The Sunshine Coast, or Sunny Coast to the locals, is a booming strip of suburbs from Caloundra to Noosa. It boasts beautiful beaches and coastline as well as lush, charming elevated areas just inland. The climate is also good for most of the year. With the number of shops, amenities and excellent restaurants, it is no wonder why so many people are choosing this area to settle. Locals of the area love it and sing the praises of the Sunny Coast constantly.

Noosa, in particular, is lovely and charming, albeit touristy but it should be noted that the Noosa council is a little too crazy about roundabouts!! There are over 100 roundabouts in the Noosa area!!

Here are some pictures of the stunning natural beauty around the Sunshine Coast.

Australia is blessed with lots of beautiful blue sky days and it shows off any location to it’s best advantage. Central Brisbane, which is centered around the wriggly Brisbane River is no exception. The river feels like the heart of the city, with lots of people making the most of it at all times. The waterfront bars and restaurants are buzzing with diners enjoying the location, day or night. Runners, walkers, cyclists, dogs, prams, wheelchairs, gophers and scooters all use the walkways which hug the river’s edge on both sides. Ferries zip up and down and side to side all day.

Brisbane is a cycle friendly city with demarcated, separated cycle paths plentiful, the traffic isn’t too crazy and the hills are not as severe as Sydney.

Brisbane is quite a contrast to Sydney. In comparison, Brisbane has a small country town feel. Despite that, there are a multitude of great restaurants, vibrant markets and upmarket gin bars to enjoy.

Driving from Sydney to Byron Bay is about 800kms but should be done over a number of days to allow time to explore the many picturesque towns and cities along the way. We overnighted in Newcastle, Forster and Scott’s Head. During the drive, we stopped at Port Macquarie, Urunga, Coffs Harbour and Yamba.

The most awesome thing about Newcastle is to see the giant machines used for loading coal onto massive coal ships. Take a drive along Cormorant Road, Kooragang and you cannot miss them.

At the end of the point at Stockton, there is a breakwater which is called Shipwreck Walk. It was a turbulent and blustery evening when we walked here and it is easy to understand how so many ships came to trouble here.

Newcastle is a bustling big city with an affluent feel about it. It was a day of unusually big swells when we visited, much to the delight of amateur photographers hoping to get a shot of a large wave crashing down on the breakwater and for surfers, trying to catch the perfect wave.

Forster and Tuncurry are two towns right next to each other, connected by a large bridge. Forster seems more affluent and gentrified than Tuncurry. The highlights of this area are the lakes and waterways. The Forster Bicentennial Walk was stunning.

Just north of Port Macquarie is Ricardoes Tomatoes where you can pick your own hydroponic strawberries and lettuces and see tomatoes being grown hydroponically. Entry is free and its interesting to see the hydroponic setups.

Scott’s Head is a tiny town with a surprisingly large number of affluent looking new homes. It has a couple of beaches which are ideal for surfing.

There is a lovely boardwalk in Urunga which makes it a lovely stop to stretch your legs on a roadtrip.

At Coffs Harbour, there is a walk that goes past the picturesque marina up to the highest point on the nearby Muttonbird Island. The views from the lookout are worth the uphill gradient to get there.

Along this stretch of coast, we have seen a quite a number of surfers. These are mostly young men. Considering the cool temperatures, large and turbulent waves and the abundance of rocks, it’s a hobby that seems foolhardy and dangerous.

Byron Bay is a town which is getting a lot of bad press these days. The traffic is quite crazy and this detracts from the peaceful serenity of this small town. It’s hard to understand why there should be so many cars in such a small town! Paid parking is the norm in the town centre area as well which is highly unusual for a small town! Nevertheless, the farmers market was fun, with many stalls selling local, organic produce, the lighthouse walk was spectacular, you can hike to the most easterly point of Australia, the beaches are expansive and perfect for surfing and there are plenty of cute shops and restaurants to explore. The day we were there was overcast and threatening so I can imagine that Byron can look much better than these pictures show.

Would it be uproar if it is suggested that the NSW coast, south of Sydney rivals the beauty of Victoria’s famous Great Ocean Road? Let’s call it equally stunning!! It has been a lovely journey up from Tathra to Wollongong via Bermagui, Bateman’s Bay, Jervis Bay (Huskisson) and Kiama. The Booderee National Park has lots of beautiful spots and the Kiama coastal walk is hilly but hugs the rugged coastline. There is an unexpectedly large and beautiful Buddhist temple complex and gardens in Wollongong.

Mount Kosciuszko is mainland Australia’s highest mountain, at 2,228 metres above sea level. Reaching the top of this sounds like an impressive bucket list type achievement but surprisingly it wasn’t that difficult. We drove to Thredbo and then got on the chairlift and from there walked the 13km round trip to the summit and back. The trail was very well marked and well traversed. It’s amazing that summiting the highest peak in Australia has been made so accessible.

On the day we went, it was beautiful blue skies but only about 4C. The temperature would have been freezing overnight as there was some icy snow on the ground.

This is not a serene trail where you can be alone with nature. There were lots of people at all parts of the trail and especially the summit. There were also lots of hardcore mountain bikers riding down trails of varying difficulty down the mountain. It’s great to see this winter town thriving at times when there is no snow.

Jindabyne is the town that serves as the hub for the surrounding towns including Thredbo and Perisher. It sits by the beautiful Lake Jindabyne.

Not far from Jindabyne is the Gaden Trout Hatchery. The government breeds trout and salmon to restock cold water lakes for anglers as sport fish. The tours are really interesting and informative.

An hour drive from Jindabyne is Adaminaby. This tiny town hosts the Snowy Scheme Museum which contains an interesting collection of items and information of the project. The opening hours are extremely limited. These information boards are available outside the museum if it is not open.

After visiting the museum, it’s worth a drive to Old Adaminaby to see a small part of the massive Lake Eucumbene, a dam, part of the Snowy scheme.

It has been a pleasure to see Australia’s alpine regions and to understand a bit more about how large and complex the Snowy hydro project was and is.

Stunning scenery, curious wildlife and a lovely campground for a national park. The main campground at Tidal River has great amenities. There are rubbish bins, toilet and shower blocks, visitor centre, small shop, BBQs and picnic tables. Additionally, in a lot of areas there is good mobile signal and many campsites includes the sound of the nearby ocean. Magic! Watch out for wombats at dusk, possums at night and the colourful rosellas that are always loitering hopefully when you eat meals.