100% pure Buderim
Discover our Buderim:
The Village, the Mountain and the Community
Welcome to Buderim, a charming destination on the scenic Sunshine Coast! This popular town is a captivating blend of natural beauty, rich history and vibrant community spirit. As you explore the Buderim website, you’ll uncover a tapestry of experiences that truly reflect the essence of Buderim.
A Rich Heritage
Nestled atop a volcanic plateau, Buderim is the oldest established European settlement on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, celebrating over 150 years of community spirit. Though it rises only 590 feet (180 meters) above sea level at its highest point, Buderim Mountain has proudly carried this name since the early days. The local public school even honours this history in its title.
Experience Buderim
From the lively centre of Buderim Village to the serene green forest getaways that grace the slopes, Buderim is a place that enchants all who visit and has become much sought after as the place to call home Buderim.
The Buderim website was created when the internet was in the background to traditional media, way back in 2002. The cute Kookaburra “Buddee” is our mascot and was named in a community competition. This site holds the position as the longest demonstrated online service to our community.
Join Our Community
Whether you’re considering making Buderim your home, planning a visit, or simply looking to connect with our vibrant community, this website is your gateway to all things Buderim. Discover local events, community initiatives, and everything you need to know about life in this exceptional town.
Explore Buderim here online and find out why so many people have fallen in love with this remarkable place!
There is something different about our town of Buderim, something which affects visitors and makes them want to be residents. Perhaps it is the tree-lined Buderim Village, the splendid views afforded to many blocks of land on the escarpment, maybe the cooler mountain air . . .
Certainly there is a cultural heritage which comes with being the oldest town on the Sunshine Coast . . . a heritage of community.
Traditionally, Buderim was considered to be just the area across the top of the mountain. Thanks to the brand’s popularity and real estate demands, urban developments have latched onto the name to create Buderim real estate in areas never considered as such in the past. To add to the confusion, the local electoral boundaries were reconfigured and the LGA is also known under the same name, yet it covers an area from the Sunshine Motorway to Rosemount!
What sets this regional centre apart, is a thriving sense of community, driven by the large number of communty-focused groups.
Buderim Mountain community is different to other towns, there is an atmosphere of caring and a desire to be involved – paying back if you will!
This is demonstrated by the remarkable volunteer commitment of the Buderim Lions Club, the heart-felt work of the Crosby family in Team Adem, the focused enthusiasm of the Buderim Palmwoods Historic Tramway Inc., the work of our unique Community Association (BWMCA) and many more.
One thing is for sure, if you join the Buderim community, it will be great if you were involved in a community organisation, because you will set the direction for the future of this community by whatever actions you take.
Buderim’s Unique History
Dive into our town’s website to discover a captivating past and vibrant culture in modern Australia. Experience the charm of a community that thrives on preserving tradition while embracing innovation.
banksiabanksiaWhy call it “Buderim”?
There have been a few stories about this over the years but it is now generally accepted as so . . .
The original inhabitant’s used their Gabi Gabi language to call the plateau “Baddaram” (pronounced Ba-Ju-Rum) which literally means “place of the Hairpin Honeysuckle Banksia”.
Despite a couple of derivations such as “Budderum” in the pioneer days, the name was adapted to be Buderim by the early white settlers. The ending of “rim” being preferred to “rum” by the temperance influences of the day.
Buderim, the Coast’s first town!
Buderim was founded in the 1860’s and is the first settlement on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. The Buderim Mountain has seen many changes from rainforest and home of indigenous people, to timber-getter’s resource, farms of sugarcane, coffee, citrus, bananas and ginger . . . finally to subdivision for urban development.
Discover Buderim’s living history, check out the Buderim Historical Society and the Pioneer Cottage!
Old and New – What is the future for Buderim?
Little remains of the old Buderim as unfettered residential and commercial development consumes any available space.
Click & slide the white line in the split image below to see a comparison.
From Forest to Farms to Today!
