12 reasons to chase the sun

Noosa Everglades are worth a tour
Noosa Everglades are worth a tour
The Sunshine Coast has an enormous range of attractions and activities.

Here are 12 of the best.

1: Australia Zoo, established by the late Steve Irwin. Among the top zoos in the world; a must-see. Free bus service from Sunshine Coast towns. Close by are Aussie World and the Ettamogah Pub. *

2: The beaches, scores of them, for mile after sandy mile; glorious in-town beaches like Mooloolaba and Kings (Caloundra), isolated idylls like remote Rainbow and Bribie Island. Changing, toilet and picnic facilities are universally first-class. Wetsuits laughed at, summer or winter; even oldies surf here. *

3: Noosa Everglades tour. Six-hour boat trip into the extensive waterways around Noosa and Cooloola National Park Everglades. Almost half of Australia's bird species live here, plus dangerous bull sharks. Black-water reflections are amazing; on-land barbecue lunch real bonzer. *

4: Get out and golf, bowl or fish. Golf courses range from championship resort courses like Hyatt Regency Coolum, Twin Waters, Peregian Springs and Club Pelican to dozens of great club courses, green fees similar to New Zealand's. Bowling clubs, like the three-green 21-rink Mooloolaba club, have wonderful bar, restaurant and gaming facilities (read pokies). Visitors are welcome; "barefoot" days are popular. Charter fishing boats, large and small, operate everywhere. Locals cast from beaches, boardwalks or "tinnies" in the rivers; Sunshine Coast Daily tells fishers what's running where. *

5: Drive the Hinterland beyond. Maleny, Montville and Mapleton are cracker towns to visit for handcrafts, cheeses, art and local flavour. Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve offers delightful walks through 52ha of subtropical forest and views of Glass House Mountains. *

6: Go shopping. Massive Sunshine Plaza at Maroochydore has hundreds of shops; nearby Mooloolaba is full of boutiques; upmarket Noosa caters for the designer set; towns and villages all around specialise in parting people from purses. *

7: Eumundi market. An institution; locals skite if it's bakeable, makeable, growable or sewable, it's available at the 550 stalls here every Wednesday and Saturday. Buses run from the nearby coast. Plenty of great farmers and street markets elsewhere at weekends. *

8: Visit the RSLs. Most towns have Returned and Services League clubs offering cheap and first-rate meals, bars, pokies, entertainment etc on a lavish scale. Anyone can "join", usually for $1, and sign in. Caloundra has one of the biggest in Oz; five restaurants, daily promotions, courtesy coaches, cast of thousands. *

9: Canal cruising. Mooloolaba offers the most extensive gape at the waterfront mansions of the rich, from the luxurious through the ostentatious to the downright gaudy. Crocodile hunter Steve Irwin owned a $10 million mansion, with $10 million boat outside, on "Crikey's Canal"; hundreds of other homes in the $5 million-$15 million range. Others can be spotted on the Noosa River and at Pumicestone Passage, Caloundra.

10: The Ginger Factory at Yandina, home of Buderim Ginger. Factory tour is revealing; cafeteria and tasting rooms rewarding; and the 100-year-old sugar cane train great for a ride. Kids chase the Gingerbread Man around the globe by boat. Daily cooking-school classes are popular with visitors. *

11: Fraser Island. World's largest sand island in the north of Sunshine Coast offers unusual environment; deserted beaches fronting a rainforest hinterland with huge trees, kauris included, growing in nothing but sand. Whizz the beaches in four-wheel-drive trucks; swim in freshwater lakes.

12: Relax. Water's warm, by Kiwi standards, even in midwinter; beaches almost all white sand and safe; quality boardwalks go for miles. Shorts, T-shirts and jandals standard dress. Dusk comes suddenly about 5.15pm in midwinter; laugh then at the lorikeets making merry in the beachside trees and, sympathetically, at freezing friends back home. *

* Facilities for elderly or disabled provided.

 

Add a Comment