The spa is located at the new Outrigger resort in Noosa and is open to both guests and day visitors. Products include Payot and Terrake and the therapists are excellent.

If you want to test drive the ultimate Sunshine Coast lifestyle, renting a waterfront house on Noosa Sound is about as good as it gets. Richardson & Wrench has the best range of holiday palaces — look for addresses such as Witta Circle and Wyuna Drive. These houses cost thousands of dollars a week to rent in peak season but can be rented for only a few hundred dollars a night in off peak periods (incredibly cheap if you divide the cost among three or four couples).

Take home a souvenir you will have forever from these investment art galleries on Noosa's Hastings Street (if you've been there before, it is now on the other side of the street) and Mooloolaba's Esplanade. David Hart Galleries sells the works of celebrated Australian artists including Pro Hart.

This is affordable luxury — a day of lazing about in spa pools, steam rooms and relaxation areas for just $30, at the Aqua Day Spa at the Sheraton Noosa. You can, of course, spend-up big on treatments, with a tempting list to choose from, but a day pass to the spa pools can do the trick alone.

Champagne breakfasts, handmade chocolates, deep spa baths and total privacy await at this tree house-style boutique retreat just outside Montville. If money is no object, book the Secrets cabin, which has a huge corner tub and its own waterfall.

Another memorable place to dine, if you like Thai-inspired food. Spirit House at Yandina is much hyped but continues to come up with the goods, serving food that is full of taste, among peaceful tropical gardens. The restaurant has undergone a huge renovation and re-designed its menus, so don't assume you've been-there-done-that if you've eaten there before.