Sunshine Coast Adventures
I moved up to Queensland in March 2022. Mum and I left on Sunday 20th March for the big three-day drive to the Sunshine Coast. I had the best time travelling with mum up, we chatted, we sang, then we didn’t speak, then we would stop for petrol, eat and then do it all again until we arrived. Mum set the rules of no more than three-hour shifts each of driving, with around 7-8 hours a day, two-night stops, we saw our cousin on the way while driving up and we did a total number of 1,888km. I love that my trip started with angel numbers! IYKYK!
I had two days to organise myself before work, starting on Friday 25th March. I was all kinds of nervous on my first day. I parked at the top of the staircase in Noosa that led down to the Noosa drive roundabout, I was already so hot and there were so many people around walking up to Hasting Street. I remembered starting at 2pm, service started at 4pm and it was a busy and a very hot Friday night. My first two jobs for the shift were segmenting oranges and cutting figs both for entrees. It was the biggest kitchen I had worked in since my first job starting out as a chef. There were 7 or 8 chefs working plus 2 or 3 dishies. 2 on Larder (normally 1, but I started off here), 1 (may have been 2 on because it was a Friday) on Salad Bar, 2 on Pasta, 2 on Mains, 1 on Dessert and 1 on Prep. A big production and a very big kitchen. Service finished, we did the big clean up and I had officially finished my first day. I was so exhausted, I was so hot, I was very dehydrated, I had a huge headache, I was very hungry, my feet were extremely sore, but I was so excited for this experience, and I was very much looking forward to the next shift!
I took the job at Locale Noosa with the intention of staying for six months. At the end of the six months, I would drive back home and get back to setting up Home Cooking with Chef Sez again. Little did I know that those plans were thrown out the window. About three- or four-months in I had decided I wanted to stay. I ended up staying at Locale for eight months total, but I knew deep down that my time on the Sunshine Coast had not ended.
When I first started at Locale, I was working in the Larder section and within a few weeks I had moved to the Pasta section. I wanted to work in that restaurant, in the pasta section, so that I could further develop my pasta skills. It was a huge section and the numbers we would cook would be big. It was hard for me to keep up at the start because I wasn’t used to the numbers they were doing. But with help from the other chefs in the kitchen and backing myself, I slowly got faster and faster. I also created a few pasta specials which I am extremely proud of- all of which sold very well. They were- Mushroom and Mascarpone Tortelli, Pine mushrooms, Butter Thyme Sauce and Burnt Parmesan/ ‘Cacio e Pepe’ Tortellini with Truffles/ Mushroom and Stracciatella Agnolotti del Plin, Truffle Butter, Oyster Mushrooms/ Grilled Lobster, Tagliatelle with lemon butter, Roasted Tomato Oil, Lemon Thyme Oil. Some featured above. I then moved on to training other new chefs or chefs that had progressed up. I also did some work on the Dessert section. I enjoyed this section very much as it was a little slower paced but still so much to learn (still lots to do!). The Pastry Chef I got to work with for a while had so much knowledge and I learnt a lot from him. I loved making the Focaccia, the Ice Cream and the Tiramisu. My time there was really great, although stressful at times it really did teach me a lot.
I didn’t make my decision lightly to leave Locale. I had made some really beautiful friends, I had learnt so much, I had found more of my voice in the kitchen and I so eagerly wanted to learn more. But the universe had other plans and I knew deep down that I had done everything I needed to do there and it was time to spread my wings elsewhere.
From here I moved to The Caf Coolum and shifted my roster to mornings and day hours. At the beginning I was working Monday-Fridays with weekends off which is pretty much unheard! It was fantastic! From there my shifts changed from some prep shifts, day shifts and then running the nights (Friday and Saturday nights). I did a lot of baking while working there, some of the cakes are pictured above but during my time I made an enormous amount of banana bread! If I look back on my time of cheffing, every time I have left a restaurant job, I have pretty much always fell back on a café job. It has always helped me have a small break from the madness of night hours and reassess what’s next for me. Taking the job here allowed me to really embrace my time on the Sunshine Coast, the summer, make some really incredible and beautiful friends, learn more about café work and found who I truly am. Working at The Caf was one of the best decisions I had made while living up there. Within a matter of weeks, I was my true self at work, I was working with some really great people (who are now very much part of my Sunshine Coast family), I had so much fun, I worked hard, and I laughed so much. I am incredibly grateful for The Caf and everyone who I got to work with there.
Making the decision to leave was tough, I spent weeks pondering on my decision, do I move to another restaurant, do I open Home Cooking with Chef Sez on the Sunshine Coast, do I move and work closer to Brisbane or do I pack up and make the move back to Melbourne. I knew moving back home was the right answer, as much as I loved the Sunshine Coast and my family there, I knew it was time. I put in my notice, and I made sure to do as much as I could in the time I had left. Lots of meals out, lots of time with friends, embraced the last shifts at work and hosted dinners/lunches. When leaving day came around it was the hardest thing to pack up the car and go. I was beyond scared for what was ahead but what I did know is I was leaving with some of the best memories, experiences and adventures in my heart.
The time I spent up there was one of the best things I have done in my life. It pushed me outside my comfort zone, it taught me how I want to work, the kind of people I want to surround myself with to really thrive and to back myself in all aspects of my life especially with running my own business.
The Sunshine Coast is now my second home and I feel incredibly grateful for my time up there, the people I got to meet and I am beyond excited to be making my way up there this weekend.