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Maleny ~ Queensland
Maleny is a small town in the Blackall Ranges, 95 kilometres north of Brisbane. It is surrounded by rolling hills, dairy farms and rainforests and has stunning views. This quaint little town in the Sunshine Coast hinterland is a popular day trip and holiday destination.
The highlights of our recent visit to Maleny were exploring the town centre, including the Maleny Chocolate Shop and Maleny Food Co., Discovering the Maleny Cheese Factory, Gardners Falls, the Maleny Botanic Garden, and Birdworld. We also enjoyed wandering through the Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve, the views from Gerrard's Lookout and looking for platypus on the Maleny walk. We also visited Baroon Pocket Dam and took a short walk to the Obi Obi Creek.
The town centre has a great selection of cafes, bookshops, boutiques and other interesting shops to browse in.
You will find the Maleny Chocolate shop behind the main street, down the Rainforest Plaza stairs. You can watch the chocolates being made, sample some chocolate and choose from the fantastic range of delicious handcrafted chocolates. From rich dark chocolates infused with native Australian ingredients to creamy milk chocolates with honeycomb or caramel, Maleny Chocolate has something for everyone.
In the middle of Maple Street, you will find Maleny Food Co, an artisan food producer with award-winning gelato, delicious coffee, a well-stocked fromagerie full of gourmet cheeses and other local produce from around the region.
Located 5 kilometres from Maleny, the Maleny Cheese Factory makes delicious cheese and yoghurt from locally sourced, high-quality milk from the lush hinterland pastures. At the Cheese Factory, you can see where the cheese is made, purchase cheese and local produce, indulge in a cheese platter, enjoy coffee and cake from the cafe and relax on the cow couch.
Gardners Falls is a lovely waterfall and swimming hole located five kilometres from Maleny at the end of Obi Lane South. An easy 300-metre walk through the lush natural forest leads to two small waterfalls and waterholes along the Obi Obi Creek.
Gardners Falls cascades 5 metres over a rocky ledge into a large, quite deep waterhole, which is a popular swimming spot for locals and visitors alike.
Maleny Botanic Gardens and Bird World is a stunning, privately owned garden with huge aviaries full of local and exotic birds. It is located on the outskirts of Maleny township.
There is an entrance fee to visit the gardens and tour the aviaries, and it is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 pm.
The highlights of our recent visit included the Birds Tour, a walk around the Gardens and hand-feeding the miniature animals. We then enjoyed a cheese box overlooking the Glasshouse Mountains.
The Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve is 55 hectares of subtropical rainforest with diverse animal and plant life and stunning views over the Glasshouse Mountains. You can learn about the rainforest and its inhabitants in the Discovery Centre, which has informative and interactive displays.
We then wandered along the Rainforest walk, enjoying the peace and tranquillity. This flat walking track through the rainforest combines boardwalks, well-formed dirt tracks, and bridges. Along the walk, we saw towering trees, a stunning selection of fungi, and some pademelons.
We then enjoyed Coffee and Scones in the cafe with stunning views over the Glasshouse Mountains.
Gerrard’s Lookout is 9 kilometres from Maleny along the Maleny-Montville Road on the Blackall Range. It has a car parking area and a picnic shelter, and the views are stunning, looking east towards the coast.
A silver plaque shows the direction and distances to areas including Noosa, Bribie Island and Mooloolaba. There is also a collection of padlocks attached to the fence.
The Maleny Trail starts at the Showgrounds, and we wandered 600 metres along the Obi Obi Trail into Maleny, reading the information boards and admiring the giant trees along the way.
We crossed the road and continued on the trail from the boardwalk to the Platypus viewing platform. This section is 900 metres long and passes by the Peace in the Trees Sculptures.
The Peace in the Trees sculptures are a lovely collection of sandstone sculptures by artists that explore different aspects of peace.
We then stopped at the Platypus viewing platform. Unfortunately, we didn’t see a platypus, but we did see some turtles.
Baroon Pocket Dam is located between Montville and Maleny and was built across Obi Obi Creek. The dam supplies water to the Sunshine Coast area, and when it's full, it holds 61,000 megalitres of water. The northern side recreational day-use area has picnic huts, BBQs, toilets and a swimming area.
Just before the entry to Lake Baroon, there is a car park for the Kondalilla National Park. Several walking tracks start from here, and we wandered down the 500-metre path through beautiful bushland to the Obi Obi Creek.
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