About Noosa

Australia, Queensland, Noosa

Noosa Heads, Qld, 26.40^oS, 153.09^oE

Noosa is ideally placed on Queensland’s coast around 136 kilometres or about an hour’s drive from Brisbane, at the northern end of the Sunshine Coast where the Noosa River spills into scenic Laguna Bay.  Quieter and more family friendly than Queensland’s other famous coastal resort, the Gold Coast, Noosa has many attractions for visitors to one of Australia’s premier resort towns.

Popular with tourists, sun, surf and glorious weather attract visitors from around the world especially those from cooler regions.

Weather

Perhaps you’ve heard the comment about Queensland’s weather:  “beautiful one day, perfect the next”, well, in Noosa the weather is at its most perfect.  Sheltered from ocean storms rolling in from the east by a range of hills, Noosa enjoys ?? days of sunshine compared with ?? days of rain.

While rain and warm weather are responsible for the lush and colourful vegetation in the area, most of the rain falls in the wet season, which is also the hottest months of the year.

Beaches

You will be spoiled for choice in and around Noosa!

Check out beaches under ‘Places to Go’ and choose one that suits your preferred activity for the day.

History

First known inhabitants
The Dalla people have been identified as the first known inhabitants of the area from Redcliffe (now a northern suburb of Brisbane) to the Noosa River, and west to Nambour and Cooroy, along with the Kabi-Kabi people (north from Tewantin).  These people enjoyed the abundant wildlife in the area, from seafood to bush turkeys, wallabies, emus and kangaroo.

First visitors
Expeditions left from Brisbane in 1842 with a view to exploiting the abundant timber in the area.  The timber rush started in 1865 and the Gympie gold rush in 1867.  When the farmer-settlers arrived the face of the land changed forever.

First settlement
Clearing the land was a slow and painful process:  leech and mosquito infested swamps; jungle and rain-forest swarming with snakes, stinging caterpillars, stinging trees and sharp canes;   and sand flies abounded.

As water provided the easiest means of transport, the first-comers settled along the rivers and lakes.

By 1870 there was a township with Tewantin as the port.

Popular with tourists, especially those from the cooler regions of southern areas of Australia, the town has been the site of many tussles over the years between developers and those seeking to preserve the town.

In 1951 Hastings Street was a dusty track fringed on the beach side by casuarinas and on the other by blossoming tea trees.  Now Hastings Street deserves its reputation as a shoppers’ paradise with high-end boutiques mingling with cafes and restaurants.

In 1988 Noosa was renamed Noosa Heads.