A beautiful green valley, amazing rich green rainforest with varieties of birds and animals, villages of artisans, a group of mountains overlooking the sea—sounds amazing, doesn’t it? Sounds like the dream of a nature lover who wants to be lost in its riches for a few days, becoming one with it. As the renowned storyteller Hans Christian Andersen once said, ‘Just living is not enough… one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower’ we believe surviving (real work, eat and sleep!) is not fulfilling enough for a person, one must travel in order to find themselves.
So where can you find that rolling green valley, with the rainforest with small creatures you can make friends with, the mountains that has a cool aboriginal legend that makes your mind wander? Yes, the good news is its right here on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, the little town of Maleny.
Maleny is a former timber town turned into a tourist attraction perched high on the Blackall range, but still famous for its woodworks created by local artists. Near to the Mary Cairncross Reserve Park, the Obi Obi Creek and Gardner’s Falls, the fabled village of artisans Montville—Maleny is the ideal vacation destination for the tree huggers. As a bonus, travellers and tourists can visit the numbers of art galleries and wineries, the cheese factories and dairy farms in Maleny and nearby areas.
The Mary Cairncross Reserve Park is a picturesque conservation park famous for its reservation of birds. There are 139 recorded species of birds that live there. Among the animals, the colony of Red-legged Pademelons are notable, which are habituated to human disturbance. Pademelons are considered to be an unusual feature of the Reserve. The streams around the Reserve contain noteworthy frog species, a rare Spiny Crayfish and other wildlife which depend on high water quality. It should also be noted that Mary Cairncross is one of only a few confirmed breeding habitats for the southern subspecies of Pink Underwing Moth. Among other significant fauna are: The Rainforest Gardener or the Brush Turkey, Great Barred Frog, Southern Angle-Headed Dragon, Red-Bellied Black Snake, Marbled Frogmouth bird etc.
Among the most precious plants in the reserve, the mentionable ones are: Black apple – Bleeding heart, Blue Quandong, Carronia vine, Cunjevoi, Native ginger, Red cedar, Red lilly-pilly, Roseleaf raspberry etc. A good amount of Black Bean, Yellow Carrabeen, White Beech, Tulip Oak and very large Strangling Figs are scattered among the rich distribution of rainforest trees. Piccabeen Palms are more dominant in the wet areas of the forest.
We are guessing you already started planning your trip to Maleny! A number of BnB, boutique hotels and motels offer accommodation in Maleny. Adding with the luxurious hotels with astounding views of the countryside, you can also have amazing food here. The town has Italian and thai restaurants, café and cheese places.
The perfect place for you to stay at would be Top of the Hill, situated in the hillside of 2.3 hector property with six well appointed cabins containing a private deck and spa baths each. You can look at the cattle dotted green valley from your cabin as well as the shower, and enjoy room delivered food or take a short drive to go to the restaurants yourself. The hosts at Top of the Hill will make your stay as comfortable as you feel at your own home, and you will definitely enjoy the delicious breakfast there. One vacationer says
“What a beautiful place to stay! We spent three totally relaxing nights at this lovely accommodation and couldn’t have been happier. The breakfast is awesome (especially the breakfast sausage) and the hosts Trish and Chris make you feel at home from the very beginning. If you are exploring this part of the world (which you should as it is beautiful) then I recommend staying here.”
Feeling intrigued? With the beautiful places like Mary Cairncross Park, Gardner’s Falls and Montville only minutes away, Top of the Hill is the perfect place to escape from reality for a few vacation days.
So do not hesitate, and grab your gear for the weekend. You are going to have a great time at Top of the Hill!
