Mt Tamborine, the Gold Coast & Lamington NP what a day!!

 We have had the most fantastic day!! We saw so much!


We drove from our spot in Canungra up to Mt Tamborine ( it doesn’t have a ‘u’, it’s not me being a bad speller …). The road was very windy and gave us brilliant views. We noticed that lots of properties were for sale along the way – I am guessing that this is at least partly due to the rising unemployment in the region.


We saw a ‘Cheese Factory’ advertised, and as we all love cheese thought that we’d take a look. This was no little shed built on the side of a dairy – it was simply massive!


It had an onsite brewery, large restaurant and for the 10 minutes while we were in the cheese shop it had over 20 visitors. Not bad for a Thursday, especially since most of them bought something. Their herb infused feta was simply stunning! They also sold yogurt and icecream. The prices were extremely steep though at $65 per kilo of cheese. Needless to say on this budget trip, we left empty handed.


Next stop was at a handmade chocolate outlet. The chocolate sells all over Queensland. We indulged in the superb homemade icecream and ate it in the sunlight outside while enjoying a chat with the man running the shop. Yum!


The town of Mt Tambnorine has a ‘Gallery Walk’ which is several blocks of the main street dedicated to an eclectic collection of shops that include retailing fudge, icecream, crystals, beads, new age healing and German Cuckoo Clocks. Yes, it was a bit touristy, but it had a lovely feel around the place. We could have easily spent more time here just poking about!

The artist is actually a painted piece of MDF. With the rugby scarf , rag in the back pocket and paintbrush it definitely made me look twice!

A crystal shop - look at the natural light coming in!

 
The town map promised excellent views of the Gold Coast, so we went to see how true this claim was.

The view from Mt Tamborine

Neither Trevor or I particularly wanted to spend time at the Gold Coast but seeing we had come this far, decided to take a look. Our first stop was at a park and playground near ‘Sea World’ to have lunch. Max and Harry were taken with the three ibis near where we ate lunch and also loved the long flying fox.


Nearby I saw a large crowd where pelicans were being fed fish by hand. Needless to say many photos were taken, as there were a couple of large sized tourist coaches. An old man was selling trays of strawberries at the inflated price of $7, and after a few minutes all had been paid for! 


We drove out to ‘Sea World’ and looked over the fence at the monorail, volcanos, rollercoaster and sailing ship. We thought the Gold Coast theme parks would be fun, but not on this trip.


We drove onto Surfer’s Paradise and then Mermaid Beach where these pictures were taken.

I know that these areas are meant to be wonderful holiday destinations and even better places to live, but I just didn’t like it. The beaches were nice but there were so many little shops and fast food places along the road side and the surroundings were so built up. Maybe I am spoilt in Bunbury, but I think the beaches at Dalyellup or Meelup are far more tranquil, relaxing places than here.






Our final destination for the day was about 70km inland to Lamington National Park. A lady at the Visitor’s Centre had told us about a fantastic skywalk among the trees that we were keen to try. The last 30km of the drive were just so windy as the road snaked up a mountain side. At many points were signs warning of blind corners and the road often became a one lane road. We had only a couple of hairy moments, when people drove too fast but most of the driving was great.


At the top of the mountain is ‘O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat’ which is divine looking accommodation. Anyone is able to access the Skywalk just next to the Retreat, and we’re so glad that we did! 


The Skywalk is a series of suspension bridges and had a viewing platform you could access by ladders. Trevor, Harry and Max climbed this ladder to take them 30m above ground level. I was very proud of myself as I took the ladder up to 24m high. I was so determined to get up there and I did!!






The birdlife we saw was so plentiful. I lost count of the brush turkeys, and here saw a pigeon who spends most of his time feeding on insects at ground level.

There was an amazing sculpture that told of the 1937 rescue, by a local man Bernard O’Reilly, of two people from a plane crash in the Lamington National Park. After several days of fruitless searching by authorities, O’Reilly decided to search himself and found the two men as well as another man who had died from a fall while trying to locate help. The two men had spent days in the bush, only surviving by drinking water they had collected in a flask. Amazing stuff!!




This was a very busy day but I think it was one of my favourite on our trip so far.


Tomorrow we’re packing up then heading up to Buderim to see my Uncle Tim and his beautiful family. I can’t wait to see them!!