Quiet Camping on the Sunshine Coast

THE SECRET'S out: there's quiet camping at Cotton Tree and Pin Cushion on the Sunshine Coast.

How did I found this out? Well, I travel to Mooloolaba from time to time to fish offshore. Fly rodding for fast-moving surface feeders is right up my alley, but I live on Brisbane’s Southside and have to get up at 3:30am to be on the water at daylight in summer. Not surprisingly, I've been on the lookout for a likely place to set up camp at end of a day's fishing so that I can be on the water early the next morning.

I received the good oil on Cotton Tree and Pin Cushion camping grounds from a mate who had stayed there. He couldn’t believe just how quiet it was, and now that I’ve tried it I agree with him wholeheartedly. Given that these camping areas are right in the heart of a busy tourist destination, it’s amazing that the only sound at night is that of the surf a couple of hundred yards away. Great stuff!

GETTING THERE

If you’re moving north from Mooloolaba, it's necessary to take Aerodrome Road. This is an extension of Alexandra Parade - the road skirting the ocean between Mooloolaba, Alexandra Headland and Maroochydore. Once on Aerodrome Road, take a turn-off down Fourth, Fifth, or Sixth Avenue. This will lead to Cotton Tree Parade, which is where the caravan parks are located.

If you’re travelling from the north along Maroochydore Road, keep travelling east until you reach Horton Parade. A turn left into First Avenue will see the car moving right to travel along The Esplanade. This then runs into Cotton Tree Parade.

THE LOCATION

The two camping grounds/caravan parks are side by side on the southern side of the Maroochy River. The Pincushion camping grounds are the closest to the ocean, and Cotton Tree is to the west. Both locations are on the South Channel of the river, and you can walk from one venue to the next.

Years ago an extensive area of low vegetation and dunes separated the Pincushion camping area from the beach. This dune area used to be at least 500 metres wide with a road through it, but erosion has completely eradicated the scrub and dunes. The result is that you can walk straight out onto the lovely golden surf beach from the back of the camping grounds.

I'm told that the sand and dune formations are actually starting to re-build, but for now some serious reclamation work is on the go. Make no mistake about it, though - the beach is still a little beauty and stretches south for kilometres.

CAMPING

Shade, lovely shade, is a feature of both caravan parks. I stayed at Cotton Tree during my last visit and the shade was greatly appreciated during the spell of unusually hot autumn weather.

Cotton Tree Caravan Park offers over 300 sites for caravans and tents, and check this out: all are powered. Now that's really doing it easy.

There are three large and very clean amenity blocks, children's playground, barbecues, beach access and a small kiosk for ice, gas, and so forth. Most sites are well grassed and the place is very level. It’s one of the nicest places I've stayed at, and proprietors Ray and Judy Dawson are always ready to welcome visitors.

One of the most attractive features about Cotton Tree is that everything is virtually within walking distance. There are bait and tackle stores handy, all manner of takeaway food, liquor outlets, a surf club, bowls club, and more. Everything is there - it's just a matter of seeking out what you require. But in spite of all this, when it's time to settle down for a good night's sleep the only sound is the surf. I love this place.

THE FISHING

The Cotton Tree camping area backs onto the Maroochy River, and there’s a beaut beach here as well (although its size is governed by the tide height in the river). It's a quiet, pleasant walk from Cotton Tree down around Pincushion and onto the surf beach. The walk is even more pleasant if you do it at low tide starting to make, casting a worm or a yabby on light Alvey or threadline gear as you go. This area really fires up on dark, and even after dark as well, and it's easy to collect a feed of large whiting or some bream on the way through.

Fishing here is just superb; the place is completely unspoiled. There is always a gutter at the point where the river cuts onto the ocean beach, and the fish taken while I was there included chopper tailor, bream, dart and whiting. It's a perfect place for surf fishing - the beach gently slopes, there’s not too much sweep (most times) and the wash of the water on the feet and legs is a treat. I haven't had the chance to fish there in winter because the boat fishing during summer and autumn has been our major consideration. But I’m told that some really good tailor can be taken from the river mouth during the colder months.

Along the beach - which stretches for several kilometres to Alexandra Headland - there are worms to be pulled. And if you find any sort of decent gutter, whiting and dart are a virtual certainty.

Fishing the river

At the back of the two caravan parks the river offers great fishing. Because the river is such a short distance from the ocean, any number of top quality fish come and go with the making or falling tide. Huge bream are caught during May and June and, for those in the know, there are even luderick to be taken as well. It's a very fish-rich area.

A small boat for fishing the river is an asset here. You could, of course, go out through the bar in a larger craft to fish the ocean, but with the ultra-safe harbour and sea walls at Mooloolaba just a few kays away, who would bother? A tinny or some such is very handy for fishing around snags in the river, for moving across to pump yabbies on exposed banks at low tide, and for transporting an angling party across the river to fish on the beach near Pincushion Headland - a small outcrop on the north bank of the South Channel (which, by the way, was once connected to the landmass on the south). Of course, the river is great for swimming and sailing as well.

As a quiet camping destination with real potential for great fishing, this location is very hard to beat.