Mooloolaba Part 2

Hello! As I write this, we are in lockdown because there is a Delta outbreak here. And because such a small percent of our population is vaccinated, we are in a precarious position. Thankfully me and my parents are all fully vaccinated! Of course, lockdown doesn't change the fact I still need to go to work and interact with staff and public. Big shout out to essential workers, there is a special kind of lockdown stress that comes from having to still go to work and be around people coming and going.

So let's cast our minds back to happier times, with the conclusion of my Mooloolaba trip earlier this year! You can see part one here. We left of having just had a lovely brunch and visit to a pretty park. After that, my parents headed home and I had some time to spend on my own up there. That brunch was pretty big, so I wasn't hungry for a while. But I started getting a bit peckish in the afternoon.

A lot of restaurants are closed between lunch and dinner. But fancy pants vegan restaurant Elixaba was not one of them. So I was able to stop in to sample a few small bites on the menu for a late lunch.They have several fancy cocktails on the menu, and a couple of mocktails. I got the Blessed Bird, which is the mocktail version of their Pink Flamingo. It is basically grapefruit and cranberry juice (no fizzy, yay!) with a salt and hibiscus rim. It was very pretty and refreshing.



For food I had Loaded Hemp Chips (spiced chips with aioli, hemp seeds, and coconut bacon) and their Tea Smoked Mushrooms (with herbal pesto, napoli sauce, and pickled carrot). I was really excited about the mushrooms, but to be honest they were not all I was hoping. Still good, but I was expecting a bit more from their signature starter.



All their desserts have coconut oil in them, so I finished with a sweet Moontime Latte. It is a rose and maca latte, and it was DELICIOUS!



I went back to the hotel afterwards and spent some time reading. In the evening, I heading down to the beach for some dog spotting. But I was feeling suddenly very invigorated, and took a really long evening walk. Not on the beach, but on the boardwalk around the beach. It has been a while since I have walked so much. My feet were screaming at me, but the fresh sea air with the wind and the beautiful full moon kept me going. (My body punished me afterwards.)





After my walk, I was starving again! But what to eat? I spent some time Googling. And ended up choosing a place called El Bigaton, a Latin Street Food restaurant that had several vegan options. Sadly, their delivery part of the website wasn't working. So I hoisted onto my feet and walked down. It wasn't a long walk, and it took me down to The Wharf Mooloolabah, which I hadn't been to. The Wharf is a place you can rent assorted water activity things, but it also has a lot of restaurants (a few with vegan options). This was a Tuesday, which meant they had a special on tacos! I got two vegan tacos (grilled veggies, slaw, beans, guac, salsa), a vegan arepa (cornmeal flatbread with grilled veggies, beans, sweet plantains, and salsa) and the patacones con guacamole (fried green plantains with guac). OMG. Everything was INCREDIBLE! Like, I could cry incredible. Even with having to pick out a bit of capsicum. So fresh, so good, I had to stop on the way back to complement them. And since I have been, they have released even more vegan options! I had never heard of this place before, but this should be a must visit for any vegan in the area.



One thing I did struggle with during my stay there was finding any kombucha that didn't have stevia. The places I went, or the 7-11 near the hotel, even the Coles I went to after Elixaba, only seemed to have Remedy Kombucha, which is full of stevia. I did find these two little digestive shots at a Coles. The Mojo I have had before, in fact normally I drink Mojo ginger kombucha out of big bottles. But this little gut health shot was new. And let us never speak of it again, because it was like a sludgy gross pear juice. And I like pear juice! But they ruined it.



Before bed, I took a final visit to the frozen yoghurt place. I got American Cream and Green Apple Sorbet (so it was kind of like an apple pie), with raspberry syrup and maple nut granola. Eaten while looking at the beach at night.





The final morning, I went back to The Nectar Bar for another smoothie. This time I had the Cyclops (carrot cake), which had carrots, oats, baobab, dates, cinnamon and almond milk. No photo, because it looks just like the last one... in a cup you cannot see through.

I headed out to try a new place for brunch. Cafe Nurcha at Maroochydore. This place is a cafe attached to a vegan food/new agey shop. The cafe has a huge menu for breakfast and lunch. I got the Brekkie Bagle, which was a charcoal (yes!) infused with garlic butter, smashed avocado, potato rosti, smoked tofu, tomato, spinach, and hollandaise sauce (hold the chili jam). It was big and messy, but very nice. I also had their Jaffa Surprise hot chocolate.





I now know that this is the place to go first on any visit. Because there are loads of fun things in that shop, and it is also right next to an IGA that has a load of other fun things. Things I have never seen! Fun frozen and chilled things I could not buy because I sadly didn't have any ice packs to transport them home to Brisbane in. Things I will definitely return for. And also, so many different types of stevia-free kombucha! I only bought a few things, very restrained of me. I got some chocolate covered seeds and blueberries, as well as some tumeric ginger chews from Nurcha. And from the IGA I got some nice looking cashew butter, and some raspberry chocolate. Also included is some vegan shrimp paste I bought from Cafe Vie.



Then it was time to farewell the far too sunny for me beach, and head home.



I did not return home empty handed though. I realised I forgot to mention that the day before I left, I paid a visit to Roots Cafe and Bakery, which has a bunch of vegan options. I bought these to take home. As well as a couple of take away treats I got from Cafe Vie as well. On the savoury side, there was the vegan quiche and pastie from Roots, and a ham and cheese croissant from Cafe Vie. For sweets, there was a peanut butter cookie, cornbread cookie, and banana bread from Roots, and another Lamington cookie that I got from Cafe Vie. Everything was very good, but my favourite as the pastie!





Thus ends my little two day trip away! Thanks for reading this far. I do hope one day to be able to go back and buy more fun stuff and eat more fun food! For now though, I will get ready to go to work, and otherwise I'll be hermetically sealed in my house.