Diddillibah
After leaving the beautiful Hervey Bay we made our way south to The Sunshine Coast. We had decided to have a month in the area and split the caravan parks up into two stops. So we had two weeks in Diddillibah and two weeks in Mudjimba.
Diddillibah is located just west of Maroochydore along the Maroochy River. We chose to stay at the Big 4 Rivershore Resort. A great caravan park, with level sites and awesome amenities. If you’re travelling with little ones there is enough to keep them entertained, with a great pool and waterpark facilities, alongside other activities like go-kart hire. For more information on this park, visit http://www.rivershore.com.au
From Diddillibah, you can explore areas which sit away from the coast. As you meander up through the back roads, you’ll realise there are a lot of hidden gems, just waiting to be discovered.
Buderim
Sat on a 180 meter mountain overlooking the sunshine coast, Buderim is a pleasant little town. Nestled amongst tall timbers and lush rainforest, with lofty views down to the coast.
The town itself is a thriving community, with quaint cafes and boutique local shops, all set along the high street. However the town still has the major services of a post office, Woolworths and banking facilities.
A short drive out of town you will find Buderim Forest Park, home to the Buderim Waterfall. This is one of those hidden gems. There are two points of entry to the falls, either from Harrys lane, which is where the boardwalk begins, making it accessible for wheelchair users or strollers. Alternatively, you can access from Quorn Close, but this entry point is definitely for the more physically fit, given the walking track and steps.
We opted for the Quorn Close option and took the anticlockwise loop. This route walks you through the lush rainforest canopies to begin with, before dropping down to the falls. Beside the falls, there is a wooden stairway leading down to the base of the falls. However this only goes so far before you have to tip toe across rocks to get behind the water flow. If you have the correct footwear it is easily accessible, and you get the best pictures.
Nambour
Situated only 15km inland from the coast is Nambour. A reasonable sized town and is the administrative centre for the Sunshine Coast region.
Nambour is in the hinterlands behind The Sunshine Coast and has all the major services you’d need whilst visiting the town. Definitely worth a morning exploring the area.
Whilst in town, like Buderim there is a waterfall which is worth a visit. Nambour Falls isn’t the easiest to find, not even the postie we asked had even heard of it….. and we wonder why post gets lost. Looking on maps, look for Cilento Park. It’s at the end of a cul-de-sac, called waterfall road. That should have been a clue for said postie. Anyway, if you head left in the park, that will lead you to the top of the falls and once you’ve visited the top you can head to the base of the falls. There is a track which heads to the right and will lead you down to the bottom. From here, for the more adventurous types you can climb over a few rocks and tree limbs to get closer to the falls and even take a dip.
Mudjimba
Our next stop was Mudjimba and we stayed at Mudjimba Beach Holiday Park. Located across the road from the beach, it’s therefore its a great spot. The park has easy access to the northern Sunshine Coast suburbs, so it was a great base to explore from here. The park has 2 sections, a dog friendly and non dog friendly area. The ablutions are well kept and large, so plenty of space during peak seasons. For more information on this park visit http://www.sunshinecoastholidayparks.com.au/holiday_parks/mudjimba_beach_holiday_park/
Mudjimba beach is a lovely wide beach and most importantly Tilly friendly. There’s a walk way which runs parallel to the beach towards twin waters or you can walk along the beach, with the resident bush turkeys much to Tilly’s dismay.
There is also a lovely cafe called high tide within a 2 minute walk from the park, so great for those needing a caffeine fix. We can highly recommend breakfast here too, a soulful café using fresh ingredients.
Northern Sunshine Coast
From Mudjimba we had plenty to see between the park and Noosa. Beaches with epic surf that run for miles, great little coastal towns with cafes and quaint shops and lookouts with great views.
Coolum Beach
One of our favourite places on the Sunny coast was Coolum Beach. There is a boardwalk you can do from the centre of town, up to Wilkinson Park. offering views up the coast. A great place to sit and watch the surfers catch their next big barrel.
The town itself has a great café culture with many cafes dotted along the esplanade of David low Way. We found a great little cafe called My place restaurant with amazing coastal views and a resident lizard. The little fella hangs round the front door area and causes no issues, but he soon scarpers off if approached.
Peregian Beach
Another beautiful little town is Peregian Beach. This town has a very elegant feel about it. With sophisticated boutiques and quaint cafes with white washed outdoor furniture, You would be forgiven if you thought you were in the laneways of a small village in France.
Noosa
Noosa is the furthest northerly town on the Sunshine Coast and a very popular spot. We would recommend going mid week if at all possible as the infrastructure isn’t great. With one road in and out of the main beach area, you spend more time sitting in the car looking for a parking spot than schmoozing round town. If you can only go on a weekend its first in best dressed, so get there early.
Known for its surfing, laid back culture and National Park, its easy to see why people choose to visit. Noosas Main Beach is great for those who want calm waters. Located on Laguna Bay and sheltered by the headland of the national park, its perfect for topping the tan up and cooling off in the pristine waters. If your chasing the waves, then the famous noosa breaks run from Sunshine Beach to the Noosa river mouth. Rated as some of the best in the world.
Eumundi
Eumumdi is famous for its street markets, held twice a week on a Wednesday and a Saturday. The markets offer everything you can think of, from artisan food, furniture, homewares, clothes, cosmetics, massage and other nik naks. You can easily loose yourself wandering through the homemade delights and retailers. furthermore as its outdoors for the majority, its pet friendly so Tilly can join us. Again parking is rare on a market day so we would suggest either coming super early or leaving it until late morning when the rush has died down.
