Hinterland is a German word meaning “the land behind” and that’s where we spent today. The land to the south west of Noosa and the Sunshine Coast is called the Hinerland by the vocals. It’s a beautful area of rolling hills, quaint villages and superb scenery.
We set our GPS to take us to the hill town of Maleny. It’s a quaint town but an overtly tourist town on the southern edge of the Blackall Range. From its nearby lookouts, you can see dramatic views across to the Sunshine Coast and to the Glass House Mountains. It’s a bit of a ‘hippie’ town, In the 1980s it attracted sculptors, painters, craftspeople and potters who provided the local galleries with their works. Soon the galleries and craft shops were complemented by cafes, coffee lounges and restaurants. Today the town is permanently busy on weekends with daytrippers. It’s one place where I am grateful that Jill has a disabled parking permit as the town was overflowing with cars and all the parking spots were occupied except one diabled one.
On our way, we popped in to see Gardners Falls. These are a hidden gem and reached by a short and level walk downstream from a car park. You pass a number of shallow rock pools with crystal clear water and the pools increase in size as you get closer to the two metre high falls. Below the falls is a deep pool that is suitable for swimming. This beutiful little creek is bounded by a grassy bank and backed by native forest, making it an ideal spot for a family picnic.
We parked the car in the village of Maleny and took a walk along the Main Street. Like most other quaint tourist towns it is full of shops that sell souvenirs, art, fashions, crystals and food – nothing at all of much use to the locals.
A couple of lookouts seemed worth exploring and they offered impressive views back to the coast and across the Glasshouse Mountains.
The lookouts were not the only places that offed good views. Many of the windy mountain roads gave me good opportunities for photos of the farming land in the area.
After setting our GPS again to take us to the ‘Glasshouse Mountians Lookout’, we found some good views of these peaks that rise up sharply from the surroounding countryside. These mountains are a cluster of thirteen hills, the highest of which is Mount Beerwah at 556 metres above sea level, but the most identifiable of all the hills is Mount Tibrogargan which from certain angles bears a resemblance to a face staring east towards the ocean.
On 17 May 1770, the hills were named the “Glass House Mountains” by Lieutenant James Cook as he explored the eastern coast of Australia. From the sea, the peaks reminded him of the glass furnaces in his home county of Yorkshire.
On our way back to Noosa, we stopped in the city of Maroochydore to see its lighthouses. I expected to have a nice view along the coast from them but instaed we found that they were on a hill some way back from the sea and flanked by high rise apartment buildings. This popular town is so well developed that it is covered in unapealing apartments with very little natural land remaining.
On our return to Noosa, we followed the coast road fnorth rom Maroochydore, but aagin found the area heavily developed with only a few places left that provided access to the beach.
