Australia’s Nature Coast - Food

Here on the Sunshine Coast, just 60 minutes north of Brisbane, we’ve always been blessed with an abundance of natural food resources, dating back to our first peoples the Kabi Kabi and Jinibarra peoples who walked these lands thousands of years ago!  

In fact, although Aboriginal Tribes were known for their nomadic ways, our first peoples had no need to roam, the natural resources here were plentiful and our ancestors were fortunate to be well catered for.
 

Today, our Sunshine Coast Food Trail can connect you with over 400 food experiences dotted all around our region!  Simply jump on to your phone, follow the link and tick what food experiences you’d like to taste. This site will prepare an itinerary especially for you, complete with maps and driving times.    All sorts of food experiences are on our trail menu, just make sure you leave yourself with enough time to enjoy them all.  At least 2 nights should do it!   

For a sensory explosion why not team up your food trail tour with some of our exquisite luxury lodges and escapes, also dotted around the region. 

If you’d prefer a guided tour, then let us tell you about Live-it Tours! 

This is not just another tour! No, this tour offers authentic Australian bush food secrets, a behind the scenes visit to renowned local Chef Peter Wolfe, an expert in bush food and the importance of flora and fauna to the indigenous Australian Culture. 

Lemon myrtle, macadamia (bunya) bush spice and bush salad dressing, on this tour, we’ll shock your taste buds with a variety of seasonal bush foods that you can taste, touch and smell.  Here, our sweets are sweeter and our sours are sourer, but that’s all part of the magic.     
 

You’ll also get an opportunity to visit Eumundi (named after an Aboriginal Chieftain) Markets, with over 600 stalls, the largest food and artisan markets in Australia – and one of the most sustainable! Open Wednesdays and Saturdays.

For 30 years, this market’s mantra has been “make it, bake it, grow it, sew it” and each year it welcomes around 1.6 million visitors.  

Meet local growers and farmers and sample some very unique tastes – camel milk coffee, fresh organic produce, marinades and sauces, cheeses and baked goods, freshly squeezed juices, ice-creams, nuts, seeds, herbs, olives and tasty tapenades.  And that’s just the food – the artisan products are just as fabulous. 
 

If you’re self driving, other markets that you might like to visit include – Caloundra Steet Fair and Noosa Farmers Markets.

For a beautiful Australian “country” overnight option, you might like to consider Mary Valley Country.  Both Amamoor Lodge and Melawondi Spring Retreat come highly recommended by our visitors for their beautiful ambience and delicious country breakfasts.   Oh – and if you’re feeling particularly fit – get them to show you where our elusive platypus are hiding.  

They’re close by but you might need a kayak!

Itching to get your “aussie barbecue”on?     

Head to Mooloolaba, home to Australia’s iconic “Mooloolaba Prawn” an Australian icon.    Locals know to head straight to the fish markets at The Spit for some of the freshest and most succulent prawns you’ll ever taste!

Fresh fish and seafood are another of our “things” here in Queensland and in Mooloolaba you can even “catch and cook –your-own”.   Sunshine Coast Afloat deep sea fishing charters not only almost guarantee a great catch – but on your trip back to Mooloolaba, they’ll cook it up for you too.  

For a novel fishing experience, kayak fishing is also an option if you’re feeling fit. Alternatively, head to our free barbecue areas, dotted all round the coast and get that “shrimp on the barby”.   The yummiest cooking smells will guide you to all the best cooking spots! 

And, you can’t have food without something to wash it down with can you.   So, how about a craft beer?  Coincidentally – we have 13 breweries to choose from, dotted all around the coast so there is always a craft brewery and specialty ales close by!

For those wanting more of a cooking challenge why not head for The Cooking School in Noosa.  Award-winning restaurant Wasabi offers exclusive classes with their own Chefs and guest chefs from around Australia.  It is Noosa’s only luxury purpose built cooking school.

Located on the Noosa River, this luxuriously appointed, state-of-the-art kitchen, sources its seasonally focussed menu from their own farm, aptly named “Honeysuckle” or from the local farmers markets.  

Classes are for everyone – from novice cooks  unfamiliar with a kitchen, to expert home cooks who know their way around.  Food, friends and views – perfect!

If you’re self driving, why not incorporate the Sunshine Coast Food Trail into your plans as you head further north towards Fraser Island (K’Gari).   You can also follow the Noosa Country Food Trail and if heading towards Rainbow Beach, the Gympie Gold Food Trail could also be a great option for you.  The strawberry lemonade at Cooloola Berries is fabulous!  

And that’s just the start ...

You’re spoilt for choice with dining options in Noosa!  Several hatted restaurants and many more award winning cafes and eateries can be found here.  The Sunshine Coast has several different eating precincts but in Noosa, you might like to head to Hastings Street or nearby Quamby Place, Noosaville or Gympie Terrace – all offer wonderful dining choices.

