Hello, my name is Martin and I’m from the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria. I’m studying Mechanical Engineering and I will complete my bachelor next year. Why I choose Australia? Because it’s one of the most beautiful countries in the world. We are three mates form Austria who decided to study on the University of Sunshine Coast (USC). Studying at USC is a one in a lifetime opportunity. The moment when I arrived in Australia, I felt in love with it.

Locals and Living

The Australian people are one of the nicest and helpful people I know. Everyone wants to talk to you, we have received a lot of good advice from local people. We rented a house near the beach directly on the Mooloolaba canal, so we spent a lot of time fishing there. The location was perfect because we had just 5 mins to walk to the beach, so we had the opportunity to surf a lot. With the car we only need 10-15 mins to drive to the university.

4WD in the Glasshouse Mountains

The Glasshouse Mountains is a perfect spot to hike, and get your 4WD stuck on the off-road tracks… First few days after we got our car, we tried the easiest off-road track. Three naive European guys who think they can handle this…. but glasshouse mountain showed us we can’t. We got stuck late in the afternoon in the middle of nowhere without a mobile phone reception and without water. Also, we had no recovery gear to get us out of the hole by ourselves. After a long time, a nice dude passed us with his motocross. He offered us his help, so he went back and got his truck to pull us out with the winch.

Double Island

Double Island is a beautiful destination to surf and camp. You have the chance to camp directly on the beach and enjoy the sunrise from your tent. In my opinion, there is nothing better than waking up to a sunrise on the beach. There are also dolphins and whales, sometimes they swim near the beach so it’s easy to see them. There is a beautiful lighthouse on the Double Island Point from there you have an amazing view to rainbow beach and Noosa north shore.

– Martin Stadlmayer @stadii