Today is essentially Tamborine mountain day which is just under an hour from Brisbane.
We checked out of our Brisbane hotel around 8:30 and were on our way - the windscreen wipers are being used less now when turning the car left and right!
The roads up to the mountain are obviously very steep but also very bendy but the car was more or less happy even with a full boot. Today we also had to slow our car to allow our 1st wallaby to cross the road. We thankfully haven’t seen much wildlife trying to cross in front of us though unfortunately we have seen a fair bit of roadkill - mostly wallabies and birds.
We started with the Skywalk. This is a mixture of artificial metal walkways around the rooftops of the rainforest trees plus some walking trails and viewpoints. All in all it took around an hour to complete though I am sure some would have been quicker. Where we live in Surrey we have an old disused railway line behind us called the Down’s Link. Mark often walks and cycles this through the wooded areas and will often see rabbits and squirrels etc…. This was the same x100. The trees were noisy and alive with the sound of insects. We didn’t see many birds at all unfortunately but heard loads and saw plenty of butterflies. We had another wallaby bound by and of course those reptiles (iguanas or blue tongued lizards? Who knows but they weren’t rabbits).
Here are some photos.
Next up was a short drive to Gallery walk with lots of pretty shops and restaurants. There are probably about 80 in all.
Pam bought some fudge from one of the three fudge shops in town and we also bought some gifts and some chocolates. Then a shop that brought back memories from Mark’s 50th birthday trip around Scotland just after lockdown finished.
We hadn’t eaten yet on purpose as we had afternoon tea (lunch) booked a few minutes drive away at a beautiful place called Tea and Niceties. This place had two areas one outside (for weddings - of which one was going on that afternoon so we couldn’t have a later slot) and inside where the tables were laid with white tablecloths, flowers, beautiful bone china cups and plates, wine glasses and napkins with napkin rings. The chairs even had ribbons on.
The first task for us to do was order our tea. That was difficult as there were 30 flavours to choose from - fruit teas to herbal, black or even white tea (no milk involved).
After we ordered, the tea arrived in small teapots and then the food arrived. Don’t you think it looks amazing.
The bottom are sandwiches, spring rolls, mini quiches etc… Scones in the middle and cakes on the top (meringue’s, chocolate cake, blueberry cheesecake, mini lemon meringues). All so delicious that we could not finish it all and was given a box to take the rest with us.
Mark was keen to see a waterfall and we knew there was one nearby but we didn’t realize the trail started right outside the rear gardens of the tea shop. This walk was around 15 minutes each way and involved many steps. Again, the rainforest seemed so loud and alive but we didn’t see many birds. Here is what we found.
However, back at Tea and Niceties we did come across this chap sitting on an outside table - probably waiting for a 3 tiered stand to be delivered.
Our final trip on the mountain was to see Glow Worms in a glow warm cave. Unfortunately there is nothing to show you here as you cannot take pictures but it was one long man made cave full of the tiny creatures and it looked liked the night’s sky. We had a very informative guide who explained that the life cycle of a glow worm is 1 year. For the first 10 months of their lives they live off bugs that they catch in sticky string they produce. Then they transform into a cocoon like a butterfly and turn into a fly who then has to find a mate (female only flies) in three days then die. In those 3 days they must procreate a a male fly and lay 130 eggs. The males last 6 days but usually procreate 3 times before they die. These eggs then turn into larvae and then turn into glow worms. Only 20% of the eggs even survive as the other glow worms eat them when they are larvae thinking they are bugs. A very fascinating place. Glow worms are only native to Australia and a small part of New Zealand.
Then we headed off to the Gold Coast - another hour’s drive away. We have an air bnb type apartment here. Remember all those canal and boat trips we have done in Australia so far and we said those houses and apartments must cost a bomb? Look at the view from our apartment.
This apartment has one bedroom with 2 double wardrobes and a ceiling fan, 2 living rooms, kitchen, 2 bathrooms( one with shower and one with a jacuzzi bath( we tried that). Plus a balcony looking over the complex that has a swimming pool, spa and tennis court. The apartment is also full of antiques from all over the world as they guy who owns it travelled a lot with work, from Saudi Arabia to China. A amazing collection of items.
We ended our day with a 3 stop tram ride into the main Surfers Paradise area. This place is for young adults with lots of neon lights, restaurants and bars. There is a build a bear shop which Mark is highlighting as it was totally bonkers. It had motorised vehicles in animal shapes for youngsters. Imagine those toddler cars in the uk but motorised and no track. Now swap the car for an elephant, unicorn, koala etc.. which the kid sits upon. Now imagine 10 of these all streaming around together. We so wanted a go but it looks like they are suitable for 7 and under. Pam prevented Mark from taking pics as they had kids on them. Maybe we will get a pic tomorrow.
Blog update…. Here is a animal vehicle picture.
Here are some pics to end on.
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