We left Sydney on Virgin for Gladstone via Brisbane - arriving around mid-day. There were no taxis waiting so I ordered an Uber (first time ever) and we arrived at our hotel The Oaks soon after. We checked into our "executive" suite which had a kitchenette. We headed out to find a quick lunch then went to Coles to buy some fixings for breakfast. By the time we had showered, it was time for dinner so we headed out to the Yacht Club - location was great but the food was "pub grub" so we decided a return visit was not in order.

A full day in Gladstone - we walked around the waterfront which was a lovely park and stopped at a waterfront pub, Auckland House for lunch. Again the venue was excellent but it was essentially pub food so we decided not to return for dinner. Instead we went to Dimitri, Mediterranean restaurant only 2 minutes walk away. It was fine but I wouldn't make a special trip to Gladstone to try it out. All in all, Gladstone is a very nice regional city but certainly not a tourist destination unless you're headed to Heron Island.

Off to Heron today - we caught the ferry at about 10:30am for the 2.5 hour trip. On check-in at the ferry terminal we were advised that no rooms would be ready until 3pm; however, on arrival at the island we found out that this was not true and a list was posted at reception letting you know which rooms would be available around what time. So we had lunch at the bistro/ restaurant which was fine - a shared pizza and then lo and behold our room was ready before 2pm.

Our first impression of the resort was very disappointing - quite run down. Our "luxury" room, right on the water front was not too bad at all and was one of only 7 of 120 rooms which was air-conditioned - thank goodness. So we settled in and unpacked and explored the island. We had arrived in a tropical downpour but this had cleared to a fine, sunny and hot afternoon.

We checked out the resort and various water activities before heading to dinner. To our surprise the dinner was pretty good - they always had a fish of the day which was served piping hot and cooked to perfection.

First full day - we had booked the afternoon snorkelling boat trip but it was cancelled due to the winds. So we snorkelled off the beach and walked around etc etc. Lunch and dinner was a repeat of the previous day.

We took the morning snorkelling boat trip which was fine but not amazing. We decided one such trip was sufficient as going off the beach was pretty good. We did the baby turtle tour around 5:30pm; i.e. just at sundown and saw a few streams of turtles making their precarious run to the water while hungry seagulls eyed them off (and took their pickings).

We decided to just snorkel off the beach and dag about.

So last day - we packed up and took the 1:20pm ferry back to Gladstone - weather wise it was probably the best day. While hanging around the jetty we saw many manta rays frockling about.

Back in Gladstone - we checked into the Oaks for one night and had dinner at Dimitri's again. Somewhat to our disappointment our "executive" suite had a number of technical issues which the front desk staff really could not be bothered to address; e.g. the in room safe was in pieces, there was no hot water, many lights were not working, .... never mind - we'll never be back - the staff's attitude was so frustrating I posted review on Trip Advisor for the first time in years.

We flew to Brisbane, collected our hire car and drove to Caloundra where we had rented an AirBnB for 4 nights in a block of units called Windward Passage. The unit was fine - about a 7 out of 10. We rushed out to stock up on groceries - good that we did as we ended up cooking at home every evening as none of the local restaurants inspired us.

We walked around Caloundra checking everything out - it was hot and humid. The beaches are lovely but there's not much else there. We had dinner at home again.

We drove up to the Hinterland and did a 2 hour walk to a waterfall in Kondalilla National Park - very nice but quite hot. We then drove to the local town of Montville where we had a cafe lunch. After lunch we walked around the village but got caught in a bit of a tropical downpour. Fortunately we were just outside an ice cream parlour so we waited there for the rain to clear and shared an ice cream.

We drove to Noosa, about 1 hour away, and did a 2+ hour walk in the national park - it was hot and humid again. We then went to the Sofitel for lunch which was excellent. Noosa was the "same as ever", a lovely town with many tourists.

It was back to Sydney today - we drove back to Brisbane and returned our car then had a bit of lunch in the Virgin lounge. On returning to Sydney we hooked up with Judy for a pizza at Ventuno.