The before and after shows a comparison of a famous 1920’s aerial photo to recent Google Earth Imagery of the same area. Lindsay Road is the carriageway in the foreground. You can just trace the old rail line from the Burnett/Lindsay intersection in both images.
Over the decades, Buderim has been world-famous for timber, coffee, ginger, community and the gateway to Sunshine Coast lifestyle. The pioneers of Buderim helped open up the Sunshine Coast and founded legends that are still spoken of today.
This legendary train opened up Buderim and made the Coast a tourist destination!
The image (below) of Bullocks in front of the train terminal where the Buderim Swimming Pool now stands, seems unimaginable now. Yet vestiges of this extraordinary enterprise are still around our Mountain.
Buderim missed out on the northbound rail line, so the pioneers decided to organise one themselves! A small guage train ran from 1914-35, carrying goods and passengers between Buderim and Palmwoods. Produce could now get to the markets in Brisbane and before long, tourists came into the Coast for the first time en masse.
Amazingly, the Krauss locomotive was saved fom scrap and lovingly restored by a group of history and rail enthusiasts. These community-minded people took on the logistical challenges and bureacracy to bring the Krauss back to the Mountain. Now with a space ready, all that’s required is the money to build a fitting display area.
The Historic Krauss locomotive belongs back on the Mountain, as a shared public treasure, the benefits for tourism and education are enormous. Sadly this venture has been met with obstruction and the Krauss has languished, fully restored waiting to return home. Plans are now well underway to display the Krauss in the heart of the Buderim Village. This will validate the awesome work of the BPHTi over the past 2 decades.
Over the past 150+ years, the fertile slopes have served as a timber-getter’s resource and then as farmland where sugarcane, bananas, citrus and even award winning coffee was grown.
As the Buderim Tramway started chugging up the Mountain, so began Buderim’s legendary status as the gateway to the Sunshine Coast, holiday destination for Brisbanites and “Southerners”.
A few of the original homesteads and accommodation manors are still hidden about the place, but most have long gone or converted into private homes.
“Ryhope” was built by pioneering family the Lindsays, the home was reportedly moved to somewhere near Toowoomba, but the the street is named in its honour.
A Taste of Buderim
For many decades, the name Buderim has been synonymous with Ginger.
Australia’s only ginger factory was set right in the heart of the Village, operating a strong and famous business, preparing and exporting ginger products across the globe.
When the Ginger Factory moved away to Yandina, the premises became a very successful market with extraordinary views across the southern slopes. Finally it was sold and a controversial Woolworths shopping hub built in its place, locking away the views forever.
So, who are the Buderim website webmasters?
This website is owned and operated by a Buderim family. Our roots go back to the 1980’s, visiting our retired parents who discovered this special place before the internet was a “thing.”
We moved here and chose to be active in our community organisations, including the BWMCA, Community Carols, Chamber of Commerce, Buderim Scouts and Buderim Lions.
This is first Buderim website with a demonstrated commitment to putting real value for Buderim first for over 20 years. Our site works for interests of community has been recognised by community groups and rewarded by Google for most Buderim related searches.
You are invited to make the most of our 100% pure Buderim web site, to help gain an understanding of the special nature of our home.
You can support our work on this site and promote your business, before the thousands of visitors each month.
Some time ago, our original Buderim web site content (developed over almost 10 years) was donated in a whole new package to the the BWMCA along with the community domain name buderim.qld.au. This was to help our Buderim community organisation, gain real traction on the web. They have now chosen to go their own way and we wish them well.
We are the first website committed 100% to Buderim and our single ambitious aim is to create a web presence worthy of our town by:
• Enhancing the community-support efforts of the Buderim Lions and affiliates of the BWMCA including the Garden Club, Historical Society, Craft Cottage and any other group who wishes to be promoted at no charge on the Buderim Site.
• Providing an agenda-free platform for visitors, tourists and residents to discover more of this place.
• Giving to businesses of Buderim Village and all of Greater Buderim, an opportunity to showcase their goods and services, through sponsorship.
• Being a place for Buderimites to communicate socially and discover the goings on through Facebook.