Lamington National Park

On the penultimate (I love that word) day of having my hire car, Tegan and I visited Lamington National Park. Situated about 100km’s south of Brisbane, this world heritage listed site runs the gamut from dense tropical rainforest to sparse dry bushland. The area we had a walk around, Birra Burra, is part of a long silent volcano. Evidence of the volcanoes activity, though occurring an eon ago, can still be seen in the landscape.

Setting out early we reached Birra Burra at about 10am. Stopping at a coffee shop featuring a beautiful view of the area, Tegan grabbed a couple of guides and we planned our day over a latte. It was decided we’d do two of the shorter walks available. The first a rainforest walk, and the second a 5km hike that encompassed the other side of the hill.

The Rainforest walk was beautiful. Under the cool dark canopy we walked the tracks, taking in the immense trees and moist air. Huge strangler figs enveloped massive eucalyptus trees, vines hung everywhere. Little birds scrounged the undergrowth, making a mess and running about. The Rainforest walk was fairly short, but a good introduction to the park.

Jumping in the car we headed down the hill and started the Caves Circuit. The first thing you see on the path is a warning regarding the cliff edges. The photos don’t really capture just how steep and dangerous some of the portions of the walk were, with sheer, seemingly bottomless drops constantly present alongside the narrow, often slippery unprotected path. The view from the trek though was amazing. Looking into a valley carved over millions of years was awe inspiring. Along the walk we encountered a very relaxing waterfall, caves that were once used as protection from the elements by aborigines of the area and twisting tracks leading up the steep side of the mountain. The walk ended at the top of the mountain, leaving us to walk down the road to our car.

On the way down, feeling an itch Tegan took off her boot to find a leech gorging itself on her ankle. The little bastard did a bit of a number on her, and Tegans foot bled and felt weird for most of the drive home. It was utterly macabre.

After our visit to the National Park we headed to Burleigh Heads, south of Surfers for a packed lunch Tegan had made. We sat on the beach, eating cous cous salad and relaxing. I finally found a nice pub on the beach, something which proved non-existent at surfers, and we had a coffee before the drive home. It was a great day, and seeing the forest just made me want to adventure further north into the Daintree. One day.

After the break is a video montage of some of the photos I took during the day, with sound from the rainforest. Oh, and before you start, I know I spelt Lamington wrong in the titles. It was late, and I can’t be bothered fixing it.

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