Whilst I do love sunshine – the Vitamin D one- I really am talking about Sunshine Beach. You saw from the last blog that we have been coming to Sunshine for quite a while- it turns out when we really thought about it – it has been 41 years that we have been coming. Whilst Noosa – or Ole Noose as we like to call it- has been a favourite, we first started our love affair with Sunshine back when we were first going out. We stayed at a place called Heatherlea in Arakoon Street and it was quite ‘out there’. It was architecturally designed with a loft for a bedroom and a giant painting of a naked lady that went from one level to the next in a giant void and had a really deep, giant spa bath inside the house- fully tiled.
We felt very avante garde and trendy even renting this house for a weeks holiday. It had a view to the Sunshine Beach headland and even back then we realised Sunshine was very special. As I said in the previous blog we have created many beautiful memories there with the kids and ourselves – one of the more tragic ones is one of an opportunity lost at Sunshine. It goes like this…..
I once had a notebook where I wrote down every feed, when I first brought my first baby Katie home from hospital, because apparently I couldn’t remember which breast should be the one I started with the next feed. This notebook then accompanied us to the beach for a holiday where we ventured with a newish baby (when she was way too young- I remember the horror of trying to shield her from a raging Sunshine Beach wind). When I found the book 20 or so years later, there was the opportunity lost written down in black and white. Because next to that other beautiful house we loved so much – Sails– was a block of land which suddenly came on to the market.
In this book I wrote down some figures- the land (overlooking the Pacific Ocean, high up with elevated uninterrupted views of that Pacific Ocean and the headland!) was on the market for $50,000 (this was 1985). Now Bob being an architect, who better to design and supervise the building of a special beach house then he! In between writing down left breast, right breast, I budgeted $50000 to build the architectural masterpiece and I wrote down that if my mother and father, my brother, my sister and us – all contributed $25,000 each we could do it.
But did we do it? No of course not. We had just brought home a new baby and it was just a pipe dream. The mere fact that the beach house on that block of land would now be worth about $3 million is something I also sadly remember every time we come to Sunshine.
Alexandra Bay is just 30 minutes walk from Sunshine Beach
So the moral of this story? Sometimes you have to take a risk and go for something if you have a belief it may be the right thing to do.
I did that two and a half years ago when I decided at 59 to expand and employ some physios to help me and bought our current premises. And I have been blessed with working with some fabulous physios who are just as passionate about helping their patients as I have always been. I am also very lucky to have gorgeous secretaries who are excellent at their job and enthusiastic and caring with our patients also. We have said goodbye to Amanda in October this year as she headed off for some exciting travels and then back to Melbourne to work. And now we are saying goodbye in January to Celine, who has been with me for over 3 years as she travels to Spain to work and live. Thank you Celine for all you have done and we all wish you well in your world exploits. We will miss your efficiency and I doubt the drawers will ever be the same without you.
Maddy, Sue, Amanda and Celine
But the main purpose of this blog is to wish you all – my patients, my pelvic health colleagues, my friends and family and anyone else who trips over my blog and decides to read it – a very Merry Christmas. I hope your day with family is special; I hope if some special family are away overseas that they have fun and enjoy the opportunity eating their hot roast veggies and pud and custard on a cold Christmas Day instead of sweltering in Brissie (34 degrees tomorrow Soph- love ya lots and Jimmy too- we should be all in our Budgie Smugglers here); and for those who won’t be sharing the Christmas fare any longer, we never forget you and think of you many times.
Jimmy in his Budgies- anytime, any place
Merry Christmas xx