Mooloolah

Mooloolah is located off the Glass House Mountains Road via Mooloolah Connection Road with Glenview and Palmview being located just off the Bruce Highway. Mooloolah is aboriginal for ‘black snake’. It is a peaceful, rural town with a variety of things to do. You can grab a pint at the Ettamogah Pub, a restaurant and bar in an oddly proportioned cartoon like architectural building which is a popular focal point for photographs. To learn more about Australian history take a trip to the Aboriginal Cultural Centre at Aussie World. Also at Aussie World, learn the art of sheep shearing, milk cows or feed the lambs in the Bush Camp. Still looking for something to do, go horseback riding at the Mooloolah Valley Riding Centre, an Aussie dude ranch.

Distance From State Capital: 89km
Nearest Main Highway: Bruce
Nearest Airport: Brisbane (8km)

Mooloolaba

Blessed with a heady mix of ocean beaches, riverfront, variety of restaurants and nighteries, Mooloolaba is a popular, central Sunshine Coast resort town. It also has an all-weather port which is not only home to a large trawling fleet, but the finishing point for blue-water sailing races from both Sydney and Auckland. With its international standard marinas and quality restaurants, Mooloolaba is a favourite anchorage for ocean cruisers and game fisherfolk. Surfers can also have their moments on the Mooloolaba waves or at nearby beaches such as Alexandra Headland, Coolum and Maroochydore. The scenic gems of the Sunshine Coast hinterland are just a short drive inland.

Distance From State Capital: 100km
Nearest Main Highway: Bruce
Nearest Airport: Sunshine Coast (12km)

Montville

Montville was first settled in 1887 and is today known by some as the ‘Creative Heart of the Sunshine Coast’. This charming village is home to a range of quality art galleries that exhibit, and sometimes produce, works of great interest to all art lovers. Shoppers also love the many craft shops, fashion boutiques and gift shops that exhibit a staggering range of affordable, locally made items. Close to Montville is the Kondalilla National Park. Kondalilla is aboriginal for ‘rushing waters’ and is home to scenic walks and spectacular waterfalls. It is ideal for a picnic, a swim, or just to escape into the cool rainforest.

Distance From State Capital: 121km
Nearest Main Highway: Bruce
Nearest Airport: Sunshine Coast

Maroochydore

Maroochydore is at the very centre of the Sunshine Coast, with Caloundra to the south and Noosa to the north. Cotton Tree, an ocean-side suburb on the Maroochy River, is a popular holiday spot, well-serviced by holiday flats and a caravan park. The rivermouth, which leisure craft now ply, was once the site of a large timbermill from where the local lumber was shipped to Brisbane by paddle-steamer. There are river cruises, and great fishing opportunities in this aquatic paradise.

The Maroochy Shire is graced by 25 kilometres of golden sands and inviting ocean that embraces such famous surf beaches as Mooloolaba, Alexandra Headland, Coolum and Maroochydore. To balance the call of the sea, the shire boasts 3722 hectare of municipal reserves and 2000 hectare of national parkland. The other Sunshine Coast resorts and the scenic jewels of the hinterland are within easy reach.

Distance From State Capital: 98km
Nearest Main Highway: Bruce
Nearest Airport: Sunshine Coast (9km)

Marcoola Beach

Marcoola Beach is located just north of Maroochy River and boasts quiet uncrowded beaches, which are best suited for serious surfers and walkers. Marcoola Beach is a great escape to unwind for a quiet barbecue or picnic with its open grassy parkland, shady trees and children’s park.

Nearest Main Highway: Bruce
Nearest Airport: Sunshine Coast

Mapleton

Situated in the heart of the Sunshine Coast hinterland, the scenic drive to Mapleton from Maleny, taking in Montville and Flaxton, is one of the best in Queensland. Throughout this beautiful district, art and craft galleries abound, along with potteries, antique shops and museums.

Buy fresh local fruit and vegetables from the side of the road and make sure you stop to dine at one of the many interesting and different restaurants and cafes which have opened in recent years. Nature, however, is the star attraction in these parts and her gift to Mapleton is a spectacular cascade tumbling off the western escarpment of the Blackall Range into the Mary Valley. The Mapleton Falls are best appreciated from the viewing platform. The village flanks the Mapleton National Park which is renowned for its rainforest picnic glades. Mapleton also hosts the annual Yarn Festival when spinners of tall tales and true gather to celebrate the art of the Aussie bush balladeer.

Distance From State Capital: 59km
Nearest Main Highway: Bruce
Nearest Airport: Sunshine Coast (30km)

Maleny

The delightful, Sunshine Coast hinterland village of Maleny lies in picture postcard dairy country, interspersed with rainforests, high in the Blackall Range, about 50 kilometres south-west of Maroochydore.

There are a myriad of sightseeing opportunities in the range, including a panoramic view of the Glasshouse Mountains – so named by Captain Cook who was reminded, by the sun reflecting off the rockfaces, of the glasshouses back in his beloved Yorkshire. Bushwalking and bird-spotting are popular pastimes in this area, where you can also explore the walking trails through the lush rainforests of the Mary Cairncross National Park and, if you fancy on an hour or so drive, the Mapleton and Kondalilla Falls and the Obi Obi Gorge.

Arts and craft galleries abound. There is a wide choice of eateries and drinking holes in this bolt hole which is just a 90 kilometre drive north from Brisbane, but is 1000 kilometres from the cares and pressures of the big smoke.

Distance From State Capital: 90km
Nearest Main Highway: Bruce
Nearest Airport: Brisbane (90km)