East of Woombye and Nambour, between the old Bruce Highway (Nambour Connection Road) and the coast are three coast and country districts without a shop in sight.
Kiels Mountain, Diddillibah and Rosemount share that most desirable of descriptions - “east of the highway” - and each has its own east-west connector road.
Kiel Mountain Road leaves the Nambour Connection Road just south of Woombye and then rises to a peak of 153 metres before dropping down to meet Diddillibah Road which starts just north of Woombye. Rosemount, between Petrie and Paynters Creeks, heads east from Howard Street in Nambour.
All three major access roads run parallel, then merge and connect with the David Low Way where the creeks meet the river only minutes from Bradman Avenue.
At the western end of Kiel Mountain Road is the Suncoast Christian College and over the highway, the Woombye State School.
Once an area rich in pineapple and sugar cane farms, the only remaining signs of busier days gone by in Kiels Mountain and Diddillibah is a hall, formerly a school serving both areas until 1962, and a cemetery.
Further north is the Paynters Creek area that rises to a spur and Rosemount Road and then drops into the Bli Bli Valley, about six kilometres south of Bli Bli Road. The area is mainly former sugar cane land and also once had its own school, the Sylvania School, which operated for about 70 years from 1886.
Diddillibah’s population was still only 204 in 1954 but by 2006 had hit 1331, while Rosemount was 1092 and Kiels Mountain still only had 622 people in 2006.
Summing up: Kiels Mountain, Diddillibah and Rosemount are rural residential districts that connect to the coast but have a hefty percentage of forest and fabulous views from the top of Kiels Mountain and along the Rosemount ridge. The prime high spots have generally been graced with imposing homes befitting the location, but all three areas also offer a choice of small acreage and a few housing estates. It’s an agreeable and handy place to live, but you’ll need a car to get anywhere beyond your gate.
