Pioneer Cottage, now the Buderim Historical Museum

Buderim (including Tanawha and Forest Glen)
Attractive township perched on a ridge above the holiday coastal towns of Maroochydore and Caloundra.
Located 92 km north of Brisbane on the mountains behind Maroochydore and Caloundra, Buderim has become a kind of Sugar Coast hill station. It is a cool and luxuriant town characterised by gardens profuse with hibiscus, bougainvillea, poincianas and frangipani.

The people who work in the highly urbanised centres on the coast and who want to escape from the hot, overcrowded and overdeveloped coast often decide to retreat to tree-lined, leafy Buderim.

The first Europeans to explore Buderim and the surrounding mountain range were timber cutters. Richard Jones moved through the area in 1854 looking for suitable timber for Pettigrew's Mill. He was followed by others eager to extract the cedar, beech and pine trees from the mountain forests. In 1862 Tom Petrie followed Jones up the mountain and became the first European to cut and extract the local timber.

From these earliest times the mountain was known to Europeans as Buderim. It was sometimes spelt 'Badderam' and 'Budderum'. The early timber cutters had heard the local Aborigines using the term which, it is now widely accepted, was the local Aboriginal word for the hairpin honeysuckle which flourished on the mountain.

The Buderim plateau is over 7 km long, 4 km wide (in places), and it ranges from 152 m up to 182 m above sea-level. It was first surveyed in 1869 and the following year a number of people purchased land which they duly cleared. They built houses and planted crops of sugarcane, citrus fruits, bananas and coffee.

In 1876 a sugar mill was built to process the local produce. In that same year the beautiful Pioneer Cottage, now the home of the Buderim Historical Society, was built by John Burnett out of pit-sawn cedar and beech.

At the time the mill and cottage were built the local farmers began using Kanaka labour on their sugar plantations. The Kanakas were used to plant, cultivate and harvest the cane and were kept in conditions of virtual slavery, although one prominent citizen in the area, Joseph Dixon, who was a Quaker, built a slab-and-shingle shed near the sugarcane mill in order to furnish the Kanaka children with a school and Sunday school.

By 1875 there were nineteen children living in the area, which was enough to justify the establishment of a provisional school.

In 1883-84 the first crop of Buderim bananas was added to the produce from the area. Grown by James Lindsay, they were taken down to the coast and shipped to the markets in Brisbane. Like the sugar before it, the bananas presented the small community with a major transportation headache. There were years when the whole crop rotted on the wharves waiting for boats to carry the bunches to the markets in Brisbane.

Mountainous isolation was an ongoing problem. In the early days the local produce had to be carted to the coast on bullock dray. When the railway reached Landsborough the Buderim farmers moved their produce to the railhead. In 1914, after much lobbying, a tramway was built between Buderim and Palmwoods. From 1914-1935 the Buderim Tramway connected with the railway but it was outmoded by improvements in roads and road transportation.

In the late 1880s coffee was grown in the area. Production peaked in 1907 when 40360 pounds of coffee were produced on the mountain. But the crop which really did much to boost the economy of the area was ginger, first grown in the area as early as 1916 although it wasn't until 1941 that the Buderim Ginger Growers Co-operative Association was formed. It experienced hard times after the war but, by the 1970s, Buderim had become one of the country's major producers of the pungent stem.

Today Buderim is a delightful mountainside commuter town which seems to be a world away from the bustle of the coast. There are a number of art galleries, antique shops and nature reserves in the area to provide the visitor with a sharp and pleasant contrast to the coastal attractions.

Things to see:  

Pioneer Cottage
It is a sad comment on the changes which have occurred in recent times on the Sunshine Coast that the Pioneer Cottage, built of pit-sawn cedar and beech, is one of the few historical buildings left on the mountain. This beautifully preserved old house is surrounded by tall palm trees in pleasant subtropical gardens. The displays are of great interest. There is a wealth of material about the local area, including an excellent booklet titled The History of Buderim Mountain, which was produced by the students of Buderim State School in 1979. There is also an interesting booklet on the history of Pioneer Cottage and the project which revitalised this important building. It is located in Balinger Crescent, which runs off the main street of the town, and is open from 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m., tel: (07) 5445 5328.

Buderim Ginger Shoppe
The Buderim Ginger Shoppe is located at 1/90 Burnett St, tel: (07) 5445-1035.

The Bellingham Maze
South of Buderim, around the intersection of the Sunshine Motorway and the Bruce Highway, is Tanawha. On Tanawha Drive visitors will find the Bellingham Maze which is open daily, tel: (07) 5445 2979.

Super Bee Honey Factory
At this combined honey plant and tourist attraction visitors can enjoy the bee show, which features a hive attendant (located safely in an external enclosed glass space) demonstrating and discussing the nature of the hive, the behaviour of the bees, the production and extraction of the honey. For the entertainment of children there are also electric four-wheeled bicycles, novelty cottages such as The House That Jack Built, a merry-go-round, mini-golf, lorikeet-feeding, ducks, a cafe, free honey tasting and retail sales of honies, health products and souvenirs. Admission is free and they are open from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. daily. The Super Bee is located on Tanawha Tourist Drive, tel: (07) 5445 3544.

	Motels
	Buderim Pines Motel 104 Burnett St Buderim QLD 4556 Telephone: (07) 5445 1119 Rating: **
	Buderim Sunshine Motel Tanawha Tourist Dve Buderim QLD 4556 Telephone: (07) 5445 1102 Rating: **
	Ginger Mountain Resort 45 King St Buderim QLD 4556 Telephone: (07) 5445 1699 Rating: **
	Headland Crest Lodge Golf Links Rd Buderim QLD 4556 Telephone: (07) 5444 5755 Rating: ***
	Bed & Breakfast/Guesthouses
	Buderim White House 54 Quorn Close Buderim QLD 4556 Telephone: (07) 5445 1961 Facsimile: (07) 5445 1994 Rating: *****
	Caravan Parks
	Buderim Pines Caravan Park 104 Burnett St Buderim QLD 4556 Telephone: (07) 5445 1119 Rating: ***
	Restaurants
	Bogarts of Buderim Buderim Pines Shopping Village Oakmont Dve Buderim QLD 4556 Telephone: (07) 5478 0499
	Buderim Tavern 57 Burnett St Buderim QLD 4556 Telephone: (07) 5445 3800
	Harry's On Buderim Lindsay Rd Buderim QLD 4556 Telephone: (07) 5445 661
	Headland Golf Club Golf Links Rd Buderim QLD 4556 Telephone: (07) 5444 5800
	Milans Pizza & Pasta The Hub Shopping Centre Burnett St Buderim QLD 4556 Telephone: (07) 5445 4024
	Mountain King Chinese Restaurant 129 King St Buderim QLD 4556 Telephone: (07) 5476 9388
	North Buderim Chinese Restaurant 1 Lakeshore Ave Buderim QLD 4556 Telephone: (07) 5476 8886
	Peak Tower Chinese Restaurant Lindsay Rd Buderim QLD 4556 Telephone: (07) 5445 2533
	Wendy's Way 39 Burnett St Buderim QLD 4556 Telephone: (07) 5445 5966