About

Maleny is a small scenic town 90 km north of Brisbane on the Blackall Range overlooking the Sunshine Coast hinterland in Queensland, Australia. Nearby towns include Landsborough, Montville and Peachester. Nearby places of geographical significance include the Glass House Mountains and Baroon Pocket Dam.

It hosts the Maleny Wood Expo From Chainsaw to Fine Furniture each year, hosted by Barung Landcare and showcases the regions finest wood artisans.

History

The area around Maleny was originally populated by two aboriginal groups, the Nalbo people and the Dallambara group. The area was known for its Bunya Feasts which happened every third year when the giant Bunya Tree was in fruit.

The first European to document Maleny was the explorer Ludwig Leichhardt who describes the area in his travel diary in 1844. The first European settlement followed in the wake of the Gympie gold rush of 1867. Maleny was a timber town until the early 1920s and then was a center of dairy production with a butter factory which declined in the 1960s.

Tourism

Maleny has replaced its timber-cutting and dairying past with tourism with a large influx of people who wanted an alternative lifestyle. As well as being on the Hinterland tourist drive, Maleny attracts day trippers from Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast who are attracted to the various stores, art galleries and specialty shops.

Source – Wikipedia