Sunshine Coast
Next up after Brisbane is the Sunshine Coast.
I had a few stops in the Sunshine Coast, and apart from moving hostels/airbnb every two days, i did enjoy getting to see different parts of it. I stayed in Mooloolaba, Maroochydore, and Noosa (or Sunshine beach area)
For the first time in Australia, I took the Greyhound bus up to Mooloolaba. Unlike back home, there seems to be a fairly extensive (from my point of view) coach bus network that can take you throughout the East coast. Which is a bonus for all of the travellers and backpackers that come to Australia! The only downside, like any country, is it mostly hits the ‘big’ or popular towns. Any small location isn’t often on the list of stops. Regardless, happy for the convenience and fairly cheap prices!
Mooloolaba
The hostel I stayed at was just a few minute walk from the bus stop. Thank goodness because by 10am it was already hot and i was sweating walking my bags there! Like most hostels I wasn’t able to check in right away, but I could still gladly use the facilities to change and store my bags. This is a great perk of most hostels, I feel like they understand that most backpackers arrive at all hours of the day due to different flights or buses, and they still make it easy to drop your things and go explore, so it doesn’t feel like you are wasting a day waiting for your accommodation to open up.
After the freshen up and change of clothes, I set off on a walk to the beach, just a few minutes down the road. Already I’m liking Mooloolaba, everything is seeming fairly walkable and there are some buses too. But knowing me I’ll gladly walk. Overall Mooloolaba was gorgeous, had a calmer and laid back energy, everyone was just going with the flow. Mooloolaba beach had a bunch of people running into the waves to swim, tanning, or just chatting from the sidewalk benches. One thing I’ve noticed is that people leave their bags unattended when they run into the water and don’t really think much of it. That feeling of always wondering what you will do with your bag if you want to go swim in many other countries can act as a deterrent because you always want someone watching your stuff in case someone walking by tries to snatch or steal it. It was a little nerve wracking the first time I did it (and still can be) but its also quite freeing. I’m sure there have been incidences in the past, but overall it felt like a very safe place. There are many beaches on the Sunshine Coast, so over the next few days while I was in Mooloolaba I walked to a few, swam, sat, and sweat. I also found some great outdoor gyms, mostly hanging bars and benches, but it allows for anyone to do a workout. I am finding them more and more, and I love that there is often something in most towns in Australia! Makes for exercise and working out easier while travelling if you don’t want to spend money on an indoor gym.
The Sunshine Coast definitely gave fit or fitness vibes, people constantly running on the footpaths or along the beach, using the outdoor gyms, paddle boarding, surfing, skate park, you name it! I really did like it. I had the chance to hire a surf board for a few hours and played around in the water, I didn’t catch many waves, but i had fun paddling out, reading waves, and just trying!
Maroochydore
Next I had to move to a AirBNB in Maroochydore because there wasn’t space in the hostel. Maroochydore is right next to Mooloolaba and has the main bus transfer station for the area. Still easy enough to get to the beaches, but can take some time as the bus times don’t often line up and you can be waiting for 10-20 minutes for your transfer bus. Unfortunately I didn’t see much of Maroochydore, I ended up getting sick from something I ate and spent my two days there sleeping in my private room. But the hosts were lovely and welcoming. They even drove me to the bus transfer station when I was checking out so that I didn’t have to catch a bus there.
Noosa
I took the local bus to my next hostel in Noosa (or next to, at Sunshine) It was a longer bus ride, but I got to see so many of the cute little communities and beach towns along the way. Similarly my bus stop was close to the hostel. I spent my day exploring the nearby beach (still low energy from the previous days). Noosa itself seemed a bit more touristy than Mooloolaba to me. The main strip of shops next to Main Beach was booming with tourists and what seemed like some locals alike. There were many hotels and resorts along the beach, less houses, which to me took a little bit of the charm away. But overall still a gorgeous area. Over the next few days I explore Noosa mostly by walking. I hiked through Noosa National Park, which took me near cliff edges, through trees, great views of the coast line, and even better more beaches! Less busy beaches as it is only people hiking/walking through the park that will access them. I stopped at Tea Tree beach because i read that you could maybe snorkel there, but the waves were just large and flowing enough that i wasn’t really sure where you’d snorkel. But it was great fun watching people surf on their longboards and attempting to walk up and down them. The waves looked perfect for that type of surfing. It made me jealous to not have a board, but I would have had to carry it over 30min from town, whereas most of these people had a car and just walked 5 minutes from a parking lot in the park. Overall still a pleasant day. The wild turkeys weren’t scared of nobody either, and kept trying to access my food in the backpack.
Overall the Sunshine Coast was beautiful and I want to go back so soon. I know there is so much more to see and do just outside of the cities, but that will need to wait until I get a car or make friends with someone who has one! Once I do there will be an update so stay tuned.
View of Sunshine Beach in near Noosa.