Noosa Woods, Tanglewood Track, Laguna Lookout and urban jungle

This final post from my visit to Noosa comprises of images and activities over a number of days during my visit, activities that perhaps didn’t warrant a post of their own but are still worth sharing.

Plant life and greenery abounds by the main roads around Noosa
Plant life and greenery abounds by the main roads around Noosa

Urban Jungle

Noosa is a botanist’s paradise, with dense vegetation colourful flowers growing everywhere, including on the verges of some of the main roads around town. Footpaths are generally placed back from the road, winding through shady glades and even patches of urban jungle.

Colourful plant life growing around Noosa

Some of the plants, like the ubiquitous poinciana trees with their red flowers, I recognised from my travels in SE Asia. Others, like banksia and grass trees, are familiar across most of Australia. But many were quite unfamiliar to me – please feel free to illuminate me in the comments if you recognise them.

Jungle growing around Noosa
Jungle growing around Noosa
Plants growing around Noosa
These purple flowers were growing almost everywhere
Flowers growing almost everywhere around Noosa

Laguna Lookout

A short distance up Noosa Hill from either Noosa Junction or Main Beach is Laguna Lookout, offering views across the town, river and heads.

Noosa Heads and Sound from Laguna Lookout
Noosa from Laguna Lookout
Noosa Woods from Laguna Lookout
Noosa Sound from Laguna Lookout
Noosa River from Laguna Lookout
Noosa Main Beach from Laguna Lookout

Noosa Woods

Keep walking along the chintzy commercialism of Hastings Street and you’ll find Noosa Woods, a reserve of waterfront parkland and tracks that lead around the Sound and out to the mouth of the river at the end of Main Beach.

Pathway around the Sound at Noosa Woods
Pathway around the Sound at Noosa Woods
The Sound from Noosa Woods
Noosa Heads on a summer weekend
Mouth of the Noosa River
Main Beach from Noosa Woods
Pretentious nomenclature is by no means limited to Maroochydore – there is plenty around Noosa.

Sunset over Noosa Waters

Probably the most spectacular sunset of my stay. No filters were used.

Tanglewood Track

Once my angle was back to its usual robust self, I took some more walks. My favourite was the one I took through the Noosa National Park (having already completed the Coastal Track early in my visit).

Banksia in Noosa National Park

From the main visitor centre in the park I firstly walked the short Rainforest Track, a short circle of a kilometre or so. By then I was just warmed up, so headed off again along the Tanglewood Track, which leads from the visitor centre to the point at Hell’s Gates, through a variety of landscapes.

Grass trees in the Noosa National Park
The Tanglewood Track winds through the Noosa National Park
The Tanglewood Track is in the Noosa National Park
Noosa National Park
Hells Gates, Noosa National Park

There are plenty of options to take shorter walks to Noosa Junction or Sunshine Beach but I chose to walk all the way back out to the headland at Hell’s Gates. From here I could have headed south along the wide stretch of sand at Alexandria Bay, but I decided to head back along the Coastal Track to Main Beach, the opposite direction to which I’d walked previously.

Hells Gates and Alexandria Bay, Noosa National Park
Coastal Track near Hell’s Gates, Noosa National Park
Coastal Track near Hell’s Gates, Noosa National Park
Winch Cove, Noosa National Park

All up I enjoyed a wonderful couple of weeks in Noosa, and in delightful and very comfortable circumstances. It’s not somewhere that I had ever considered visiting, but having the time to explore as well as relax and get to know the area on its own terms was rewarding.

MAP

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