And you can’t come this far without at least trying The Boathouse, located on the water at nearby Gympie Terrace, multiple winner of the best restaurant award at the Queensland Tourism Awards!

If choosing to overnight further north, have we got an idea for you!

Why not let us build you, your very own campsite, complete with fantastic views of World Heritage listed Fraser Island (K’Gari).

We’ll set you up on stunning white sandy beaches and surround you with lush National Parks, all you have to do is arrive and Ultimate Beach Camping will take care of the rest!

Sound good?

Some call it glamping but we just think of it as a great Australian camping experience.  On arrival, your campsite will be waiting for you, complete with bedding, private toilet and shower.   Choose to cook your own meals or, we’ll have a fresh seafood platter delivered to you (and we know a great local source for fresh seafood).

This is real Australia and you owe it to yourself to lay back and just enjoy!    The night skies here have to be seen to be believed and best of all, our footprint is minimal, so,  once we’ve packed down for you, you’d never even know we were there. 

And that’s just how we like it here!

Hervey Bay, at the top end of your Australia’s Nature Coast journey is not only the Whale Watch Capital of Australia, but also the home of Australian Fishing, with more than double the species of fish found anywhere else in the country!  

Thanks to the protection afforded by Fraser Island, The Great Sandy Strait, between Fraser Island and the mainland, provides one of Australia's largest seagrass beds, acting as a nursery for many larger fish species, and a feeding ground for fish and prawns.   

For those of you that just love fresh seafood, check out the Hervey Bay Seafood Festival in August each year!   And as for our iconic Hervey Bay scallops, they are sought after by connoisseurs all over the world for their texture and flavour!

With some of the best sport and game, sheltered beach and deep sea fishing to be found in Australia and catches like flathead, threadfin salmon, queenfish, black marlin and golden trevally our choice of fishing is impressive – we are the only place in the country where keen anglers can catch all 3 of Australia’s iconic sports fish – bass, bream and our legendary barramundi!

If you’re in to great fishing and just itching to flick a lure, let us introduce you to Fraser Guide Fishing.  These local and very knowledgeable guides promise you a fishing tour full of screaming drags and racing heart beats.  Charter tours are also available.

World class fishing is not just limited to those with boats; Hervey Bay’s calm foreshore produces good numbers of fish in season and those in the know tell us that it can be fished with success during the early morning or late afternoon or, for those chasing the bigger fish at night.

And, if yours is the one that “got away” don’t worry,  Hervey Bay’s long and bustling esplanade is just littered with cafes and restaurants to choose from.   Enzo’s on the Beach and Aquavue Cafe are so close to the water that could even get your feet wet and if it’s a marina experience you’re after, Cafe Balena gets great reviews.

And for a catch and cook option, the Vineyard Restaurant, ranked #1 out of 190 restaurants by Trip Advisor, will cook it up for you!

Alternatively, you shouldn’t come to Hervey Bay without at least one visit to Coast Restaurant.  With a menu firmly featuring local produce, we are told that if LOVE was edible, this is what it would taste like.

In season (spring and winter), Fraser Island has some of the best beach fishing in Australia.

Each year thousands of serious anglers head for the island in search of tailor but also whiting, dart, bream and other species that are caught off its Seventy Five Mile Beach.  Eurong Beach Resort, on Fraser Island is the perfect beach base and just five minutes’ walk from 75 mile beach!

Fishing experts also recommend the western side of the island famous for its great golden trevally fishing. Featuring small creeks, mangrove lined banks and plenty of beach fishing opportunities, the western side is well worth exploring at anytime of the year.  

But if you’re simply looking for a great beach backdrop and sumptuous food, head for Kingfisher Bay Eco Resort, also located on Fraser Island. 

Apart from scenic tours, wildlife encounters and an eco-resort that’s just celebrated its silver anniversary, Kingfisher Bay Eco Resort also boasts the award winning Sea Belle Restaurant, for an exclusive range of authentic aboriginal bush tucker.  The taste combinations in this restaurant are a must for those that love good food!

Want to know more?

As Australia develops its own modern cuisine, the use of bush tucker to enhance flavour is becoming increasingly popular.  So, sign up for Kingfisher Bay Eco Resort’s Tastes of Australia program and experience the unique tastes and colours of our native bush tucker ingredients.

This program is presented to you by the Resort’s Ranger who will show you how to “forage” and the Resort’s Chef who will demonstrate how to use these tongue tingling tastes.

Nibble on native berries just bursting with flavour or the refreshing citrus of lemon myrtle, you’ll also be shown how to pair these native ingredients with a selection of exotic Australian meats.

The list of bush foods to be found on Fraser Island (K’Gari) is endless!   Just make sure that you give yourself enough time on the island to really enjoy finding them.