Travel an hour and a half north of Brisbane and you’ll reach a gem of the Sunshine Coast – Yandina.
It was the very first town in the Maroochy district and is now called the “original workers’ town” because it had all the things workers need like a railway, cattle, dairy and sugar.
Today, the old-school village vibe is still very much about with the old pub, historic buildings, antique shops and vintage clothing.
It’s also on the map for its popular Ginger Factory and Thai Cooking School Spirit House – but this hinterland town holds plenty more to discover.
Gun Cotton Coffee Roasters
Opening its doors in early 2020, Gun Cotton Coffee is run by husband-wife dup Corey and Grace Scoble.
Three days a week, Corey steps in as head roaster, roasting their premium coffee beans, on-site.
“A lot of places you can go and they are coffee roasteries but when they have their coffee roasting offsite it doesn’t give you quite that authenticity. So, it’s nice to have a small batch roaster and to have that connection,” said Grace.
It’s not just the connection that stands out here.
“A lot of roasters use Brazil because it’s quite a good broad-spectrum and it becomes really chocolatey. We don’t use Brazil to be different, we use an Uganda which gives really salted caramel notes… so it’s quite sweet.”
Originally from Melbourne, Corey and Grace know all about good hospitality offering a stellar breakfast and lunch menu too. On Friday nights, they also offer dinner.
Terella Brewing
Five minutes north of Gun Cotton Coffee in North Arm is a unique craft brewery, Terella Brewing.
Set on 69 acres of farmland, there’s plenty of room for the kids to run around – and an attached animal farm with cows, pigs, chickens and even a miniature horse.
Terella means ‘little earth’ – a nod to the brewery’s sustainable practices.
“We have a vertical farm system where we grow leafy greens and all sorts of products,” said co-owner, Brandt Bamford. “We actually use the water that they dehumidify inside their enclosures and goes into our rainwater and, yeah, we actually make beer with it.”
And the bi-products of the beer-making process go to good use too.
“A bi-product of spent grain we actually feed to the cows on site.”
Of course, we can’t mention a craft brewery without talking about flavours. At Terella, there are 14 to choose from – with a different flavour released each week.
Yandina Station
Yandina is a stone’s throw from the Sunshine Coast’s beautiful beaches and just inland from the Blackall Range.
With that much local scenery to explore, it makes sense to stay a while.
Yandina Station has luxurious cottages overlooking rolling pastures of the original 1853 cattle station – so that relaxing country vibe is palpable.
“It just evokes a very serene sort of vibe here and you can come and relax and just take it easy and just really unwind,” said owner, Sally Schmidt.
We think that pretty much sums up Yandina, as a whole.
