the headlands, koalas hanging out in eucalyptus forests, and some LONG and fantastic sandy beaches (no comment on the nude beach we found). But, alas, Developers rule in Australia and so Noosa Heads has succeeded only in preventing the building of high rises...so far.
The problem with Development is that it is never satisfied; by its very nature it must continue, find new areas to exploit, new deals to be made. It's a type of mindless greed. In Australia, Developers spent decades overbuilding and making the lower Gold Coast into a huge Miami Beach. That accomplished, they moved to the upper Sunshine Coast and whatever has not been protected already is lost. The only check can be the local and state government, and here have been countless stories in the local papers about the corruption of the political system by Development contribution$, so the estuaries, like the koalas and the marine habitat, are on their own.
Up next, the Great Barrier Reef!
