Maroochy River

Maroochydore from North Shore

Maroochy River Mouth

        

      The Maroochy River has two main arms, the North and South Maroochy River, which join 24 km upstream from the mouth. Two large tributaries, Petrie Creek (with its major tributary Paynter Creek) and Eudlo Creek enter the river about 5 km from the mouth. Coolum, Doonan and Yandina creeks drain the low-lying areas in the north-eastern parts of the catchment.

Chambers Island at Dusk

Maroochy River at Dusk

Coolum Creek and the middle and lower Maroochy River estuary have dense mangrove, paperbark and casuarina forest. The locally abundant mangrove fern at Coolum Creek is reminiscent of an ancient landscape. The destinctive native hibiscus, often referred to as the cotton tree, commonly grows alongside mangroves and is easily recognised by their typical hibiscus flowers in late spring and early summer - vibrant yellow, aging to orange.

Sunsetting Chambers Island

Maroochy River

Pelicans on the Maroochy River

Maroochy River Serenity

Birds 

   
Birds of prey including Brahminy Kite,Osprey White Bellied Sea eagle ar a regular sight.
Waterbirds like Cormorants,Darter , Spoonbill, Ibis, and Black Duck. Forest Kingfisher and the White-faced Heron are standouts also the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos as well as the Corellas are regular visitors.

Some other bird sightings are oystercatchers the rare Balck-necked Stork (Jabiru).Flocks of terns resting on the sandbanks of the lower estuary they migrate from as far away as Siberia.

Maroochy River Bli Bli

Wappa Falls

 Fishing

                                             This river provides the perfect playground for dusky flathead  and sand whiting in the shallows, and mulloway in the deep holes and around the mouth. The Maroochy is also renowned for the abundance of mangrove jack in its tributaries and rock bars, as well as great land based fishing from both the northern and southern shores of the river mouth. Good catches of golden, silver and giant trevally and tailor are a regular occurrence.

 

The First Inhabitants

     The first inhabitants of the Maroochy District were the Aboriginal people of the Gubbi Gubbi language group, which consisted of a number of tribes including the Nalbo, Kabi, Dallambara and Undanbi.