From floods to flights, pythons to prize homes, 2022 on the Sunshine Coast has been full of ups and downs.
As the year draws to a close, Sunshine Coast News is looking back on some of its biggest stories of each month.
January was all about snakes.
In Nambour, reptile rescuers were called to a property to relocate a python mother and 24 hatching eggs from an area that was soon to become a construction site.
“When we lifted up some metal, there she was sitting on her eggs and they were hatching,” snake catcher Heather McMurray said.
“That was quite new for us, we often come across eggs, but not actually hatching.”
We were also warned in January about the dangers of baby snakes.
“They can basically squeeze into the smallest spots and they can get up under fridges and into ovens and all sorts of areas where you think they couldn’t get to,” said Stuart McKenzie, from Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers.
The weather in February was a cause of concern for many across the Coast.
Rain from a slow-moving weather system dumped record rainfall, with more than 400mm falling in some areas in hours, causing several parts of the Coast to be cut off.
Sunshine Coast Council also confirmed that some erosion was already occurring at Golden Beach as a result of the dramatic Bribie Island breakthrough on January 2.
The breakthrough had forced changes to ‘tide heights’ in the Pumicestone Passage, a council investigation found.
In March, a custom-built residence was being billed as the most impressive – and expensive – prize home in the history of the Endeavour Foundation Lotteries.
The charity launched its 60th anniversary draw, unveiling a spectacular $2.19m luxury prize home at Maleny.
Readers were also keen to get a glimpse of the much-anticipated shortcut between Caloundra and the Bruce Highway that could save drivers up to 15 minutes on the drive.
Aerial photos, commissioned by Sunshine Coast News and captured by Brendan Smith of SkyShots Photography, offered a bird’s eye view of the progress of the $70 million Bells Creek Arterial Road, dubbed ‘The Arterial’.
In April, a development application for a new private hospital in Maroochydore was approved, creating more construction and health jobs on the Coast.
The Maroochydore Private Hospital will be an eight-storey medical and teaching facility with high-end amenities and featuring a rooftop relaxation area for staff.
It was also revealed that one of the Coast’s most popular beaches would lose some of its iconic trees.
Towering Norfolk pines are synonymous with Caloundra’s Moffat Beach, but two would have to be felled due to the damage caused after wild seas in February caused a dramatic collapse of the seawall.
Property was a hot topic in May, with a “one-of-a-kind” beach property being offered for the first time in 80 years catching the interest of many readers.
The Moffat Beach property had been owned by a Brisbane-based family since being purchased “for less than 50 pounds” as a vacant block in the 1940s.
Readers also wanted a look inside a multimillion-dollar Noosa Heads home that was named Australia’s best.
The architecturally designed concrete and timber property home was draped in lush plants and with a sparkling pool submerged in the middle.
In June, celebrity couple Lisa Curry and Mark Tabone revealed why they are reluctantly leaving their beloved hinterland haven and wellness retreat.
The three-time Olympian swimmer, entrepreneur and grandmother and her entertainer husband bought the picturesque 26-hectare former horse property at Crohamhurst in 2017.
It was also revealed in June that the iconic Moby Vic’s servos were set for a multimillion-dollar redevelopment.
The dual service centres at Glass House Mountains, founded by Vic Walker in late 1987, would be turned into “state-of-the-art” traveller and truck stops at the gateway to the Coast.
July brought the sad news that the Coast’s famous bird-loving Twinnies were sending out a desperate “SOS” after becoming the latest victims of the region’s housing crunch.
Paula and Bridgette Powers and their menagerie of injured birds faced being homeless after their landlord decided to sell the property they rent at Landsborough.
The quaint hinterland town of Eudlo also piqued readers’ interest, with a transformation in recent years revitalising the once-busy timber town.
The iconic Eudlo General Store is one of the biggest drawcards, enticing locals and visitors to try its delicious pies, with more than 1000 sold each week.
In August a long-time Eumundi resident declared: “We want our town back” and blamed the “unbridled growth” of its famous markets for “choking” the town.
Susan Russell said a growing number of townsfolk were “feeling choked” by the markets held every Saturday and Wednesday in the town centre.
Meanwhile, a relatively unknown fragment of the Sunshine Coast’s past was unearthed in the Pumicestone Passage following the Bribie washover.
Several 130-year-old oyster beds were exposed by shifting sands following the tidal breakthrough earlier this year, revealing a fascinating slice of local history.
September heralded the start of spring but a long-range forecaster warned of ferocious weather coming.
Hayden Walker, a fourth-generation forecaster and son of world-renowned weather expert Lennox Walker, revealed his spring predictions in an exclusive analysis for Sunshine Coast News.
Elsewhere, residents were fed up with “irresponsible” owners parking caravans, boats, trailers and recreational vehicles in quiet suburban streets — sometimes for months on end.
They said the vehicles clogging up the roads were an ongoing eyesore and represented potential traffic hazards.
Readers were hungry for news in October with one of the region’s most-loved restaurants being recognised nationally as the “best of the best” for the second year running in Tripadvisor’s 2022 Travellers’ Choice awards.
It was a delicious outcome for Mooloolaba’s Bella Venezia, which was voted the number one restaurant in the Best of the Best Award for Top Everyday Eats – Australia.
Budd’s Butchers was also acknowledged as the top butcher shop in regional Queensland, at the Australian Meat Industry Council awards in Brisbane.
The Coolum Beach business could also lay claim to the state’s second-best pork sausage and the third-best gourmet burger patty.
In November, live music fans on the Coast were crying in their beers with the news a major entertainment venue and dining precinct had closed its doors.
Food Focus Australia owners and husband-and-wife team Ian van der Woude and Michelle Christoe said ‘goodbye’ to their supporters on Facebook after running the popular NightQuarter in Birtinya for the past two years.
Further north, an 18-hole championship golf course, which was once on its knees, was on the market after attracting several enquiries.
Expressions of interest were being sought for Peregian Golf Course, which is the centrepiece of the Peregian Springs residential community.
And finally in December, low-cost airline Bonza’s initial Sunshine Coast fleet was completed, after the arrival of its third plane, named ‘Sheila’.
The Chief Commercial Officer at Bonza, Carla Povey, said it marked an important milestone before they take to the skies, subject to regulatory approval.
The Coast’s impressive new City Hall was also officially opened amid much fanfare.
The $100m building, at 54 First Avenue in Maroochydore’s emerging CBD, boasts 10 storeys, about 12,000sqm of floor space and 156 car spaces.
