Tamborine Mountain treats

• Published date: 19 July 2022
• Publication title: Ensign, The

AS the locals say, it’s the Green behind the Gold, a lush high-country wonderland of rainforests, characterful mountain villages and boutique treats

If you’re in need of a breather from the theme park thrills, savour the majesty of Tamborine Mountain, just a 40 minute drive inland from the coast. The abundance of walking trails enrobe you in Australia’s ancient Gondwana rainforests, a canopied world of filtered light and dappled greens brimming with palms, strangler figs, epiphytes and curling vines.

Like many trails across Tamborine Mountain, the Curtis Falls Walk is short and stress-free. An unexpected frisson of shock greeted me on arrival, as an enormous flooded gum tree cracked and crashed down to the forest floor. The noise was thunderous.

A quick 10 minute stroll through lush rainforest brings you to Curtis Falls, which flows into Cedar Creek and its spectacular cascades and swimming holes. With a Disney-like drop into a rockpool, before tumbling over basalt boulders, Curtis Falls is the only fall that can be viewed from its base.

Speaking of Cedar Creek, I took the opportunity to admire the brand-new glamping option that has been unfurled at Cedar Creek Lodges. Wrapped in rainforest, with adventure activities, premium dining and luxuries at hand, the new Woodland Tents raise the bar on rustic luxury, complete with wide-screen TV, BBQ, fire-pit, king-sized beds, along with a private ensuite and outdoor shower.

I also ventured to the Tamborine Rainforest Skywalk, another glorious way to bask in the brilliance of the forest finery. Relax, refresh, inhale.

Established by the Moore family 13 years ago, elevated steel walkways zip you through the upper canopy of the forest, combined with trails through the forest floor. Accentuating the experience, the Eco Gallery serves up an insightful array of flora and fauna displays, there’s a local history enclosure, a butterfly lookout and indulgent on-site cafe and giftshop.

But the runaway highlight of the Skywalk is the 40m long cantilever bridge that juts out into the heart of the forest, 30m above Cedar Creek. The lookout vividly illustrates how nature is locked in a constant tug of war between the giant flooded gum trees of the Eucalypt forest and the sub-tropical rainforest. Strangler Figs are the rainforest’s front-line soldiers, leading the charge against the invasive gums, by growing on top of them and strangling them.

I also glimpsed one of Australia’s most extraordinary birds scurrying into the...