Anyone who has been to Maroochydore to either stay or just to use the local Sunshine Coast Airport would have seen a towering steep hill called Mount Coolum, just to the north over the river.  Mount Coolum is 208m high and you climb every single step and some our quite steep.  It is a hot and hard-going climb but the 360 degree view from the top is grand and the cool coastal breeze is a welcome relief.

Great views extend over Noosa to the north and to the south the view extends over the low lands and coast past Mooloolaba, with Bribie Island and Cape Moreton on the horizon.    To the southwest the craggy volcanic peak of Mount Beerwah and the Glass House Mountains stand imposingly above the pine and eucalypt forests.

It is not just the views which made the walk worthwhile, the mounts Peregrine Falcons glide effortlessly past on the updrafts surveying the hill.  These masters of the skies are fantastic.  Just as my host goes to grab the camera the pair make a minute adjustment to their long wings and have dived and are now cruising over the wetlands to the west in only a matter of seconds! 

Fortunately the mount and wetlands below protect many species and ecosystems that have largely disappeared from the Sunshine Coast since the days of the indigenous Gubbi Gubbi people.  To them, Mount Coolum is significant and features stories about the way the landscape was formed.

We wore sandals on our feet which I wouldn’t advise, however the walk would take the average experienced walker 20-30 minutes to the ‘summit’.  You can get good views half way up and only confident walkers should go right to the top.