# Yandina, Queensland

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Yandina (/jænˈdiːnə/) is a rural town and locality in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Yandina had a population of 3,073 people.

## Geography

Yandina is in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. The name originates from the Kabi language, "yan dhinang" meaning to "cross water by foot", marking the first upstream ford over the Maroochy River.
The Bruce Highway enters the locality from the south (Kulangoor / Parklands), bypasses the town of Yandina to the east, and exits the locality to the north (Bridges). The Yandina-Coolum Road and the Yandina-Bli Bli Road both exit to the east.
The North Coast railway line enters the locality from the south (Kulangoor), passes through the town which is served by the Yandina railway station (26°33′40″S 152°57′30″E﻿ / ﻿26.5610°S 152.9582°E﻿ / -26.5610; 152.9582﻿ (Yandina railway station)), before exiting the locality to the north (Bridges).

## History

Aboriginal people have lived in the Yandina district for over 40,000 years. They belonged to the Gubbi Gubbi language group, which consisted of a number of tribes occupying traditional resource areas. Around Yandina, the Undandi tribal area was east of the present day railway line while the Nalbo area was west of the line. Legends, bora rings, pathways, grinding grooves, scarred trees and middens provide evidence of occupancy.
European settlement began in the 1850s and the town of Yandina was surveyed in 1870. It was the first town in the Maroochy district. Many of the original buildings and the heritage streetscape of Stevens Street have been preserved. The Anglican church, built initially as a community church and opened in 1880, is the oldest on the Sunshine Coast. It is part of the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane. The Yandina hotel dates back to 1889 and was relocated using rollers and a bullock team in 1891 when the railway came through town. In the same year, the post office was moved to the new railway station. Privately owned Koongalba homestead is on the National Heritage List and is one of several historic homes in town. Yandina was originally planned to be the centre of the shire but as the local sugar mill was built in Nambour, more and more people who worked there moved closer.
Yandina Baptist Church opened in 1921. The Baptist congregation had previously been using the Anglican church for their services. In January 1921 the Baptists purchased the former union church in Pomona to relocate it to Railway Street in Yandina. The opening ceremony was held on Wednesday 16 March 1921.
Yandina Provisional School opened on 14 November 1889. On 4 February 1902, it became Yandina State School. A preschool was added in 1974.
The early timber getters logged beech, cedar, bunya pine and flooded gum. The timber industry remained important until the 1970s when a shortage of timber forced the closure on the Yandina mill. The fertile land around Yandina has been used for beef and dairy cattle, fruit growing, sugar cane and ginger.
Yandina Presbyterian Church was officially opened on Saturday 30 November 1940.
Nambour & District Reds (or Nambour Reds) soccer club was established in 1974. In 1997 Nambour Reds merged with Yandina Eagles to create Nambour Yandina United.
The Buderim Ginger Factory in Yandina was opened in April 1980 and also operates as a tourist attraction.
The town was bypassed by the Bruce Highway July 1997.
Yandina Baptist Church celebrated its centenary in 2021.
Today, Yandina officially endures as the oldest continuously inhabited town on the Sunshine Coast.

## Demographics

In the 2011 census, the locality of Yandina had a population of 2,221 people.
In the 2016 census, the locality of Yandina had a population of 2,371 people.
In the 2021 census, the locality of Yandina had a population of 3,073 people.

## Heritage listings

Yandina has a heritage-listed site:
* Koongalba, 12 Wharf Street (26°34′05″S 152°57′31″E﻿ / ﻿26.5681°S 152.9587°E﻿ / -26.5681; 152.9587﻿ (Koongalba (house)))

## Education

Yandina State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 48 School Road (26°33′08″S 152°57′28″E﻿ / ﻿26.5522°S 152.9579°E﻿ / -26.5522; 152.9579﻿ (Yandina State School)). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 289 students with 26 teachers (21 full-time equivalent) and 15 non-teaching staff (10 full-time equivalent). It includes a special education program.
There is no secondary school in Yandina. The nearest government secondary school in Nambour State College in Nambour to the south.

