This is the serene Lake Weyba shore accessed from the cottages' grounds. The peak you can see in the distance is Mount Cooroy which presides over the Sunshine coast.
Lake Weyba cottages are, unsurprisingly, on the shore of Lake Weyba. Now this is an embarrassing admission, but I didn't actually know where Lake Weyba was until this trip, even though we have actually stayed not 15 minutes away more than once in Noosa, and driven to even more nearby beaches (and now realise that we missed this place by about a mile several times!). But that is easy to do. The 'Sunshine Coast' is a string of resort towns of varying pleasantness and high rise height running up North from about an hour past Brisbane. Being a beach purist (see beach criteria), you will know that beaches with high rises next to them are not my thing, so we've only ever stayed in Noosa where 3 storeys is about your limit next to the beach, and there is a national park right there so no high rises towering over the promenade.
Considering that (as I have now clearly discovered!) the Lake Weyba cottages are only a few minutes away from lots of civilisation, you really do have no idea of that when you stay. The dead-end road that you turn off into (just 2 minutes from the lovely new 'highway' — which isn't a motorway, don't worry), which itself you leave and turn into the long driveway for the cottages, already indicates there isn't any further to go, but that's great. It's peaceful and it's beautiful countryside and that is why we wanted to stay here.
The direct view from our holiday veranda across the gardens and the landscaped ponds to Lake Weyba. When you look out from each cottage you can't see the others — just a view like this!
At the end of the drive is the main house where Sam and Philip (and their family) live and have their office. When we arrived, it was getting dark (one thing I should comment on that always seems odd to me in Australia is that, even when it's a lovely sunny day, it still gets dark quite early — around 6pm — which always takes me a while to work out why it feels weird, but as a hard-wired European you realise it's because 'sunny' usually equals 'late sunset and sunny evenings' which doesn't happen here. Small price to pay, of course, for lots of sunny days year round however).
Pulling up at the main house you know you are in for a bit of treat. A big log cabin style house appears before you, and there is an office to the side where Philip greets us apologising for his gardening clothes (I hadn't noticed — it just made sense to me he had been outside in the amazing grounds). Philip then explained how the office works — about the DVDs, books and games to borrow at any time from the office, and that 'officially' the office closes at around 8.30pm but that it was not ever actually shut to guests (so if you can't sleep you can come get a DVD in the middle of the night, I guess!).
The ponds are usually more full (if you don't stay at the end of the summer and there hasn't been much rain!)
Office introductions over, Philip led us across the gardens (I say gardens but that implies a small-ness so think more 'expanse of lawn and lakes and trees') to our cottage. You realise at this point that all the cottages seem quite close together (closer than you might have thought that is — as opposed to all a mile apart and hidden, which had been one of my mind's eye visions before we arrived!). All the cottages fan out in an arc across the property facing the lake. But they aren't really that close, and the clever plant-based screening once you are inside means you don't see the other cottages, so actually get the feeling of seclusion and can easily imagine you are the only people there.
Here's how we found our cottage the evening we arrived. Cosy, well furnished and definitely inviting.
Philip happily explained that we had been upgraded to the largest of the cottages (there is also a bigger property) as ours had separate bedrooms, whereas the others are all a studio room style. The advantages of travelling with a small person! As we later found out (from our masseuse who comes to your cottage on request — heartily recommend this) our cottage had been the family's home when they first bought the land and started to build the cottages before the main house had been built. So once you know that, you realise that the cottage will most certainly have everything you need for few days 'away from home'. Not least the giant TV and surround sound system, that is not really in keeping with the 'rustic' look of the cathedral height cabin ceilings, but certainly makes for great DVD watching! Not complaining! The sharks in "Finding Nemo" had never been so scary!!
Planning Your Trip
The size and weight restrictions for different airlines and their bassinets (sky cots) are really different...
No chance of staying dirty here either. With a shower room and a separate spa bath 'room' (that's the only thing in it!) you have plenty of ablution options! Also have to now comment on what have to be the best bath robes — other robe providers take note: once a towelling robe has been washed a few times it gets a bit scratchy... so get the fluffy type instead — lovely. And we obviously weren't the only people happy with our robes either as I discovered very early the next morning when sporting mine I was admiring the kangaroos on the lawn from the veranda and spotted a fellow cottage-stayer walking their dog in theirs! We happily introduced ourselves, and dog met baby while admiring the 'roos — only in Australia!
On the subject of wildlife you cannot believe how fabulous this place is for indigenous creature spotting. Now it may come as a surprise to a first time visitor that you can easily spend 3 weeks in Australia (or more) and not see a kangaroo or a koala (or a killer spider — thankfully on that front!). Such creatures are not the 'squirrels' of Australia you might think, just bounding around all over the place. Often, unless you take yourself off to a wildlife park or zoo, or really head out of town, you can quite easily not spot a 'roo at all. In fact, on our first trip to Australia together, Andy didn't see one 'roo. Then on our second trip, the first 'roos he saw were the er, roadkill (sorry, but they aren't great at getting out of the way of cars).