The Hinterlands
As we mentioned earlier, The Sunshine Coast isn’t all about the beach towns. Nestled up behind the coast you have the beautiful hinterlands. We had already briefly looked into the start of the region from Diddilibah, however the best position from seeing this area was from Landsborough. So we moved from Mudjimba to a little caravan park called Landsborough Pines caravan park. Now for those wishing to visit Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo, this is the best park to do so from. Only a couple of kms away from the park. its literally on your doorstep. For this park visit http://www.allswell.com.au
There are some great little towns in the hinterlands, including Montville, Mapleton, Maleny and Glasshouse mountains town and national park.
Montville
Montville is a picturesque little town sitting 400m above sea level. With a high street running through the centre of town lined with cafes, charming shops, hotels and b&bs. Its a great day trip out, or base to explore the region. There is an old fashioned waterwheel in town, which is a popular tourist attraction, alongside that there are galleries and art exhibits. If you have a sweet tooth there is a chocolate factory and fudge shop in town to sample all the delicious goods on offer. We had morning tea at Poets café, with it’s mesmerising French provincial theme throughout the cafes décor. The menu looked delicious, however we had already decided where we were going to have lunch so opted for tea and cake to share.
From Montville you can drive up to Kondalilla national park. Here you’ll find a great walk and waterfall to explore. Its a 4.7km return walk so make sure you’re prepared with water, a hat, sunscreen and the correct footwear. From the car park its all down hill with steps and guided pathways. Once at the bottom of the falls there is a rockpool to cool off in whilst immersing yourself in the stream of the falls. As with anything tourist related get up and about early enough to beat the rush. As you’ve walked down, it means you have to walk back up. So leave yourself plenty of time.
Mapleton
This was our chosen spot for lunch. A cute little village set high on the Blackhall Range. When we had passed by from Diddillibah we had noticed the bakery and their pies. They serve something that resembles a pie sandwich, which entails cutting the lid off your cooked pie and adding mushy peas to the interior before adding the pie lid back on. It was delicious, a definite must if you’re in the hinterlands.
Not far from Mapleton there is a lookout and a waterfall. The lookout offers stunning views out across the valley and ranges below.
Maleny
This area of the hinterlands has a lot to offer. The town is a bustling community set around a high street, with an abundance of cafes to suit everyone. With local shops selling craft and homewares alongside the normal services found in any large country town, Maleny has the lot.
Just outside of Maleny you have Maleny diaries cheese co. With tours available if you’d like to experience the workings of the dairy and free tastings why wouldn’t you visit. There is also an on-site cafe available too.
There is another couple of must see lookouts close to Maleny. Firstly you’ve got one tree hill. A popular Instagram shot for the glasshouse mountains. A solitary cherry tree sitting in a privately owned paddock with uninterrupted views of the valley and mountains below. As it’s a private field theres no access to the field, unless you contact the owner directly and at this point you’ll be asked to pay a $50 fee to access the field with permission. However you can get perfectly good pictures from the main road without forking out the fee.
Secondly you have “split tree hill”, I’ll be honest, I don’t think it’s officially known as this. From scrolling through Instagram, I saw some had taken a great picture of this tree, located just up the road from its famous big sister. As I was there snapping away, the local farmer who owns the land came out of the field and I got chatting to him. He had no idea people were stopping to take photos of his tree, split by lightening. He was a lovely old gent, with views to die for from his paddock and happy to have a quick chat.
The Glasshouse Mountains
Thirteen distinctive peaks which rise dramatically from the lands beneath. Formed somewhere between 26-27 million years ago, through volcanic activity. Then over millenia, erosion of their peaks have softened the mountains. With so many lookouts to take these beautiful peaks in, you’ll be spoilt for choice.
As well as the two tree themed lookouts listed above, there are several vantage points to get your great picture; McCarthys lookout, Gerrad lookout, Balmoral lookout and Howells lookout just to name a few.
The National park also has plenty of walks to explore the mountains in more depth, soaking up the breathtaking wilderness, wildlife and fauna.
Moreton Bay
Even though Moreton Bay isn’t offically the Sunshine Coast, I thought I’d cover it here. We skipped Brisbane and surrounds all together, due to the lack of dog friendly caravan parks in the area. We had also lived in Brisbane for a while, so we didn’t feel we had missed out too much. Having visited many of the tourist attractions before.
We stayed at Scarborough Holiday Village on Deception Bay. An amazing site located right on the bay. The park itself has great caravan sites with concrete slabs and it’s immaculately kept. Great for walks for Tilly too, with path ways in both directions running parallel to the water. For more information visit https://www.scarboroughholidayvillage.com.au
Scarborough sits at the top of a cape with woody point at the bottom and Redcliffe sandwiched in between. This is known as the Redcliffe Peninsula, this is a great area, and only a 45 minute drive out of Brisbane cbd. This area has such a coastal, chilled feel, with a straight road running all the way down the coast. Weatherboard Queenslanders, line the coastal strip with the water lapping a stones throw from their front door. The towns in this area are quite historical as well, Woody Point being a prime example of this. First settled in 1823, with penal prisoners from England. There are various building dotted around the area that hold that old world charm.
There are some fabulous restaurants in the area too. Sea salt and vine offers a great breakfast and is always busy. If Italian food is your thing, we can highly recommend the Rustic Olive in Redcliffe. Again you have to book as it’s extremely popular, especially on a weekend.
Our next post will cover The Gold Coast, if you missed out on our North Coast Queensland post click here https://www.chrisveeandtillysbiglap.com/blog/north-coast-queensland/