Caloundra is not a spot that you would usually associate with Fine Dining or hatted restaurants, in fact, when I think of Caloundra, I usually think of pub dining and RSL clubs. We've spent a lot of time up at Caloundra over the years, primarily because both of SC's sisters and their families live up that way. In all the time we have been visiting, I never thought to look for a top restaurant to visit, and it wasn't until we were spending the day in the beachside suburb for an unusual activity that we decided to look.
Roller Derby is not the usual type of activity that I would be interested in, but SC's youngest sister 'Bill' had recently started hanging out with a rough crowd (well, not completely true) and their thing was Roller Derby. 'Bill' had been practicing this arcane and unusual sport for some time and the time had finally arrived for her to get involved in her first formal game. If you're not sure what Roller Derby is, you're not alone but it's essentially one of those American sports that was popular in the 70's which has made a resurgence. The sport (I use the term loosely!) involved a bunch of females on roller skates, skating around an oval and trying to knock the crap out of each other. I'm sure there are some complexities and rules to the game, but that's pretty much it in a nutshell.
Knowing that I'd likely not be too interested in spending my evening watching this, SC cleverly packaged up the day with a lunchtime visit to an award winning beachside diner. Hitting all of the right buttons, SC had found a lovely restaurant that recently retained it's Australian Good Food Guide chefs hat. Tides at Caloundra is one of only seventeen restaurants on the Sunshine Coast that have been awarded chefs hats and proudly display on their website that they are the only Caloundra restaurant to have one..... How could I not be tempted to check it out?
