Noosa

Fraser Island, shopping in Hastings Street (...well, window shopping; the prices are something else.) Rainforest tours.

Quick Tips:

Staying at Club Noosa? Walk to the beach. Car parking is hard to find! A bus also goes right past the resort. It would also be easy to catch a bus going down the other side of the hill to the shopping centre.

Best Way To Get Around:

From Club Noosa you can walk to the beach and the supermarket. The cinema is also within easy walking distance. Transport is available from Brisbane (Train/bus from the airport or bus from Maroochydore).

Best Things Nearby:
Laguna Bay beach, Sunshine Beach. Noosa National Park, Frazer Island, Eumundi Market.

Best Things About the Resort:
Beautiful setting and well located on the top of the hill opposite the Reef Hotel

Resort Experience:
Located on the hill in Noosa Drive, Noosa Heads, Club Noosa is certainly one of the better resorts we have visited. This is our second visit to Club Noosa and we hope more visits will follow! The only downside to Club Noosa is the walk up the hill at the end of a day on the beach. The hill seems to get steeper every day (and with every degree of temperature rise!). Still, we generally cooled off in the pool at the end of the climb up the hill, and the pool was great once you became accustomed to being the "fish in the bowl." (The pool has a glass window.) The location on the top of the hill also meant that we enjoyed a cool evening breeze and were able to open doors front and back to circulate the air.

All units have a balcony with outdoor furniture and on this visit it was very pleasant to sit in the shade in the afternoon and read. Great place for the evening meal too. Last year we had morning shade on the balcony and had our breakfast there. Very pleasant.

The resort has a rooftop barbecue area with sufficient outdoor furniture to have a relaxing meal while taking in the view. With such a great view and pleasant surroundings, we just had to invite some friends over who were staying in another resort.

Each unit had a large bathroom with two basins, which simplified the morning routine of shaving and applying makeup. (I shaved, she applied makeup!) The bathroom also had a spa bath. The main bedroom had a small television with a larger one in the lounge connected to a VCR. We seemed to be busy enough during the day to bypass television viewing, opting for an early night and a bit of reading.

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Good
• Amenities: Excellent
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Excellent

We had lunch a couple of times at the Reef Hotel. The food was excellent and the view was great. Clearly, the location, directly opposite Club Noosa, was ideal and there was a choice of sitting inside in air-conditioned comfort or outside on the balcony to take in the view. Worth a visit and beats cooking every meal, even though the Club Noosa Resort has a full kitchen.

I had grilled prawns, which came with a fresh garden salad. The prawns had a hint of garlic and the serving was generous, as was the size of the prawns. A very tasty meal and good value at $16.50.

My wife had grilled fish which came with chips and salad (typical) and was again a very tasty meal and good value at $16.00.

Located right on the beach at the National Park end of Hastings Street, the Surf Club offers simple pub-style meals with a great view over Laguna Bay from the balcony. Food was not as nice as the Reef Hotel, but if you want a reasonably priced meal with a view that is unsurpassed in Noosa, then this is the place to go. The Pokies and restaurant also help to keep the Surf Club going, and that is certainly worthwhile. I would not like to tackle the surf without their backup!

Grilled prawns again, but this time not nearly as nice as those from the Reef Hotel. The prawns were crumbed, but the shells were not properly removed. Still, the view was sensational and the salad that accompanied the prawns was fresh.

We had a table right on the edge of the jetty, providing a great view of the harbour and the river. A plastic pull-down blind was there to provide protection from the elements. Fortunately, this was not needed, as the night was warm, with a nice breeze blowing over the water.

The food matched the atmosphere: well-presented, generous servings, and a reasonable price for quality dining. Cheaper options were available for those on a budget, as the restaurant had a wood-fired oven for making pizzas. They also made a great garlic bread!

Service was good, and the waitresses were friendly, efficient, and attractive! Overall, I would recommend this restaurant for a romantic evening meal or for an afternoon coffee and cake. (Coffees were much cheaper during the day!)

For my wife, no holiday would be complete without at least one market visit, and Eumundi Market has it all! From crafts to food to clothes and alternative therapies, it all could be found at Eumundi. In fact, the only thing in short supply seemed to be parking spaces! (You could get to Eumundi Market on a tour if you were not independently mobile.) Market times were 6:30am to 2pm on Saturday and 8am to 1pm on Wednesday. The Eumundi Market is located in the historic township of Eumundi. Take the Eumundi-Noosa Road and follow the signs. Their website is

Off Beat Rainforest Tours offers a chance to see the unique rainforest of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast hinterland. The Canondale National Park has over 34,000 hectares of subtropical rainforest wilderness and Off Beat Tours is able to get into parts of the National Park off limits to the general public. The lunch, under the shelter of some trees in a rainforest clearing, was superb, and there is something nice about a gourmet feast with wine in a wilderness setting. Cost for the tour was $125.00 and the tour included a swim in a rock pool under a waterfall.

Travel was in a purpose-built coach based on a Nissan Patrol 4x4. Some of the tracks off the beaten path were very slippery and the 4x4 was well used and certainly needed.

We have made two trips to Frazer Island during our stays at Noosa. One in the large buses with Fraser Explorer Day Tours ($110.00 per adult) and the other with Fraser Island Adventure Tours ($140.00 per adult). Fraser Explorer has a lunch stop at the Eurong Beach Resort and Fraser Island Adventure Tours organised a barbecue by Lake McKenzie. (I thought the barbecue lunch was much better.) If price is not an issue, the barbecue lunch at Lake McKenzie allowed more time for a swim in the perched lake. A new tour operates from Maroochydore airport, and for $160.00 you can see Frazer Island from the air and spend more time on the island. (Next visit to Noosa!) The only problem is that you miss out on the excitement of the 4x4 beach drive and the chance to see the wreck of the Cherry Venture at Double Island Point. There is an option of fly/drive. Fly to Frazer Island and hire a 4x4. Otherwise, it's a walk from the beach to Lake Wabby.

Getting around on Frazer Island requires a 4x4, preferably a hired one... they rust much more slowly!

U-Drive boat hire has 14- and 16-foot catamarans, fishing boats, half cabins, BBQ pontoons, runabouts, and paddle boats.

We tried both the 14- and 16-foot catamarans. The 16-foot is definitely faster and more fun to sail! Cost is $30 for an hour. The sailing area is limited. Make sure you do the hard sail against the wind on the way out and leave a run with the wind for the return. They are not amused when you get to one end of the river and can't get back!

The half-cabin boats are good for a tour around the Noosa waterways to check out the homes of the rich (and famous?). There are some magnificent homes on the waterfront! Cost was $38 for one hour, which was more than enough to do a good circuit of the waterway, going past the back of the main Hasting Street shops.

Both the sailing and half-cabin boats are well worth doing. Just make sure there is enough wind to make the sailing exciting!

Located in Yandina (the factory was originally in Buderim but needed to be upgraded), the Buderim Ginger Factory supplies 40% of the world’s ginger requirements. Personally, I am not a ginger fan, but it was worth a visit to see how ginger is processed and to see the variety of products that contain ginger. The grounds include a small sugar train (a steam train pushed by a small diesel engine hidden in the coal bucket) and a plant nursery and rainforest walk with some of the most magnificent flowers I have seen. The trip was not a total waste, though, as they had some souvenir shops on the grounds and Macadamia produce was well represented.

For those with a love of ginger or a desire to see how such a factory works, factory tours were available and included tastings of a variety of ginger products.