Paddleboarding on Lake MacDonald

It was just over 5 years ago that I last went paddleboarding on Lake MacDonald. In fact it was the last place I went paddleboarding before moving to Scotland. It’s funny when you have those wee moments of synchronicity. I remember as we were getting out of the water a Scottish fellow from Edinburgh was getting into his kayak. Maybe it was the name ‘MacDonald’ that appealed to him – a very Scottish name!

The Main Points

• Location – Lake MacDonald, Sunshine Coast, Queensland Australia
• Cost – Free
• Conditions – Freshwater Dam/lake
• Other users – Occasional paddlers and visitors to Botanic Gardens
• Entry Point – Access boat ramp from carpark
• Surrounding amenities/Bathrooms- Bathrooms and picnic tables BBQ’s in surrounding parkland and botanic Gardens

Location

Weather

Five years later and I am back paddleboarding on Lake MacDonald. This time I was amused to hear a small child singing the Proclaimers song ‘500 miles’ as their family wandered through the surrounding Botanic gardens. It seems I am never far from Scotland… Hame-sickness aside, it was a stunning day and the wind was a mere breeze. Perfect conditions for paddleboarding in my humble opinion.

This was the first paddleboarding session I had since SUP Bloke headed off to WA for work so I needed to up my filming game. Without someone to safely fly our drone from dry land, I had to get creative. I love paddleboarding in environments where there is an interesting shore line. Something with foliage, wildlife and in particular trees which came in very handy. I decided I would do some filming by using my gorilla grip to set the GoPro upon a branch and I think it worked out fairly well.

Check out the results of my experiment in our latest video Paddleboarding on Lake MacDonald here

Paddleboarding is not the only thing to do at Lake MacDonald!

It is a great idea to pack some food for a picnic or a BBQ when visiting Lake MacDonald as there is some really lovely spots for an alfresco feast along with BBQing facilities. There is also the Noosa Botanic Gardens to explore with a very impressive example of a Sausage Tree which reminded me of my trip to Africa many years ago. The tree was absolutely laden with fruit which were HUGE!!

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If you haven’t yet watched part one of our SUP Safari Scotland Travel Video Series  check it out here.