Such are the abundant charms of sophisticated Noosa and the succession of pearly-white beaches which line the Sunshine Coast that you could be forgiven for believing that the region's attractions begin and end by the sea.
But there's another equally enticing side to the Sunshine Coast: the cool green hills of its hinterland. With the characterful Glass House Mountains to the south — the stuff of an evocative Aboriginal legend — and the softer curves of Blackall Range to the north, this whole escarpment adds another very distinct dimension to the region.
In places the hinterland is like a natural balcony from which to view the enviable coastline below (take a picnic and enjoy), while in others it's a totally different world. Head for the hills and you could find yourself trying something energetic like abseiling or climbing or taking a moderately serious bushwalk. Or you could gather your thoughts in a smudge of refracted light amid a tangle of native rainforest. It's even more likely that you'll end up pottering in mountain villages redolent of the European origins of the fruit growers and loggers who settled here more than 100 years ago.
For the most part the pace up here, particularly in mountain villages like Montville, Maleny, Flaxton and Mapleton, is so slow that even the local snails take it easy. That's why it's popular with harried Brisbaneites and those in need of a breeze in the humid summer months. In Montville, situated at 450 metres in the Blackall Range, you can dawdle all day among craft shops which sell everything from Bavarian cuckoo clocks to Shona Zimbabwean wood carvings, then dawdle some more in a cozy pub or restaurant. The feel's as English as it gets. Yet just three kilometres north in the Kondalilla Falls National Park, there's untamed scenery and abundant wildlife that's just as quintessentially Australian. Nearby, the area around the Baroon Pocket Dam, formerly a gathering place for the Kabi Aboriginal people, is another excellent place to see the native rainforest.
Throughout the Blackall Range, as in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, there is a pervasive sense of Europe sitting in the midst of a magnificent Australian landscape. Other villages of the hinterland like Maleny, to the south, and Mapleton, to the north, echo Montville's tranquility and there are yet more timber buildings, taverns and art and craft shops to discover there. Yet on the very edge of Mapleton are the 120 metre Mapleton Falls and close to Maleny is the Mary Cairncross Reserve, an area gifted to the public by the early conservationist as a haven for native fauna and flora. The reserve also provides panoramic views over the craggy volcanically-formed Glass House Mountains.
Exploring the Sunshine Coast hinterland is easy, either from a relaxing base such as the Hyatt Regency Coolum near the coast, with its top-notch golf course and deliciously indulgent health centre, the equally classy Sheraton resort in Noosa or from one of the many accommodation options (from cabins and cottages to B&Bs and inns) which increasingly dot the hills. All the area's attractions are within close range and no more than a 90-minute drive from Brisbane.
If you're looking to slow down or if you like your hills rolling, your mornings misty, your days cool and fresh and your vistas panoramic, head to the hinterland.
