Noosa River Northern Queensland Media Man Australia

Noosa River

Noosa Heads, part of the Noosa district, is a small, wealthy, coastal settlement, located about 100 minutes' drive north of Brisbane. It is known for its beautiful beaches and nearby rocky headlands covered in lush forest. The Noosa River forms one boundary of the town, the headlands of the Noosa National Park another. Behind is Noosaville and Noosa Junction (these urban areas run into each other).

Roads

Noosa Heads is the tourist heart of Noosa district, with many restaurants and hotels. The main street is Hastings Street, which lies directly behind the seashore. The shire's tourism exponentially grew shortly after the second world war, when gold miners from Gympie took vacation in the Noosa Shire. Evidently, roads around Noosa are named after Gympie landmarks. Such roads include Gympie Terrace and Mary Street. By the mid-1990s, Noosa Heads had flourished into a well-known tourist destination, marked both by domestic and international travel guides.

De-Urbanism

Noosa's expanding network of roads have a growing number of roundabouts. These traffic alternatives to traffic lights have become a well-known trademark in the Noosa Shire. There are only three sets of traffic lights in Noosa and the Shire Council stands by its roundabout policy to minimise urbanism. Another course of action taken by the Shire Council, to minimise the possibility of an urban Noosa, is building restrictions. With the exception of the Sheraton Hotel, no building in the Noosa shire is to be built with four floors or more. On top of this, a population cap has been endorsed to slow down Noosa's growing shire.

Surf

Noosa Heads' main attraction is its beaches. Its main beach and its small bays around the headland are common surfing locations which are known on world surfing circuits. One of its major surfing contests involves the Noosa Festival of Surfing. This festival attracts large numbers of longboarders.

Annual Events

Noosa's major events throughout the year include the Noosa Festival of Surfing, Rock'n Tewantin, Noosa Long Weekend, Noosa Triathlon and Pomona's King of the Mountain. The Noosa 'Long Weekend' actually runs for ten days where several cultural activities are celebrated throughout the ten days. Such drawn-out festivals give Noosa a laid-back atmosphere and is also a product of it being a holiday destination. The people of Noosa are commonly regarded as relaxed when compared to neighbouring shires. It is said that new citizens of Noosa take a long time to adjust to Noosa's efficiency in doing anything.

Noosa Heads hosts a population of koalas, which are often seen in and around Noosa National Park. Koalas are present all year around.

Noosa Heads is the main centre in the Noosa district. (Credit: Wikipedia).

News

Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson's Noosa island hideaway conversion begins, by Glenis Green - 27th January 2008
(Credit: The Courier-Mail)

FIVE years after buying Noosa's only privately owned island, Virgin Group chief Sir Richard Branson has started building his dream Balinese-style retreat.

Situated in a broad stretch of the Noosa River just upstream from Tewantin on the Sunshine Coast, the leafy 9.2 ha Makepeace Island is accessible only by boat.

Noosa Shire forced the Virgin boss to rein in ambitious plans for the island, which included camping grounds and treehouses.

The approved plan, Noosa council land use manager Shane Adamson says, is for an original Queenslander house to serve as the nucleus for a wholesale rebuilding project, with a main long house, pavilion-style bedroom wings, boat house, tennis court and lagoon-style pool.

The original house had been the home of artist Brian Spencer and his wife, Beverley, since 1980 before they listed it for sale in 1997.

Virgin Blue executives Brett Godfrey and Rob Sherrard bought the island for about $3 million five years ago before selling it to Branson.

Makepeace was first owned by Mr and Mrs Charles Nicholas, who built the Queenslander in 1924.

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