Rainforest rendezvous on the Sunshine Coast

By STEVE HART

There's claret all over my right foot as three leeches suck on the skin between my toes with the power of a vacuum cleaner. I'm standing in the middle of Caloundra's rainforest on the Sunshine Coast and our guide is politely ignoring my distress, continuing to tell us the estimated age of a tree we're standing beside.

My two children look on bemused as I hop around trying to pull the blood suckers off while they (the children) try to take in everything our guide has to say about the forest and the creatures that rely on it for food and shelter. We're in Crocodile Hunter country but there's a lot more here for tourists than Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo.

As I wipe away the last smears of red and wonder if I will suffer any lasting damage, I realise I am the only one in our group with open-toe sandals. "I've never known anyone to suffer from leeches in this forest before," said one local. Yeah, right.

I am in the Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve near a place called Maleny, a stone's throw from Caloundra's nine golden beaches and the awesome Glass House Mountains. The district is a working dairy area but is a haven for artists who create and sell their works at boutique galleries dotted along country roads.

The scenic reserve has more than 50ha of subtropical rainforest and 2.5km of boardwalks, so even someone such as me - completely unfamiliar with trekking or tramping - can get around to see wildlife, admire red cedars that are hundreds of years old and be absorbed by nature.

Our enthusiastic guide points out the red-legged pademelon, a small rainforest wallaby, as well as brush turkeys, then encourages me to listen for the sound of the catbirds which sit high in the trees. Sorry, I can't hear a thing - my brain is buzzing with the thought of more leeches. I've just found another one and it is industrial-sized.

As I put on my sandal our guide tells us that the red cedars here survived being toppled for timber as the land has been made into a reserve.

The area was given to pioneers on condition they clear it for farming. If they didn't complete the job within a year or two the land was to be taken away from them. However, this patch somehow avoided being touched - and for that, thousands of visitors every year are grateful.

Growing in popularity is an annual opera evening which is performed in a small clearing within the reserve. It's a black-tie event, which doesn't win many friends on a hot summer's day, but it is already so popular that a new venue is being sought to cater for the thousand-plus people who want to attend the next one.

This developing spot along the Sunshine Coast is not overly commercialised. It has just enough to keep tourists entertained, and with 32km of beaches there's plenty of room for everyone. But most of the action is inland. Peter Thompson, the Emu Man, farms these flightless birds for their valuable oil, which he claims has many properties which make it ideal for the skin care industry.

Thompson is a fascinating character who works his 28ha emu farm single-handed.

In a way Thompson is a modern day pioneer with his vision of developing new markets for his emu oil in cosmetics from his Tjuringa Emu Farm. And when he's not selling his home-made perfumed and coloured emu oils over the internet he gives tours of the farm.

His tour is like a stand-up comedy with facts and figures about emus and their products mixed with jokes and quickfire questions to visitors (just to check they are paying attention).

He says he has the only operational emu farm on the Sunshine Coast. It is also the base for the Tjuringa Indigenous Experience, a cultural show featuring local Aborigines.

"Aborigines have used emu oil for centuries to help in the relief of pain and stiffness in muscle joints," said Thompson. "It is also a natural skin conditioner and helps dry skin."

But a visit to the farm is not a polished, manufactured experience. Thompson's place is a developing enterprise and so still has that working farm feel about it, but there is ample car parking, a gift shop and fast food.

Thompson hopes his range of natural cosmetics will be the next big thing and says the oil is far more valuable to him than Emu meat - the reason many emu farms sprouted up in the late 1980s.

He likes to be at one with the earth. "When I was a boy we'd drink from local streams and not have a second thought about it. Nowadays we are all told not to do this, not to do that, and our body's natural defences are being stripped away."

He is a breath of fresh air in this plastic-packaged world we live in, where everything is heat-sealed and vacuum-packed for our protection.

After a hefty slice of sponge cake made with emu eggs (it tasted deliciously creamy) and a quick look at some Aborigine-carved emu eggs, I am back on the road heading for the coast. I bounce down Thompson's dirt track, leaving a trail of dust and thousands of emus behind me.

Unlike much of the Sunshine Coast, Caloundra has only a hint of commercialism found a few hundred kilometres down the road. But the smell of the tourist dollar is causing the area to evolve quickly. Land prices are rising fast as the boom starts to take effect.

In front of me is the sea, above me a sun bursting with heat, while behind me the almost village-like atmosphere of a small town and its people who are reaching for the stars. The Gold Coast it isn't, and that really is its appeal.

* Steve Hart and his family visited Caloundra as guests of Caloundra Tourism.

Getting there

Call your travel agent for flight and package deals.

Getting around

Public transport - buses and trains - are available but the local Thrifty Car rental offers good rates for independent touring along the coast and hinterland.

What to see and do

The beaches are great, swim between the flags and be careful of sharp rocks below the water line at some parts of the beach. Snorkel, jetski, take a pleasureboat ride along the coast and around Bribie Island. If the tide is right you can walk on the island and see the pelicans.

The Tjuringa Emu Experience at Maleny is worth a visit. Owner-operator Peter Thompson is an entertaining host - make notes as he will put you on the spot with questions about emus later. (Ph: 0061 5 0056 1444).

Where to eat

Breakfast at La Promenade on Caloundra's seafront is a must. I opted for the full Aussie breakfast (al fresco) which kept me going until mid-afternoon. A five-minute walk away is Alfie's fish restaurant which offers an excellent fine dining experience for around $30 a head and a menu that includes meat dishes. Highly recommended. Elsewhere are the usual array of well-priced take-aways.

Aussie World website