Introduction
Today's BEACH LIFE post is technically not about a beach, but the featured photos show beautiful views of some of the beaches of the Sunshine Coast, so I decided it still qualifies as a suitable post for my BEACH LIFE series.
Since starting the BEACH LIFE series, I have started exercising a whole lot more each day which is great added bonus to doing the post series. As I have been walking more, I am rediscovering my love for walking, adventuring and exploring, plus it is improving my fitness, health and general well-being.
Recently I have predominantly been doing beach walks, so I decided it was time to do a walk that is a little more challenging, so I did a bushwalk up Mount Coolum instead. When I lived in New Zealand, I used to do bushwalks and runs most weekends. After marriage and kids, I have done less and less over the years, but that has just changed. I have found my passion again and my daughters are getting to an age where they may even enjoy coming with me.
The Mountain
Mount Coolum is a uniquely dome-shaped mountain that has a summit which is 208m above sea-level. From the top of the mountain you get to enjoy a wonderful 360 degree view of the beaches of the Sunshine Coast from the one side and a view of rivers, farmland and hinterland properties from the other side of the mountain.
The mountain is protected by the Mount Coolum National Park. The national park also provides protection for wallum, eucalypt and paperbark trees. From time to time you may even be lucky enough to see some native Australian fauna roaming around on the mountain.
The mountain is a very popular destination for bushwalkers and fitness fanatics, who enjoy exercising outdoors and love the challenge of the steep but manageable climb to the summit of the mountain. The Sunshine Coast Council have done a great job of providing a well-maintained stone pathway from the base of the mountain, all the way up to the summit.
The Arrival
On arrival at the base of the mountain, you are greeted with a typical Sunshine Coast National Park bushland scene of eucalypt and paperbark trees, with the odd grass tree among the other trees. Like all of the national parks of the Sunshine Coast, the Mount Coolum National Park is well-signed and has an information board that you can read on your arrival.
The information board provides a basic map of the national park, with additional snippets of useful information about the history, fauna and flora of the national park.
The pathway starts off with a very gentle slope. I always find this initial part of the bushwalk is a great time to do your stretches to warm up your muscles for the challenge that awaits you. If you like to listen to music while bushwalking, then it is also a good time to select you ideal playlist to motivate you during your climb.
The Climb
The pathway quickly transitions to a stone pathway, this stone pathway continues for the remainder of the walk all the way up to the summit of the mountain. At this point the elevation of the walk increases slightly, but it still quite gradual. Hopefully by this point you are warmed up and you have your playlist sorted and ready to go.
When I was younger and fitter I used to love plugging in my high tempo music and running up Mount Coolum. Now that I am a bit older with dodgier knees and ankles, walking is more up my alley, so instead of high temp music, I decided to listen to an audio book instead.
There are many ways to enjoy your bushwalk, I walked passed a number of people who were not plugged into technology, who were walking the mountain barefoot and taking in the sounds of nature. I may try this approach some time in the future, it must be quite a grounding experience.
The stone pathway presents you with its first steps, but again they are very manageable and fairly spaced a part. I will admit however that my heart rate started to elevate at this point of the walk, I soon realised that this walk was going to be quite a bit more challenging than the beach walks I have been doing.
In my defense, I have also just recently recovered from a five week long bout of bronchitis, so my lung function is definitely not at its all time best. However that may also just be an excuse for me being very unfit.
From this point onwards, things get very interesting very quickly and the elevation of the stairs increases dramatically. However, as you will see when you scroll through the next few photos, the stone pathway is very well managed and quite easy to find a place to step with a solid footing. A couple years ago I fractured my ankle playing soccer, I am still currently awaiting a surgical procedure as my ankle has not fully healed or recovered. The reason I share that bit of information with you is to give you confidence that even someone with a bung ankle is able to manage this walk, so please do not be too intimated when you scroll through the photos and see how steep pathway becomes.
There are times when the pathway gets very busy with people moving up and down the mountain at different speeds. At most points of the journey there is more than adequate space to pass each other safely. However there are some sections as it gets steeper that the pathway narrows, fortunately the council have provided a solution for this. At certain key sections of the bushwalk there are areas where you can step off the pathway to move out of someone's way or even to take a moment to have a breather before you proceed further.
There also seems to be a common etiquette that the walkers and runners follow, giving way to the those who are coming up the mountain as it is much more taxing walking uphill and some people just need to keep their momentum, because if they stop it would be very difficult for them to find the energy to keep going.
The View
The reward at the top of the mountain is totally worth it and you quickly forget the pain your experienced during the climb. The views of the Sunshine Coast Beaches are sensational and because the ocean is to the east off the Sunshine Coast, if you time you climb correctly you will get to enjoy a beautiful sunrise over the ocean at the summit.
As you can see from the photo below, I was a bit to late to catch the sunrise, but next time I will make sure I will check the sunrise times before I go so that I can capture the beauty of a sunrise for you to see.
The great thing about the summit is that it provides 360 degree views, so if you are not an early rise and prefer to do your bushwalks when it is cooler in the evening, then you can time your walk to witness the sunset over the hinterland too.
I guess that means that I will need to do an evening walk in the not to distance future too. I have been on the summit at sunrise in the past, but I have not been on the summit at sunset, so it will be a new experience for me too.
Conclusion
I know I am very biased, but I really do think that the Sunshine Coast and all it has to offer is a slice of paradise. My family and I absolutely love living here. At times we have taken it a bit for granted and not explored enough or adventured enough in our own backyard, but recently this BEACH LIFE series has really changed that and I am commit to making this our new normal as a family.
Please have your say in the comments below, share your thoughts and if there is a location on the Sunshine Coast or even South East Queensland in general that you would like featured in a post, please let me know. I might not get to your location suggestion immediately, but I will add it to my personal #haveyoubeenhere list and I'll eventually get there and write a post about it.
