Maleny Meanderings

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Posted 2016-12-14 by Lizzie Higgins ⇒ follow

What's on your checklist for a perfect summer day trip from Brisbane?

Cooler temperatures?
Spectacular views?
Good food and coffee?
Antique hunting?
Book browsing?

If these tick all the boxes on your list, then take a drive 90kms north of Brisbane to the hinterland town of Maleny.

On the southern end of the Sunshine Coast Hinterland's Blackall Ranges, Maleny is a bustling small town. Along with standard shops and services, there are some great stores and cafes in which to while away an hour or two, perhaps after a morning bushwalk to a waterfall.

The town has a bounty of quality bookstores, some specialising in secondhand books, such as the delightful Maleny Bookshop that boasts "second hand, rare and out of print oddities."

We bunkered down in one of the nooks of Rosetta Books. Here, trying before you buy seems downright mandatory given its in-store coffee bar and comfy chairs, ideal for sampling a chapter or two.

Then we hunted for treasure around Maleny Country Antique shop with its variety of jewellery, china, country furniture and collectables.

There's another smaller antique store, Treasures in Maleny, that is well worth a look. It's on the outskirts of the town centre, near the pub and beside a mower centre.

All this hunting works up an appetite and again there is a wide range of choices. You might like Sarah's Unplugged with its large cake cabinet or want to sample some cheese or ice cream at Colin James Fine Foods .

Our favourite is Shotgun Espresso with its offerings of healthy, rustic fare served around grandma tables on grandma crockery. The food here is fresh, delicious and hearty.

Satiated, refreshed and loaded with treasures, you can head back to the city lights via the breathtaking views of the Glasshouse Mountains at Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve , a small drive off the main road out of town.