Australia Hinterland

Yesterday, K and I took another day trip out of Brisbane to the Gold Coast Hinterlands.  This is an area about 60 miles south of Brisbane and almost directly inland (west) from Gold Coast.  The Hinterlands is comprised of several mountain ranges and there are several national parks that span this area - part of one was declared Australia's first national park in 1908.  Although the area has always been home to a number of Aboriginal people, this area proved quite difficult to survey and traverse back in the 1840-60's when the area was first explored by the British.

We spent most of our time in the Springbrook National Park.  The area is largely rainforest and sits on top of an extinct and collapsed ancient volcanic caldera.  An incredible amount of waterfalls and scenic overlooks (down into the ancient volcanic valley and out to sea) exist in this area.

Here was one of the first scenic lookouts - looking east back to the sea and Gold Coast.

 

You get an opportunity to hike along the top to the bottom of the old volcano and get some amazing panoramic views of the hills and valleys below when on top, and experience Raiders-of-the-Lost-Arc-like rainforest scenery when down in the canyons.  Here are some pictures from the volcanic plateau above.

The four pictures below come from a lookout that was called simply - "Best of All Lookout."  As we have been told by the Australians themselves, the Australian naming conventions are pretty straightforward (some might even say lackluster).  For example Kangaroo Island is full of kangaroos.  South Brisbane is the southerly suburb of Brisbane.  So when an Aussie calls this the "Best of All", you should take notice.  I would say it fit the bill.

This lookout sits in Queensland (in the Springbrook Park), but looks out immediately into New South Wales.  In fact, the ridge sits on the border of the states.  Here is a video of the lookout panorama to give you a sense of the whole scene.

As mentioned, the park is full of waterfalls (I think 16 in total).  We saw many of them - from on top and/or from below.

Rainbow Falls

Twin Falls

 

Goomoolahra Falls

 Purling Falls

 

 

Tanninaba Falls - little dry from the bottom since most of the water goes behind rock.

Warringa Pool with little falls

The Natural Bridge

The Natural Bridge also contained glowworms - these little critters are found on the roofs of caves and other cool, damp, dark places.  Glowworms are not really worms but insects.  They are found in many places in New Zealand (where they are most prevalent, although we didn't get a chance to see any there), Australia and a few other places across the world.  K has been wanting to see some since we left home.  We had to stick around in the rainforest until past dark to see them, but they did show up ... along with a few bats that were definitely not K approved.

 

The rainforest is a place where you can encounter some different wildlife - sometimes not all of it is welcome.  We saw a cute little wallaby, but we also saw one of the biggest, ugliest spiders I have ever seen in my life.

Lots of gecko and lizards (thankfully no snakes - although a group of kids hiking before us said they had seen one).  Can you find the gecko in the picture?

While K and I were eating our picnic lunch by Warringa Pool (pictured above), we saw a few huge eels in the water - about 2-3 feet long.  These are indigenous to the Hinterlands and move between sea and river during their lives for spawning/feeding.

The rainforest canopy always amazes me.  I guess it is because we just don't see stuff like this back home - no matter how thick the forest.

And some of the trees are absolutely gargantuan specimens.

The Hinterlands are home to some of the oldest rainforest types of trees in the world - called the Antarctic Beech (shown below).  They look old - lots of knots and odd shaped growth.

 

 

It was a glorious day, but quite a hike in some warm and sticky weather.  K was a real trooper - still laughing at the end of the day.  Always a good sign.  So that was our trip to the Hinterlands of Queensland.  Tomorrow we are off to Sydney - our last stop before heading home.