Bribie Island is an underdeveloped island which aside from serving as a mecca for fishermen is also a flora and fauna reserve.
Located between the Bruce Highway and Mooloolaba, Buderim is a popular residential and retirement area just inland from the Sunshine Coast. There are beautiful galleries and restored houses, markets and an old Ginger factory. Buderim Forest Park has some nice walking tracks and waterfalls. There are 2 motels and 2 caravan/camping parks in the area.
96km north of Brisbane, Caloundra is the southernmost town of the Sunshine Coast and a gateway to the Blackall Range and Glass House Mountains (29km southwest). Its name means ‘the beautiful place’ and it has 30km of golden beaches and stretches from Bribie Island in the south to Kawana in the north. You can enjoy indoor skydiving and fishing in addition to many water sports or take it easy at two of the most popular beaches on the coast; Bulcock and Golden beaches. There are hotels, motels and caravan/camping parks.
Conondale National Park, 100km northwest of Brisbane is one of the world’s last remaining subtropical rainforests and a premium bird watching area with 180 species including 22 rare and endangered species. Covering over 7,000 hectares, this subtropical rainforest wilderness contains some varieties of plants that date back to the dinosaur era and are intertwined with waterfalls, rockpools and ancient vines. You can also sample some native bush food if you’re brave enough.
If horse or camelback riding is not your thing, then 4WD to Cooloola National Park which protects the largest intact sand dune system in the world and includes a rainforest and open forest. One of its many attractions is the natural wonder of the multi-colored 200m sand cliffs of Teewah which are apparently over 40,000 years old. An Aboriginal legend tells that the colors come from a rainbow killed by a boomerang when it came to the rescue of a young woman.
Visit the miniature English village with its castles, churches, thatched cottages and inns, as well as the clock museum. Flaxton is part of the scenic drive to the Blackall Range.
Behind the coast are the Glass House Mountains, formed by giant cores of 13 long-extinct volcanoes which Captain Cook named after the glass houses in his native Yorkshire. Situated on the Glass House Mountains Tourist Drive, this protected national park area is accessible through the township of Glass House and offers bushwalking, rock climbing and picnicking. You can also camp here.
The discovery of gold in Gympie by James Nash in 1867 established Queensland as a prosperous Australian colony and as a result, the town became known as "the Town that saved Queensland." Today you can get a fossicking license from the Cooloola Region Information Center and find your own fortune at the Deep Creek Gold Fossicking Area. Dig for gold beside a gold bearing creek with basic implements such as a pan, pick and shovel.
The Timber and Forestry Museum is on the northern outskirts of Gympie and early timber cutting techniques are demonstrated here. For some history, you can visit the Gympie Gold Mining and Historical Museum, which is at Lake Alford, on the southern approach to Gympie. Or, take a 40km ride on the “Valley Rattler”, one of Queensland’s most scenic railways . The train passes through the small country villages of Dagun, Amamoor and Kandanga to Imbil. Nelson Reserve, in Gympie’s city center, has picnic facilities as well as playground equipment, while Memorial Park provides a nice break and some cool shade under its trees. There are a number of sports available to the sport enthusiast including the more adventurous sports of gliding from Gympie airport or hang gliding off Carlo Sandblow. You can catamaran on Tin Can Bay or surf the waves off Double Island Point.
Through the Obi Obi Valley and west of the Blackall Range is Kenilworth, made famous by the Kraft cheese factory, which 6 employees mortgaged their homes in order to finance. A small town, there is one hotel, one motel and camping facilities.
Cascading waterfalls are abundant in this part of Australia and Kondalilla National Park with its 80-meter waterfall, dropping into a valley of rainforest, is appropriately named. This Aboriginal word means ‘rushing waters’ and swimming in the crystal clear pools is a popular summer pastime.
9km off the Caloundra turn-off, Landsborough has a Historical Museum, pottery store and bottle, gemstone and shell museum. 4km south is the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park. Accommodation includes one motel and one caravan/camping park.
Maleny is located 50km southwest of Maroochydore on the Blackall Range and is fantastic dairy country. Visit Mary Cairncross Park near Maleny for an uninterrupted panoramic view all the way to the skyline of Brisbane and a view of the Glass House Mountains. For a scenic drive, take the car from Maleny through Montville, Flaxton and Mapleton. The views are sensational.
Maroochydore is the business center of the sunshine coast. More importantly, though, it’s famous for its surf beaches. If you’re not into surfing then you can swim with the pelicans and swans of the Maroochy River. At the mouth of the river is Cotton Tree, which is a popular camping site. Maroochydore is often used as the base for sightseeing up ‘the coast’ and there are hotels, motels and caravan/camping parks.
