An unplanned family sleep-in on a Wednesday, certainly an indulgence not afforded until this year. Strict morning schedules are way in the rear view mirror at this point, but we know it will return some day… for now, we’ll take it!
After breakfast in the cottage, we loaded up our lunch cooler and set out for Lamington National Park. The park is located right on the Queensland/New South Wales border and is know for its rain forests, bird life and ancient trees.
During the 45 minute drive, as the elevation rose, the surroundings changed dramatically. The sheer number and height of the trees as we entered the rain forest area were a wow. Hard to believe we're just 1.5 hours from the beaches of the Gold Coast...score one for Eastern Australia.
Tree Top Walk
Our first stop was O'Reilly’s. It’s a hotel that is tightly integrated with the national park that includes many hikes and other benefits that non-hotel guests can also take advantage of.
We nearly booked ourselves at O'Reilly's, but in the end we were happy to be at Greenlee Farm. O'Rielly’s would have been a great stay, but finding that gem one step removed from the typical tourist path makes for spectacular.
The tree top walk is a network of suspension bridges that are 650 feet long, and 65 feet above the forest floor! The night prior, we’d watched this video on its construction, which got the girls pumped for the experience.
We cruised the boardwalk, hearing strange bird sounds all around. When we came to the suspension of the tree top walk, the girls bolted ahead. Each span had a limit capacity of six people at a time, but that was easy enough; it was just us and a couple of folks on the entire thing. The advantages of mid-week excursions!
The suspensions were 65 feet above the ground, but still didn’t reach over the tree tops. To get to the top, we climbed up the steep ladders, up two levels to appreciate the view. It looked out over the McPherson Range that was a bright green, the result of the past month of heavy rains - much needed after a long period of drought that fed the brutal fire season in this part of Australia.
Botanical Gardens
After the walk, we continued along and popped into a nice Botanical Gardens, which Sadie declared as her favorite. Paige and Sadie proudly led the route through the gardens for all of us. Of course, we all thought of Grammy who would love all these flowers!
Picnic Lunch
Hungry, we unpacked our cooler and filled up at a picnic bench back near the start of the hike.
Morans Waterfall Trek
The Tree Top Walk was fun, but it was definitely just a walk. It was time for an afternoon hike to Morans Waterfall. It was a 1.5 hour round trip with a decent elevation change. The girls were little rockets, genuinely enjoying the trek without a single complaint. Sarah and I are starting to have more confidence in the 3-day great walk we’ve signed up for in New Zealand in a few weeks time...more details on that in future posts.
A video of the hike...
Although everyone enjoyed the hike, it didn’t pack a wow for anyone. There is definitely a touch of jaded perspective when we’ve seen and been on so many jaw dropping hikes this year. It’s just simple human nature. The old front row at a Rolling Stones concert, for anyone who knows the saying.
Back to Greenlee
Done with the hike, we headed back to Greenlee in time to enjoy the late day sun and views. I managed a run when we got back. The FitBit nerd in me was pleased with the big step day by piling onto the hikes.
Sarah then made her way out for a run also, while I took sweet potatoes down to the pizza ovens with the girls to toss in. That, combined with some sausages we brought, made for a nice family meal.
After Dinner Show
The girls got into a dancing mood and treated Sarah and I to a show that we expect to see on Broadway later in 2020. I can see it now in the big lights of Time Square…
“The Global Subway”
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