When looking for a place to spend your vacation, it’s important to consider how crowded a certain place can be. This is because not a lot of people like jostling for space among the masses on busy streets, or having to wait a half an hour (or longer) to get a table for lunch. Australia’s Sunshine Coast, one hundred kilometers north of Brisbane, in Queensland, is one of those ideal locations anyone will enjoy. It stretches for 60 kilometers, with small towns dotting its gorgeous coastline. It combines enough solitude to relax and caste your cares away, yet offers quite a few attractions worth seeing. In order to fully experience this mix, here are some great ideas that will inspire you to visit.

Pelican Waters (credit: flickr)

Outdoor Activities 

Many come to this region for its beautiful ocean and make the most of the plethora of water sports activities it has to offer. You can choose from boat tours, scuba or snorkeling sessions, or fishing trips, each catering to different levels of expertise and extent of physical exercise. Alternatively, you can just relax and enjoy the sun, sea and sand. Several beaches connect with one another and create an unbroken span. The most popular include Sunshine, Coolum and Noosa.

catching the waves (credit: flickr)

However, some people just prefer land-based fun and want to see Australia’s nature. Tee up for a round of golf amid a landscape of coastal sand dunes, go on a bike tour, hiking excursions or safaris, which will present you with the full beauty of the region. Australia is famous for the bush, a wild country to explore by buggy or in a truck similar to those found in Africa. Australian safaris don’t revolve around big game, but rather appreciating and photographing its unique environment.

Spas and Wellness

When going to a location like the Sunshine Coast, you want to relax and find as much tranquility as possible. So, why not treat yourself to some time at a wellness center? They offer an abundance of treatments, ranging from massages to facials to physical therapy, that will soothe the body and relieve your tension.

The idea behind visiting a health resort was to add something new to my holiday. After spending a day at one, I felt rejuvenated and ready to return to daily life. There are wellness centers at Peregian and Noosa Beaches and in resort towns, such as Flaxton, Mooloolaba, Caloundra and Buderim.

forests in Queensland (credit: flickr)

Classes and Workshops 

If you don’t want to waste your quality time, you can enroll in a class that will teach you new skills or develop your existing ones. This way, you stay mentally active as well, which is always good for anyone at any age. Learn how to fly a plane, make jewel mosaics, do copper foiling or work on stained glass. Such activities, maybe apart from flying, are also perfect for children when the sun is at its hottest. It’s also a great ways to keep them from becoming bored.

Pavlova with fruit (credit: flickr)

Why not take a cooking class and learn how to serve up some of Australia’s famous dishes once returning home? A fusion of Asian, Aboriginal and European cuisine, traditional food ranges from meat-based meals, like meat pies, to delicious deserts and snacks, such as vegemite on toast. There are several high-quality cooking school, like Red Hot Chilli Pepper, Life’s a Feast and Kitchen Carnivale, hosted by famous chefs who are eager to share their cooking secrets and tricks with you. Find out how to enhance food with special spices and pick up great techniques of preparing food. In the end, you’ll become the gourmet you’ve always wanted to be.

Nature and Parks

For more outdoor types of vacationers, the Sunshine Coast also includes various parks to explore and go beyond the conventional idea of a “walk in the park”.

Kondalilla Falls (credit: flick)

Kondalilla National Park, located 90 kilometers north of Brisbane, for example, provides visitors with free admission to majestic waterfalls and two hiking trails. It boasts rich flora and fauna, with more than one hundred bird species and rare plants that exist nowhere else on the planet. Australia Zoo, on the other hand, includes a similar, yet more controlled kind of exposure to nature. Founded by the parents of the late Steve Irwin, this family-run zoo – soon to be in the hands of his daughter – is a home to over a thousand animals, from koalas, wombats and kangaroos to elephants, tigers and crocodiles.

Additional Choices

Coolum Beach (credit: flickr)

The region has plenty of more options to entertain you: amusement and water parks, such as Aussie World, Escape Room Oz in Colundra, located on the southern part of the Coast, and Aqua Fun Park at Coolum Beach. Along with religious sites, like the Buddhist Chenrezig Institute, there are enough theaters, cinemas and museums for the lovers of culture, or, alternatively, enough night clubs for party people. It’s up to you how you choose to enjoy Australia’s Sunshine Coast.