Road to Nirvana in Noosa

I knew nothing about Noosa before arriving there other than that it was another one of those “must-see places” along the East Coast. Luckily every single person in the town was friendly and eager to help me make the most of my days there.

Arriving by Greyhound, a bus with my hostels name — “Noosa Flashpackers” — was already waiting to pick its new guests up. The hostel was a quick two-minute drive down the road, and we were all in awe as we walked through the gates.

The best way to describe this hostel is a luxury home turned into a backpackers’ heaven right in the heart of Sunshine Beach. The first thing you notice is a tropical outdoor courtyard with sun lounges surrounding the pool. Walking into reception, everybody is hanging around the hostel as if they’ve lived there ages — clearly all feeling at home. The manager checks us all in and then enthusiastically shows us around the hostel and tells us of all the fun activities they have planned the next few days. These include “All-You-Can-Eat Pizza” on Tuesday’s, and an “Aussie Sausage Sizzle” on Friday’s. Arriving at my air-conditioned dorm room, I was grateful to find a huge locker as well as personal power points and reading lights with each bed. I also noticed a private king room next door that looked like a 5-star hotel room — a room for every travelers’ budget and needs.

I quickly got myself settled in and headed downstairs to meet with the manager of Tourism Noosa for an amazing dinner and introduction to Noosa. I was overwhelmed with the abundance of outdoor activities that could be done — paddle-boarding, surfing on one of the many famous break points, kayaking, and personal boat hires just to name a few. When I got back to the hostel, the guests were all watching one of the 1500+ movies on the 50” TV in the lounge. I sat in the room next door…the “quiet room” and took a look at all the books and instruments they had sitting around for their guests’ use before heading to sleep.

The next morning I enjoyed the free continental breakfast before setting off on my “Everglades Bar-B-Canoe Day Tour.” Being one of the two everglades systems in the world, this is definitely a tour to be done…something I will have to write about in a post of its own. The tour staff are knowledgeable of the history of Noosa, Noosa River, the subtropical rainforest surroundings, and pretty much any other questions you could think to ask about the area. Not only is this tour interesting but also getting to canoe up the river 5km with new friends followed by a rewardingly delicious BBQ lunch with choices of steak, fish, or vegetarian is such an ideal day. The landscape itself is phenomenal…sand dunes leading to Fraser island, mangroves lining the river, and wild birds perched high on the many different trees.

Arriving back in Noosa I quickly headed to the Noosa National Park for a hike before the sun set. This was the most perfect timing as it wasn’t too hot and with a storm rolling in and the sun beginning to set, the sky looked extremely dramatic and picture-perfect. Being a lover of beaches, I took to the coastal walk but noted that there were several other types of walks — uphill, through the national park, halfway through the park and halfway along the beaches, etc., and saw the note on the entrance sign mentioning where koalas had recently been spotted. Every view along the coastal walk left me wishing I had more time to do every hike in the park.

I headed back to the hostel on the free hostel shuttle bus (provided several times daily) to catch the Aussie sausage sizzle, which was also accompanied by icebreakers and drinking games to get everyone introduced to each other for a night out in town. The hostel had a bus bring us to a bar down the road for a fun night out with a lot of opportunities to win free drinks and travel excursions.

Before leaving Noosa the next morning I headed on an early hostel shuttle bus to the main beach with one of the hostels’ free surfboard rentals to try my luck catching a few waves and for a last swim before heading inland to Brisbane. A few hours later I was hopping on another Greyhound to continue my journey, once again regretting not having enough time to spend in another absolutely breathtaking and exciting little Aussie town. The hardest things for us backpackers to determine is just how much time we will want to spend in these places…my only advice would be that you can never spend too much time in one place — there will always be that one thing you love and want to see or do more of. I could sit on the rocks near the entrance to Noosa National Park that overlook the entire main beach of Noosa and the surrounding mountains all day long just admiring that view…