Long Weekend in Tambourine Mountain, Queensland

3 nights in Tambourine Mountain, which is about a 50 minute drive inland from the Gold Coast, but oh so far away from the glitz and close living. It’s an oasis of rainforest, cooler temperatures, bushwalking opportunities and a brief opportunity to wind down from the stresses of everyday life.

Firstly - accommodation. We chose an Airbnb in Tambourine Mountain - Little Bird Cottage. It was perfect- 5-10 minute drive to the local shops and cafes and some lovely local bushwalks hidden behind the houses. The cottage had lots of personal touches, such as homemade sourdough bread and brownies, toiletries, well-stocked kitchen and all in a beautiful bush setting. It was so tranquil that we ate in for 2 nights, sat around the firepit waiting for the pademelons to pop in to see us, drinking wine and enjoying the peace.

Around Tambourine Mountain there are some lovely shorter walks - up to about 2 hours, through rainforest, palm groves and bush. We did the Curtis Falls walk and Lower Creek circuit, which is a moderate walk, (but not hard) with uneven surfaces, some steps and the occasional creek crossings. Amazing Strangler Figs and waterfall. The area is protected as there are glow-worms and platypus there, but despite peering for ages into the clear water I didn’t have any luck spotting any platypus. We then did the Palm Grove (1 hour) and Jenyns Fall circuit (1 hr 15 minutes), which was a beautiful mix of eucalypt forest, palms and fig trees, with a few pademelons and plenty of bird life. Again, a moderate, but not hard, walk - though a fallen tree did require a bit of scrambling.

We drove up to the ancient rainforests that make up Lamington National Park https://lamingtonnationalpark one day - a hair-raising 40 minute drive up windy, narrow roads. Watch out if you get car sick! Not a drive you’d want to do on consecutive days, but if you wanted to do more than one day walking there then it may be a good idea to stay on site at O’Reilly’s Rainforest retreat https://oreillys.com.au (now run by the third generation of O’Reillys)

There are many short and full day walks available, depending on your level of fitness. We did the Moran Falls walk (grade 4/about 1.5 hours), with subtropical rainforest, waterfalls creek crossings, and, supposedly lyrebirds, but I didn’t spot any.