Sunshine Coast, Queensland

The Sunshine Coast is a region in Queensland along the east coast of Australia that extends from Caloundra near Brisbane north to the Great Sandy National Park. It is known for its surf spots and beaches and includes the towns of Coolum Beach, Eumundi, and Maroochydore. The region also includes the Glass House Mountains, a group of thirteen volcanic peaks surrounded by coastal plain. The Sunshine Coast is a tourist destination because of its natural beauty and recreation opportunities. Numerous national parks protect the vulnerable land and water as well as many threatened and endangered animals. The largest loggerhead turtle rookery in the South Pacific, for example, is at Mon Repos Beach near Bundaberg. The area is also known for its agriculture, which included pineapple farms in the shadows of the Glass House Mountains. Fields of sugarcane surround Bundaberg, home to a renowned rum distillery. The area is home to groups of Aboriginal Australians whose ancestors have lived there for thousands of years.

Background

The island continent of Australia has been inhabited by humans for about thirty thousand years. The Aboriginal people, who numbered about three hundred thousand in the eighteenth century, were mostly nomadic hunter-gatherers. European explorers arrived during the eighteenth century. In 1770, Captain James Cook of the British Royal Navy surveyed the eastern part of the continent and claimed it for King George III. In the eighteenth century, the British government had been sending convicts to the American colonies, but after the American Revolution, that avenue closed. Joseph Banks, a scientist who accompanied Cook, recommended Botany Bay, Australia, as a site for a penal colony. The British government approved the idea and the first fleet transporting convicts delivered 1,500 people—about half who were convicts—to Australia in January 1788. Captain Arthur Phillip of the Royal Navy rejected Botany Bay and instead established the settlement further south at Sydney Cove. On February 7, 1788, the colony was formally designated New South Wales. Over the course of six decades, about 160,000 prisoners were shipped from Britain to Australia. The penal colonies established agriculture, including sheep and wool, and other forms of economic development that supported later generations, expanding settlements primarily along the coasts. Development reached into the Glass House Mountains region, where forests were felled to clear the land for farming and grazing.

The traditional owners of the Sunshine Coast were the Kabi Kabi (Gubi Gubi) and Jinibara people. The Jinibaras’ native title area, or the traditional lands of their people, are further inland and include land in and around the Glass House Mountains; while the native title areas of the Kabi Kabi people are coastal, with a traditional land area from about 93 miles (150 kilometers) north of Noosa to 62 miles (100 kilometers) south of the municipality. The Jinibara, who are known as the mountain people, refer to their coastal neighbors as the saltwater people.

The Jinibara had several permanent camps in their territories, where they would live while using the natural resources in the area or for ceremonial reasons. Members of the group all received specialized roles in society when they were initiated as adults; these roles might entail acquiring a particular food or making utensils, weapons, or clothing. The Kabi Kabi would attend Jinibara festivals, and members of both groups might attend gatherings in other traditional countries. The Kabi Kabi cohosted the Bunya nut festival for thousands of years. It served as both a social gathering and a time to harvest the football-sized nuts in the forests. Various peoples also traded with one another and granted each other permission to travel through the regions by traditional pathways.

Overview

The Sunshine Coast is located in Queensland, which is known as the Sunshine State. Queensland earned this nickname because it has both tropical and sub-tropical climates and a bounty of beaches. The state is also adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef, which draws many tourists to the area, and is a debarkation point for other visitors’ sites as well. Queensland averages three hundred sunny days a year and between eight and nine hours of sunshine a day. The average maximum temperature is about 77 Fahrenheit (25 Celsius), while the average minimum is about 61 Fahrenheit (16 Celsius).

Among the most famous and most photographed beaches in Australia is Whitehaven Beach, which stretches more than 4 miles (7 kilometers) along Whitsunday Islands and the Whitsunday Islands National Park. The island is located in the center of the Great Barrier Reef and is an eco-friendly destination. The beach sand is 98 percent pure white silica. Visitors arrive by boat, helicopter, and seaplane. The waters off the Sunshine Coast are home to whales and dolphins, among other sea creatures. Visitors take boat cruises or go snorkeling or diving to view them up close.

Another popular destination is the Daintree Rainforest, which has numerous aerial walkways and viewing platforms to allow visitors to explore the rainforest at all levels. Saltwater crocodiles lie in wait in the Daintree River, while elsewhere in the forest and national park endangered cassowaries, flightless birds about 6.5 feet (2 meters) tall, forage for fallen fruits on the forest floor. Other endangered and vulnerable species of the Sunshine Coast include the southern gastric brooding frog, the regent honeyeater bird, swift parrot, ground parrot, Australian fritillary butterfly, loggerhead turtle, and the leatherback turtle.

The Glass House Mountains are the remnants of intrusive magma plugs that filled volcanic shafts about twenty-five million years ago. The molten rock hardened in the vents, becoming trachyte and rhyolite. Over the millions of years since, erosion has removed the softer sandstone and the remnants of the volcanic cones. The hard rocks that remain rise up from the flat terrain. The mountains were an important meeting and trading place for Aboriginal peoples, with many ceremonial sites that are still used today.

In addition to the Great Barrier Reef, the Sunshine Coast is also home to the largest artificial reef in Australia. Located at Hervey Bay in the Fraser Coast region of Queensland, it covers more than fifty underwater sites. A rich diversity of creatures can be found in these waters. Visitors can stroll from beach to beach via the esplanade, a 9-mile (14-kilometer) walkway around the bay. Like most beaches of the Sunshine Coast, these are known for their clarity and relatively calm waters.

Bibliography

“Early History.” Sunshine Coast Council, 2024, heritage.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/Indigenous/Early-History. Accessed 5 Dec. 2024.

“Glass House Mountains National Park.” Queensland Government, 2020, parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/glass-house-mountains/about/culture. Accessed 5 Nov. 2020.

“History of Australia.” One World Nations Online, 2017, www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/History/Australia-history.htm. Accessed 5 Dec. 2024.

Madden, Kris. “Guide to the Daintree Rainforest.” Tourism Australia, 2024, www.australia.com/en-us/places/cairns-and-surrounds/guide-to-the-daintree-rainforest.html. Accessed 5 Dec. 2024.

Oliver, Roxana. “5 Reasons Queensland Is Called the Sunshine State.” Travelnuity, 4 Apr. 2023, www.travelnuity.com/queensland-sunshine-state/. Accessed 5 Dec. 2024.

“Our Custodians.” Noosa, 2020, www.visitnoosa.com.au/our-custodians. Accessed 5 Dec. 2024.

Williams, Stephanie. “Guide to the Sunshine Coast.” Tourism Australia, 2020, www.australia.com/en-us/places/brisbane-and-surrounds/guide-to-the-sunshine-coast.html. Accessed 5 Dec. 2024.