Friday, 29 January, 2021
Thinking of selling? You know who to call
12480313-NG05-21
MET in the hotseat
Dingoes force closure of campgrounds
Trevor enjoys Mexican delights
32-page liftout Property Guide
PAGES 12-13
PAGE 14
PAGE 34
INSIDE
PR OP ER TY
Australia Day Noosa style Noosa turned on a spectacular day for Australia Day celebrations and friends and family made the most of the occasion. They flocked to the beaches, the river, dined in the restaurants and cafes and listened to some live music in one of the many venues around the shire. Noosa Police were prepared for all eventualities including heavy traffic on the highways from the exodus of people returning home for holidays.
Australia Day by Noosa River. Picture: ROB MACCOLL
Hydrofoil danger By Phil Jarratt “I looked behind me as I flicked off the wave and all I could see was what looked like a surfboard with a machete attached to its bottom bearing down on me. It was very frightening.”So said one surfing veteran after a holiday season session riding excellent waves on Noosa’s outer bays earlier this month. Another described them as the “silent assassins of the surf”. Although the popularity of high performance, fast-moving but unpowered hydrofoil (or foil) boards has been growing in Noosa for several years, users have mostly restricted
A perfect scenario for safe foiling - plenty of empty peaks and no one out. Picture: SUPPLIED themselves to the beach breaks of Noosa West and the Eastern Beaches where they could find space to themselves for their high-speed runs.
But the perfect storm of an easterly swell creating consistently good waves on the points, while a strong south-east wind made the beach breaks unattractive, and Covid-19 almost doubling the number of surf tourists in the water created a succession of frightening near misses reported from both Tea Tree Bay and Granite. In response to these growing concerns about the number of foil surfers now using the most popular breaks within the Noosa World Surfing Reserve, the stewardship council for the Noosa Reserve will help co-ordinate a round-table conference of surfers and stakeholders next month (February).
In a statement released last Friday, the NWSR stewardship council emphasised that the Reserve “did not seek to ban foils or any other surfcraft, but hoped to achieve a consensus view on how to introduce controls in the interests of public safety before the matter is taken out of the hands of the surfing community.”After consultation with the Noosa Boardriders Club, the Noosa Malibu Club, Noosa Heads Surf Lifesaving Club, Noosa Council and Maritime Safety Queensland, it was decided that a round-table meeting offered the best chance of finding a self-regulated solution. Continued page 3
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HURRY!! Ends on Sunday 31st January Richard MacDonald and his team bring with them an exquisite collection of jewellery and an insatiable appetite for your unwanted pieces. Inquiries 0411 413 393 12479750-DL05-21
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