Waking this morning with the sound of the rain on the roof of my van….. Put me into a mood to spend the day relaxing and taking some time to catch up. Nothing in the cupboards tempted my taste buds and so here I am at the “Bulli” cafe at Marcoola Beach, just a few kilometres up the road from Maroochydore.
This little backwater block of shops is not a place you would normally stumble on as you make your way along the David Low Way towards Noosa. To get here you will need to turn off just after the northern end of the Sunshine Coast runway and head towards the beach. Turn in by the shops and you will find it secluded but busy at this time on a Saturday morning.
I was welcomed with a friendly greeting and shown the choices from the menu, as well as offerings from the specials board. I decided on the baguette, with avocado, cheese, tomato and bacon. To this I added an orange juice and a short black coffee. Total price $15.50.
Faced with a choice of inside and alfresco dining, I opted for a table just outside the door, but far enough under the awning to get protection from the drizzling rain. The outlook gives the impression of a little beach town, almost left behind from the maddening world, with a little park and pagoda across the un-curbed street and back-dropped by low sand dunes shielding it from the coastal breezes.
I found myself looking at a fellow patron, a couple of tables over, who looked extremely familiar. Try as I might, I could not get the brain cells to dredge up the memory of who he was, or how I knew him. Such a frustration… so much for relaxing the mind.
The orange juice arrived first, followed closely by the short black. With the number of people here, I had expected a bit of a wait but, within a very short time, the baguette arrived, nicely presented, and I tucked in.
Now baguettes are not a staple of my diet….. I don’t eat a lot of bread… but this one was definitely good. The bacon, not so crispy that it shattered (just as I like it) but cooked enough to satisfy most tastes. The coffee was strong, (just as it should be), and there was a refill offered not long after I had drained it. The orange juice was…. well there isn’t a lot that you can say about orange juice… it is what it is, but in this case it was cold and refreshing.
As I sit here writing this at the cafe table, the rain is starting to fall more heavily meaning that the walk back to my truck will be wet. This is, of course a sign that I should order another coffee and wait it out.
The group with the “guy” that has cause me so much frustration got up to go and I stopped him to ask…..Alas, He didn’t know me.. came from Brisbane and had a brother in North Queensland who looked just like him but none of this gave me that lightbulb moment. We parted company with me none the wiser.
Across the street, a family has become stranded in the pagoda as the rain increases intensity. Although it is not a downpour, it is enough to make even a short dash across the street uncomfortable.
This is November on the Coast, but today is definitely a jeans sort of day. It is not cold, but the rain kind of makes you feel that you need just a bit more cosy-ness in your day. Just the right sort of weather for brunching at Bulli in Marcoola
