There truly isn’t much that can surpass that feeling of satisfaction that you gain when you take some raw material and create something beautiful or useful out of it. Luckily for us, living on the Sunshine Coast and its surrounding hinterland means we have easy access to one of the most sustainable sources of fantastic quality lumber Australia has to offer. Personally, I adore getting my hands on some raw timber and cutting, bending and shaping it to my will to creating useful and beautiful things for my family and home. My wife will tell you that most of my creations fall apart, have uneven legs, or shelves that aren’t quite level and I should just let her go to IKEA next time, but that is the siren call of admitting defeat. Learning and evolving your skills is the only way forward – which means I need to spend more time with masters of the craft, and on the Sunshine Coast, there’s only one event for those of us that live with ears filled with sawdust and a mouth full of wood chips – The Maleny Wood Expo.

Started in 1996, the Expo was the brainchild of Queensland forester and passionate Landcare supporter, Ashley Sewell. Designed to promote sustainable use of our beautiful native timbers through the work of local and regional wood artisans the Expo is now recognised as one of the best wood shows in Australia. Three full days of clean country family fun at the beautiful Maleny Showgrounds this May 4th, 5th and 6th.

View the amazing range of lovingly crafted timber products, and meet and talk to the craftsmen and women who’ve created them. With work by furniture-makers and toy-makers, musical instrument-makers and box-makers, whittlers, carvers and everything in-between, there’s something to suit every taste and budget. Glimpse the skills of the timber cutters who ‘opened up’ the region, and catch up with the very best in both hand-crafted traditional and high tech tools. Smell the distinctive spicy aroma of newly milled timber and watch live demos of chainsaws, woodworking, trade tools and more. There’s hands-on woodwork for the whole family with WoodShed Workshops, Woodwork for Women and a creative space for kids to taste the delights of getting their hands in the sawdust and taking home their own masterpiece. There are native plants and local Maleny produce to purchase, natural resource management displays and much, much more.

All wood artisans and exhibitors are required to work in sustainably harvested native timbers, weed or recycled timbers. For more information on the expo visit their website here.