Discover Australia’s Best Rainforest Experience

There is more to this vast continent than Sydney and beaches. The rainforest is a buzz and you don’t have to travel to the ends of the earth to enjoy it. Check out this Queensland rainforest adventure between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

Busy work lives demand serious fun so our group of four girls (best know for clubbing until late Friday nights and wasting the weekend) decided to head to the hills for some outdoor adventure…

A friend had recently spent a weekend at Tamborine Mountain and recommended Thunderbird Park. We booked a two-bedroom lodge with a spa bath and headed off on Friday afternoon. It took about 40 minutes to drive from the Gold Coast to this huge rainforest property.

We arrived around 3pm, had a walk through the rainforest tracks, played mini golf on the championship course, took dip in the rock pools, met some friendly horses and had a great dinner and a couple of bottles of wine in the on onsite Rainforest Restaurant.

Saturday started with a big barbecue buffet breakfast (there was lots of healthy stuff but who could resist pancakes with maple syrup, fluffy scrambled eggs and locally made sausages).

We burnt off the calories on the Tree Top Challenge ropes course, (two hours of playing jungle games on ropes is pretty full on) and then decided try the Canyon Flyer. This extreme adventure is Australia’s largest zipline rainforest canopy tour. It begins with a fantastic 4WD experience.

After the short drive, we hit the heights on the seven zip lines zigzagging Cedar Creek Canyon at 60 metres above ground and 70 kmph. The zipline tour takes about three hours and it is amazing.

After a light lunch on the terrace we spent a couple of hours searching for treasure filled thundereggs formed millions of years ago and came up with the goods. The thundereggs are filled with crystal or agate. Sam, the mine manager, cut the eggs we found to reveal fascinating natural formations. The cut eggs make interesting ornaments and very impressive jewellery.

We had booked a late check out, 9am breakfast and a 10am horse ride on Sunday morning. It was a gorgeous day and it was great to ride the gentle horses through the stunning rainforest scenery. We left feeling relaxed and refreshed.

Thunderbird Park is top spot for a hassle free weekend escape. We loved it. We chose the posh option and stayed in one of the self-catering lodges, it was great value as breakfast was included but accommodation options include camping, lovely rooms and clean, modern bunkhouses.

Cedar Creek Lodges at Thunderbird Park is about an hour by road from Queensland’s Gold Coast and the State’s capital city Brisbane. Tamborine Mountain is a rural community similar to the less commercialised areas of Italy’s Tuscany.

Visit www.thunderbirdpark.com.au and see the best of Australia.