Live Like A Local: Sunshine Coast Australia from $852

Travel Team > Australia Travel > Live Like A Local: Sunshine Coast Australia from $852

The Caloundra Experience

The Caloundra experience does not end at the foreshore. Look further afield and you will find a hinterland of stunning diversity and beauty, a hinterland that offers something for everyone….from the sightseer to the thrill seeker.

Within half an hour’s drive of the beach, the landscape varies from tropical fruit plantations to lush rainforest. The Glass House Mountains provide an impressive centrepiece, standing like silent sentinels above the surrounding patchwork of fields and forests. Steeped in history, the mountains carry Aboriginal names but were collectively named by explorer Captain Cook in 1770. The Glass House Mountains Tourist Drive puts you almost within touching distance, while a drive to the top of the nearby Blackall Range provides a breathtaking panorama. The best vantage point is Mary Cairncross Park.

Close by is Howells Knob, one of the highest spots on the Blackall Range, where you can appreciate the scenic grandeur of the Sunshine Coast.

Further west lies the peaceful Conondale Valley, home of the Mary River headwaters and the Little Yabba Creek picnic area, where visitors can relax beside the sparkling waters to the sound of birdsong.

No visit to Caloundra City would be complete without a tour of the hinterland townships, each of which offers much to see and do. You can while away the hours in the many arts and crafts shops, tuck into a Devonshire tea or purchase farm-fresh produce from a roadside stall….the choice is yours. There is also a host of more energetic pursuits to choose from including bushwalking, rock climbing and horse riding.

Hinterland Hospitality

The beauty and lifestyle of Caloundra’s Hinterland has enticed a host of talented chefs to present their art form in a diverse range of eating options – from ‘best restaurant’ standard to melt-in-the-mouth devonshire teas in treetop settings. From coffee and patisseries, to ice cream and handmade sweets.

Long before the boutiques and potteries arrived, European settlers had found the rich volcanic soils perfect for farming and today there are dairy farms and macadamia, avocado, strawberry and pineapple plantations spread over a wide area of the range and lower slopes.

In the season, you can buy fresh produce straight from the farm gate. And Caloundra’s Hinterland hospitality offers so much more. Guided walks and tours. The impressive Maleny Scarecrow Carnival during September, arts and crafts markets, (Maleny on Sundays, Beerwah and Conondale on the first Saturday of each month), to name just a tiny few.

There are many nearby attractions and activities to peak your interest:

The Australian Zoo, famous for the Crocodile Hunter, is only a complimentary shuttle bus ride away, cruising on the Pumicestone Passage, strolling the trails of Bribie Island, shopping at the Sunday Morning Caloundra Markets, fishing from the boardwalk, golfing at two local courses, watching the horses run at the Sunday Race Meetings, eating alfresco in a beachside café. Caloundra will not disappoint!