## Facilities

Maroochy River Fire Station is at 11 Branyandah Street (26°33′34″S 152°58′20″E﻿ / ﻿26.5594°S 152.9722°E﻿ / -26.5594; 152.9722﻿ (Maroochy River Fire Station)).
Yandina Ambulance Station is at 2 Machinery Road (26°33′23″S 152°57′39″E﻿ / ﻿26.5564°S 152.9609°E﻿ / -26.5564; 152.9609﻿ (Yandina Ambulance Station)).
There is a sewage treatment plant at 10 Focus Lane (26°33′11″S 152°58′01″E﻿ / ﻿26.5531°S 152.9670°E﻿ / -26.5531; 152.9670﻿ (sewage treatment plant)).
Yandina Cemetery is at 33 Cordwell Road (26°34′19″S 152°57′27″E﻿ / ﻿26.5720°S 152.9574°E﻿ / -26.5720; 152.9574﻿ (Yandina Cemetery)).

## Amenities

The Sunshine Coast Regional Council operates a mobile library service which visits Stevens Street.
The Yandina branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association meets at the Yandina Hall at 11 Stevens Street (26°33′41″S 152°57′25″E﻿ / ﻿26.5614°S 152.9569°E﻿ / -26.5614; 152.9569﻿ (Yandina Hall)).
Yandina RSL Hall is at 24 North Street (26°33′30″S 152°57′14″E﻿ / ﻿26.5583°S 152.9539°E﻿ / -26.5583; 152.9539﻿ (Yandina RSL Hall)).
Wonga Park is a sportsground at 8 North Street (26°33′29″S 152°57′12″E﻿ / ﻿26.5580°S 152.9532°E﻿ / -26.5580; 152.9532﻿ (Wonga Park)). It is the home ground of Nambour Yandina United, an association football club affiliated with Sunshine Coast Football.
Yandina has a number of churches including:
* All Saints' Anglican Church at 3 Farrell Street (26°33′43″S 152°57′19″E﻿ / ﻿26.5619°S 152.9553°E﻿ / -26.5619; 152.9553﻿ (All Saints Anglican Church))
* Yandina Baptist Church at 31 Low Street (corner of Railway Street, 26°33′35″S 152°57′26″E﻿ / ﻿26.5596°S 152.9572°E﻿ / -26.5596; 152.9572﻿ (Yandina Baptist Church))
* Yandina Seventh-Day Adventist Church at 23 North Street (26°33′32″S 152°57′13″E﻿ / ﻿26.5588°S 152.9536°E﻿ / -26.5588; 152.9536﻿ (Yandina Seventh-Day Adventist Church))

## Tourism

Yandina, being one of the Sunshine Coast's oldest communities, is a charming little subtropical town in a setting of hinterland and rural areas of fertile farmlands. It is a "Ginger Town", for its agronomical source and the Ginger Factory is the top tourist drawcard for factory tours and encounters with one of the world's finest products of ginger.

### Attractions

Yandina is the home to the Buderim Ginger Factory (26°33′20″S 152°57′33″E﻿ / ﻿26.5556°S 152.9593°E﻿ / -26.5556; 152.9593﻿ (Buderim Ginger Factory)) and Nutworks (26°33′16″S 152°57′41″E﻿ / ﻿26.5545°S 152.9615°E﻿ / -26.5545; 152.9615﻿ (Nutworks)).
Yandina Historic House is a local history museum and visitor information centre at 3 Pioneer Road (26°33′28″S 152°57′34″E﻿ / ﻿26.5579°S 152.9595°E﻿ / -26.5579; 152.9595﻿ (Yandina Historic House (museum & info centre))). It is leased from the Sunshine Coast Council and operated by the Yandina & District Historical Society.

## Transport

Yandina is located off the Bruce Highway section of exit 215. Yandina Station on the Nambour and Gympie North Line has passenger train services to Brisbane. Route 631 services Yandina for buses connecting Noosa Junction and Nambour.

## In popular culture

Peter Carey describes the Yandina of 1972 in his novel His Illegal Self.