It's those 'roos again! We saw them at least once every day — treating the lawn as their private picnic! It's not often you can see kangaroos this close and this easily so make the most of it.
But here at Lake Weyba cottages, it's Kangaroo spotting heaven. Obviously the first morning it's all very exciting — you can't believe there is a family (complete with little joeys — aw) nibbling away on the lawn not a few yards away from your cottage, and you dash off for the camera slightly panicking you might miss them. But after a couple of days here it's all very complacent — oh look, the 'roos are here again with a couple of extra friends... yeah whatever, already have 500 photos! This is not a normal occurrence in Australia, so make the most of the photo opportunities. And not just the 'roos either. There are daring (and frankly I found them somewhat alarming!) kookaburras, which happily sit on your balcony waiting for your breakfast platter to be delivered. Never quite appreciated the enormity and sharpness of the beaks on these birds until one sat and stared at me! Let's just say he was politely asked to leave ;-)
The hungry Kookaburra. He knew when your breakfast platter was coming before you did!
There is no way you want a Kookaburra or anyone else getting their hands on your breakfast platter, let me tell you. There are 3 options for breakfast at Lake Weyba cottages, and in the interests of research we of course had to try all 3 of them (on separate mornings I hasten to add!). Option 1 is the 'healthy' option, which is healthy in the sense that all the ingredients are fresh and tasty, and lean towards healthy (but the quantity certainly is not!). With stewed fruits and bircher muesli (soaked in fruit juice — it's good), fresh yoghurt, muffins, bread... and more (see illustration!) then this really is a meal to enjoy in a couple of sittings (or all morning!). Totally delicious I must add. The 'traditional' platter may even stretch to lunch and breakfast depending on your appetite (it did for us). A fantastic selection of almost gammon-thick bacon, sausages ('snags'), eggs, bread, some token fruit (!) and more besides... lovely. Yes, you have to cook or prepare these breakfasts yourself, but if you really don't want to self-cater, take the 3rd option of breakfast at the nearby café already paid for as part of your stay (you can choose anything from their breakfast menu). Now, after the sumptuous platters (and veranda-eating location) of the previous breakfasts, the café option was a disappointment to us, as it wasn't in the most happening of locations (not on a cappuccino strip but in the middle of a housing estate) however the food was yummy so if you are hungry and don't mind an uninspiring view of 'landscaped area' and houses then do go. But I advise you to not be lazy, and make your own brekkie for maximum enjoyment!
The tasty Tapas plate that along with the 'goodies' we also got (wine, cake, chocolates and biscuits) meant we didn't have to organise dinner on our first night (I know — we're very lazy!)
Breakfast isn't the only food you get here either. Not only will the local pizza places deliver directly to your cottage (remember to give them the number of your cottage, Sam and Philip will remind you!), but you have lots of yummy treats when you arrive. This is especially good if, like us, it was approaching dinner time and you had had a long day and really couldn't face going out again. A fabulous tapas plate waiting in the fridge along with some handmade chocolates (yes, clearly these got eaten first!), a bottle of wine, some homemade shortbreads and a couple of slices of tasty fruitcake meant we were quite set up for the evening. If this isn't a enough you can always nip out to the local shops and supermarkets 5-10 minutes drive away, but we were quite happy with our fridge full of treats and didn't move off the sofa! (which I need to mention was a really nice sofa — very un 'hotel-like' with a plethora of cushions).
If you do want to cook for yourself, then the small kitchen was surprisingly well stocked with cooking gadgets, and of course remembering where you are, there is a BBQ on the veranda for you to cremate things on too.
If you've always wanted to paddle your own canoe then it's right here for you! We weren't sure Alex had the sea-legs for this so didn't test it, but we watched other people have fun exploring.
Make sure you have some time to explore the grounds and lake here. Don't go rushing off to the beach right away as you will miss the tranquillity (I still can't believe its only 15 minutes away from bustling Noosa - see the map for proof). You can borrow a canoe and set out onto the lake to explore, or just go for a walk or bike ride. When you do have to head to the beach there is a great choice. We like Sunshine Beach as a place to head for the day. It's a stop before Noosa along the coast road, and boasts a great surf club perched above the beach and row of cafes and restaurants to eat and coffee at. Beach Bakery and Cafe Stella were lunch and dinner options during our recent visit (both yummy). Eumundi markets on a Wednesday and Saturday are great fun and a short drive away, there are the 'delights' of the more built up resorts of the sunshine coast if you want them or the national park, and more out of the way places to explore nearby. You can get to Noosa in just 15 minutes for river cruising, swanky shopping and excellent café people watching. But that is another review... (see Lookout Noosa).
Get this free Australian holiday planning companion packed with first-hand advice and tips for planning your trip Down Under. Sign up now, and also get notificaton of the latest news, advice, articles, tips and (of course), places to stay, immediately as it's published.
We respect your privacy. Your name and email will NOT be given to any third party under any circumstances whatsoever, either now or at any time in the future, with no exceptions at all.
