It’s an inclinator, not a funicular.
That’s the solitary thought being carried, alongside some weekend bags, as we ascend the hill at Number One In Hastings Street, a property that’s long informed Noosa’s story and which reopened last December following a 10-month, multimillion-dollar refit.
The ride up is smooth and fun, a signature of any stay here and less hotel gimmick than practical piece of hillside theatre.
That thoughts have landed on the dissection of the possible difference between this inclinator — so labelled by welcoming staff — and the funiculars that hold familiarity given time spent across Sydney’s hillier northern beaches speaks to the immediate wash of calm that comes with a Noosa sojourn.
ROAM. Landing in your inbox weekly.
A digital-first travel magazine. Premium itineraries and adventures, practical information and exclusive offers for the discerning traveller.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.
Yes, the brain’s already found a cerebral sunlounger and we’re all of an hour from touching down at Marcoola’s Sunshine Coast Airport. We ride the inclinator to a two-bedroom apartment holding peerless views across Main Beach and Laguna Bay, and we’ll come to reconnect with a tourist town that, like this unique ride, continues to lift.
The main beach at Noosa during April. Credit: CoolCabanas/Facebook
“Double Bay by the beach” is the long-held missive aimed at Noosa — all linen shirts, resort loafers and people ordering the same long lunch since 1998.
Pleasant, sure. But exciting? Not exactly.
But that’s not really the narrative — is it? Noosa is an ultimate east coast escape draped in ease, an accessible beachside break that offers a refresh and simple pleasures.
The bones were always ridiculous. A stretch of beach that looks almost airbrushed, the Noosa National Park tumbling into the ocean, warm waters, subtropical greenery. And modern Noosa packs a sense of increased energy — hotels and restaurants have sharpened up and the old-school resort culture’s been joined by a younger, more design-conscious crowd.
Hastings Street — the core, the heart, the central avenue from which all of Noosa’s appeal spills outwards — remains the place to watch the daily parade of sunglasses and casual wear. Pastels still dominate, sure, but there’s also those sporting Acne (the Swedish label, not the skin condition) and Officine Generale.
Noosa Boathouse is one of the many places to eat. Credit: Noosa Boathouse/Supplied
The locals wail about the homogenisation that’s come to cover the once fiercely independent character of the main strip, many of its 300 retailers now names peddling wares from known names. Fancy Yo-Chi (because you’ve a teen)? Order away. Orlebar Brown, meanwhile, will help you into some sharply priced UK-designed swimwear. Elsewhere, Venroy flogs its beige and white visions of summer, while Mecca enables a chance to cover up as you would in Melbourne.
While there’s no easy way to prevent the march of the multinational — inflated rents never help — there’s equally a smattering of local Noosa boutiques hanging on and presenting their unique take on this unique town.
ROAM’s mornings mean a routine that starts local and at the southern end of Hastings with decent coffee at Noosa Social. You can easily linger up this end of the street. A moody, Italian-led lunch at Locale is time well spent, while nearby Bar Rossi claims to be the perfect place “before dinner, after dinner or instead of dinner”. It proves true — pull up a seat and work your way through a heady list accompanied by seasonal share plates and Spanish-inspired snacks.
Next door sits El Capitano, its pear and gorgonzola pizza memorable months later.
Elsewhere, Season and Cibaria prove Noosa musts. The former is best for lunch — indulge the beachside light that penetrates the elongated eatery and a menu delivered by attentive Frenchmen, steering for the seafood that comes fresh and expertly cooked.
Across the road, Cibaria is a colourful Euro diner that offers a seasonal independent truffle menu alongside the ochre-leather main book. An addition to Alessandro and Anna Pavoni’s acclaimed Sydney diner of the same name — the pair equally known for Ormeggio at The Spit, a’Mare and Postino Osteria — the Noosa offshoot is a dash of bold colour and texture and light, plating up some of the finer dining to be had in town.
Italian and broad — the main menu is divided across cicchetteria, cruderia, salumeria, antipasteria, bisteccheria, forneria, spaghetteria, contorneria and a pasticceria. One to usually avoid bruschetta, here it’s an indulgent debut, with a perfectly grilled eye fillet main, swordfish that packs a punch of capers, and a need to try the creamy tiramisu, even if its largesse means an hour in the gym at some stage.
Noosa River Mouth looking south over Noosa Heads. Credit: AEROMETREX/Aerometrex – stock.adobe.com
On the sweet front, Massimo’s Gelateria at the southern end of Hastings has been around since 1995 and can rightly justify the queues that form most nights.
That all this sits on some of Australia’s finest sand — and it’s here we’ll point to the Noosa Heads Surf Club, its impossible views and expected surf and turf menus — is the central charm that propels Noosa to be globally recognised and sought out. Because where else can you wander off a buzzy strip and within seconds be swimming in warm waters or lost to an afternoon on the sand? It’s furthered by the fact that, a few minutes more, and you’re into the Noosa National Park, one of the country’s superior “urban” escapes, where a daily walk can involve rainforest, koalas and dolphins (and all before lunch).
Wander the points to take in the surfers and, when working, some of the country’s best breaks. The Hell’s Gates loop is a 7.1km circuit that combines the shady inland forest of the Tanglewood Walk with the spectacular coastal track back towards the headland. June to November means a chance of spotting migrating humpback whales. The mix of rainforest, eucalypt forest, pandanus and ocean make this walk feel considerably wilder than its proximity to Hastings Street suggests.
Inspired by the surfers? Merrick Davis operates an eponymous surf school that’s Noosa’s best and longest running, and the only to be led by a former World Pro-Am champion.
Back to the expanse of that two-bedroom apartment at Number One, a warming spa on the sunny terrace another way to lose time to little and what is Noosa’s ultimate MO. Tiled white, with two bathrooms (main with full bath), it also boats full kitchen with fridge alongside internal washing machine and dryer — a perfect home-away-from-home that can easily accommodate a family of four and across some time.
Surf breaks are huge attraction. Credit: Visit Noosa/Supplied
The downstairs pool is consistently warm, should the beach not do its thing, and the gym adequate if small.
Thankfully the refurbishment hasn’t turned Number One In Hastings Street into a glossy international resort flown in from Dubai or Miami, retaining the generous proportions, connection to the hillside and easy indoor-outdoor life that’s made the address part of Noosa’s story the past 40 years.
As for the town itself — well, Noosa works because it doesn’t require a military-grade itinerary. You fly in, drop the bags, walk, swim, eat, drink, surf, repeat. Here the hardest daily decision involves where to eat and when — do we lunch before or after the beach? Is dinner taken directly off the sand or later?
Noosa hasn’t reinvented itself so much as remembered what it’s always had going for it. It’s still polished and still unapologetically Noosa. But these days, it feels less like an 1980s relic and more like a very good idea.
visitnoosa.com.au; no1hastings.com.au