If you’re into water-skiing then 5km south of Maroochydoore, at Bli Bli, you can enjoy its Ski n Surf water-skiing park. If you’re not, then you can visit its Fairytale Castle. Continuing north 1km you’ll reach Nostalgia Town, emphasizing humor in history. There are daily flights to and from Sydney from ‘Maroochy’ Airport and relaxing river cruises up Maroochy River to Dunethin Rock through the sugarcane fields.
A small town on a very scenic drive to the Blackall Range, it is the base for the Mapleton Falls National Park. The Mapleton Hotel is also situated here.
Enjoy a picnic, birdwatching and bushwalking 13km west of Nambour at the Mapleton Falls National Park or enjoy lunch at an authentic country pub at the Mapleton Hotel while enjoying magnificent sweeping views. The Park protects the remainder of the rainforest and eucalyptus forest .
The Kondalilla and Mapleton Falls National Parks lie 7km west of Montville where there is a tourist information center and accommodation. There are also a number of arts and craft cottages and galleries, museums and antique shops in the area.
Mooloolaba – Alexandra Headland
Mooloolaba is a beachside resort suitable for young people and families. Rising to the bluff at Alexandra Headland it is a renowned surfing beach. The panoramic views stretching up the beach are remembered long after visitors have dined at a variety of restaurants, shopped and enjoyed the nightlife. The starting point in the annual Mooloolaba to Gladstone yacht race and the finishing point for the annual Sydney to Mooloolaba race, visitors can marvel at 3 different marine environments in the Underwater World oceanarium 80m transparent tunnel. Tourist information is provided at the corner of Aerodome Road and Sixth Avenue and there are hotels, motels and caravan/camping parks for the visitor.
Nambour is a region for pineapples and tropical fruit and the area’s attractions reflect this. With the Morton Sugar Mill located here, visitors are able to witness the lively cane fires in the region during the months of August to November and see the trucks of sugarcane as they cross the main street to the mill. Ten kilometers north at Yandina is the famous Ginger Factory and Gingertown and the Ginger Bell paddlesteamer offers river cruises from the factory to a working ginger farm. View deers at the Forest Glen Deer Sanctuary and closer to Nambour, visitors can whet their tastebuds at the Sunshine Plantation, the Big Pineapple, Macadamia Nut Factory, Moonshine Valley Winery and Super Bee Honey Factory before driving 20km east to Maroochydore. The Glass House Mountains are located to the south and the scenic Blackall Ranges to the west. There are hotels, motels and caravan/camping parks.
Located at the northern end of the Sunshine Coast, this trendy resort has golf, fishing, boating and water sport facilities. The resort area is from Peregian Beach in the south to Noosaville on the banks of the Noosa River, including Marcus Beach, Sunrise Beach, Sunshine Beach and Noosa Heads. Hastings Street, Noosa Sound and Noosa Junction are the main commercial and shopping areas but Hastings street is the place to be seen. Situated on the edge of Laguna Bay, Noosa has a 430 hectare national park with rainforests, ocean views, an animal sanctuary, coastal lakes, walking tracks and rock formations such as Hell’s Gates, Paradise Caves, Lion’s Rock, Devil’s Kitchen and Witches Caldron. Most of the holiday accommodation is situated along Noosa’s coastal strip but there are also hostels and other accommodations approximately 15-20 minutes drive. You can camel or horseride through the bush and 20-40km north are the Teewah sandhills, Noosa River Everglades and the Cooloola National Park. You can access each of these places either by 4WD or boats which depart from Noosaville. At night, Noosa provides ample opportunity to relax with sumptuous food and a walk along the white sandy beaches or dance at the discos until sunrise.
Noosa has a 430 hectare national park with rainforests, ocean views, an animal sanctuary, coastal lakes, sheltered beaches, walking tracks and rock formations such as Hell’s Gates, Paradise Caves, Lion’s Rock, Devil’s Kitchen and Witches Caldron. The entrance to the park is not far from Noosa’s center.
Located in the northern hinterland of the Sunshine Coast, this small farming center is 33km south of Gympie. July each year, tests the skill of mountain runners with the ‘King of the Mountain’ race on the 439m Mt Cooroora. Its other tourist attraction is Lake Cootharaba, 18km northeast, a shallow saltwater lake on Noosa River where Mrs. Eliza Fraser spent time with Aborigines after her boat wrecked on Fraser Island in 1836.
Ten kilometers north of Nambour, at Yandina, is the famous Ginger Factory and Gingertown and the Ginger Bell paddlesteamer offers river cruises from the Ginger factory to a working ginger farm. There are Saturday morning country markets in the region where home grown produce, art and craft are sold. There is one hotel and one caravan/camping park.