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Houseboat resident Doug Man.
Ivan keeps a fishing rod and lure permanently on hand: “Yesterday I saw the trevally chopping on the water, so I threw my lure out and I got one straight away,” he says.
“Sometimes if I can’t sleep, I come outside and fish in the moonlight,” says Doug. “You can see the fish in the water; there’re tonnes of them.”
Fishing at the back door is a common pastime for houseboat residents, and one shared by Doug Man, 36, whose pint-sized boat, “The Hillbilly Hilton” sits a little further down the river.
Doug and Sharni’s preferred method of travel for a night out, like Ivan’s, is boat. “We tie off for dinner at the yacht squadron, or the Boat House,” says Doug. “It’s pretty cool to pull up in your tinny and have dinner.”
This iconic floating cottage, with its tin roof, stained glass 1920s windows, and timber structure, looks for all the world like it has been plucked from its stilts in a country town and popped onto a raft. Doug, who has owned the boat for three-and-a-half years and divides his time between it and his land home at Gympie where he manages his family’s business, calls it an “adult cubby house”. An apt description, given its cosy living room with galley kitchen, miniature verandahs with pots of fresh herbs, and loft-style bedroom. On the day of my visit, Doug’s girlfriend Sharni is hand-feeding some friendly ducks, who regularly visit the little houseboat and even sit up on the verandah. But today, the ducks have to compete with the hoards of fish who have come to steal a free feed. 22 salt
“Pretty cool” is definitely one way to describe life aboard these waterhouses. Unconventional? Perhaps. Would it suit everyone? Probably not. For those who live it though, it seems predestined. After Ivan has dropped me back on the shore, I stand, shoes in hand, and let the river lap at my feet. The houseboat bobs gently in the distance, and I watch his rowboat glide towards it like a magnet. To get a taste of houseboat life on the Noosa River, there are a range of top operators that hire houseboats for holiday rental. Luxury Afloat based at Tewantin has 10, 8 and 6 berth boats for hire that range in price. luxuryafloatnoosa.com.au