Australia: Gold Coast Hinterland

We had enjoyed our day at Mount Tamborine so much that we had decided to head back up into another part of the mountain range. We headed for a place called Springbrook and in particular Springbrook Plateau. Here there are also sub-tropical rainforests and eucalypt forests. In addition there are many cool waterfalls and various walks and lookout points to explore throughout the mountain. The first place we stopped off at was Apple Tree Park lookout. Already we were impressed and we weren't even at the highest point yet:

After this it was time to check out one of the massive waterfalls in the area, this was Purlingbrook Falls. Millions of years ago Springbrook Plateau was part of a huge volcano, just like Mount Tamborine. Weathering and erosion have turned this landscape into sheer cliffs with waterfalls that drop over 60m. Here we learned that Aboriginal people lived in this land for thousands of years before the Europeans arrived. After the Europeans arrived the lives of the local Yugambeh people were changed. The land was divided for settlement, restricting waterhole access and making hunting and food gathering difficult. Many Yugambeh people were moved to reserves and only a few stayed to find work and adopt to a new lifestyle.

We started to take a walk to the falls and got to the first lookout point where we came across some stunning views as well as a Land Mullet which is a type of Skink:

On the walk to the falls there were various gaps in the trees where there was some fantastic views of the scenery:

After reaching the falls we decided to try and get down to the very bottom of them and to do this we had to go on another walk that took us through really thick rainforest. Here we got a reminder that it is so important to be switched on and constantly pay attention to where we were walking as immediately in front of us a 3 metre python slithered right across our path!! At times you forget where you are as these forests are home to so many deadly snakes, luckily for us this snake wasn't poisonous and also wasn't too interested in us.

We did manage to make it down to the bottom and see the river bed before taking a walk along a path that took us behind the waterfall that was really cool:

From here we went to check out the next lookout point which was Hardy's Lookout. This was named after James hardy who was one of the pioneers of Springbrook. At this lookout point there was a small shed with some information about the way of life of the first white settlers in the area. within the shed there was an original Buckboard, which was the villagers only means of transport before the first main road was built in 1928. This buckboard was built in 1912 and was pulled by 2 horses. On the way down the mountain a log was tied to the back to act as a drag to prevent the horses from slipping.

The next lookout point we came across was Canyon Lookout which again had some fantastic views of the valley below.

The best lookout point was saved until last. Normally when you get something named Best Of All Lookout it dissapoints, not in this case however. Best Of All Lookout was a magnificent vantage point and to be honest the pictures do it no justice at all. This is one place where you really have to be to experience it. You can see for miles and on a clear day you can see right onto the coast of Australia. Up here we came across some old Antarctic Beech trees which provide a link back to pre-historic times, around 50 million years ago, when Australia was much colder and further South. The ring of the following gnarled trunk has grown from a single tree. Over many decades this tree has gone through a process of coppicing, which is the dying and regrowing of new stems. This ring of growth encircles the site where a single seed started growing around 2000 years ago!