Sunshine Coast Hinterland

In this new blog post series, Location spotlight, I am looking to give the reader an overview of some of my favourite zones, and specific locations on the Sunshine Coast to take landscape photos.

For the first in my location spotlight series, lets take a look at my favourite place to take landscape photos on the Sunshine Coast, and maybe even Australia, the beautiful Sunshine Coast Hinterland.

When people think of the Sunshine Coast as a location, I feel the first thing that comes to mind is the coast, I mean, its in the name isn’t it, so fair play, but there is so much more to the Sunshine Coast than just the coast. The Sunshine Coast hinterland and its crown jewels of the Glass House Mountains, are as beautiful of a place you will ever lay eyes on. Every bit as breathtaking as the coast, even more so in my opinion.

Rolling green hills dotted with Moreton Bay figs, that were already giants when when europeans first set foot one this continent. The rolling hills and grazing cows, give way to dense subtropical rainforest, full of Bunya Pine, sacred to the local indigenous. It is this dense rugged forest that encases the many secret waterfalls and hidden gorges that funnel the Sunshine Coast hinterlands hefty annual rain fall back down the range to the sea.

Some of the best known towns in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, as far as tourist destinations go, are the cultural hubs of Montville and Maleny. These are beautiful places, and you can eat and drink your self to death on any given day in the brewery, bars and, restaurants, but that is not why I head to the hinterland, at least not every time.

The reason i find myself in the hinterland so often is, my favourite thing to point my camera at is a waterfall, if possible one that hasn’t got another human anywhere near it. The Sunshine Coast offers many such opportunities, you just need to get adventurous, and get off the beaten track. that being said you don’t really need to either, there are many waterfalls scattered along the great walks, such as the spectacular and well known Kondalilla and Mapleton falls, to the lesser known but equally beautiful, Baxter and Gheerulla Falls. There are name more lesser known spots that i will not mention here in the interest of not blowing it for the locals, however they are not hard to track down.

If you have the spirit of adventure, grab your backpack, and head up to the range after a couple of days rain and go for it. A handy tool is google earth, look for the out of the way deep valleys and get as close as you can to it and go bush bashing ! you will be surprised what you find right under your nose. I found one of the most amazing waterfalls on the Sunshine Coast, the top of it right off the side of a sealed road, and I’ve never seen another photo of it, and its less than ten minutes out of Maleny, no small feat with the amount of cameras, iPhones and instagram accounts out there.

On a serious note. One of the first things you might notice when you find your self in some of the more rugged inaccessible waterways, is evidence of flash flooding. Things like tree branches and palm fronds, wrapped around trees well above your head. This is no joke, and is something that should always be on your mind in these areas, you do not want to find yourself in these areas during a heavy localized downpour, best to leave it a day or to for the water to clean up and settle down a little, makes for better photos anyway.

So get out there and get amongst it and recharge your battery. You might find something incredible and experience a moment of true bliss with nature, or you might just get bitten by mosquitos and swept away by a flash flood or get bitten by a brown. get out there and have a sticky beak, just don’t let me catch you at one of my secret spots !