A NEW YEAR...... STARTING IT OUT BY A WALK IN THE BUSH....

Being a public holiday today we thought it would be nice to go and do something all together,,,,We decided to go up to Mt, Tambourine and do the high tree walk through the forest.....  We have done two of these walks previously, one in Tasmania and one in Western Australia so thought it would be nice to give our grandchildren the experience of walking through the treetops in the forest...

I did some research and found that Tamborine Rainforest Skywalk was the closest place we could go to to get a smiliar experience to what we had previous had on the skywalks we had been on...
We knew it would offer the children a unique and thrilling way to explore the beautiful rainforest canopies as this place advertised that they were set in a magical 30 acres of privately owned rainforest beside the crystal clear rock-pools of Cedar Creek on Mt Tamborine.

The walk departs directly from the Eco Gallery with a comprehensive array of Australian rainforest flora and fauna displays.
The walk was going to take approximately 45 minutes at a leisurely pace, which would allow us to pause to view the many points of interest and information along the way.

The entire walk total was only 1.5 kms and is a combination of forest floor trails, 300 metres of high-tech steel bridges through the highest points of the upper canopy, and a 40 metre cantilever bridge that soars a breathtaking 30 metres above the creek and rainforest below and we figured that the kids could manage this quite comfortably.

We had a a little difficulty finding it originally as the GPS wants to take you to a different location. but thankfully there were some good road signs along the way and we managed to arrive there around 11am.

It cost us just over $60 for us all to do the walk which was probably a  little expensive as there were similar walks at Springbrook which were free, but we did have a great day.

Arriving up at Mt Tamborine to do our skywalk..

Beautiful rainforest environment..

All ready for our walk...

 Once we bought our tickets, we had a look at a few of the displays inside the cafe area before heading out along the track...

Sarah pointing out some of the species of interest to Max.

 Then it was out onto the skywalk...

 The skywalk is well signed with numerous signs like the one below to read as you walk along.  Willow loved to stop and read these as did the rest of us, and they were full of very interesting information about the forest in this part of Mt. Tamborine.

 It was a great feeling to be above the tree lines and look down onto the floor of the forest....

 Once we came off the skywalk we were now walking along the floor of the forest heading towards Cedear  Creek. 

We just had to follow the arrows.

 It was an easy walk and a well signed walk with green arrows showing you the way to go to get to the creek, and then you followed the red arrows home.  The walk was actually a circuit walk so you pretty much didn't retrace your steps at all. 

Walking under the skywalk now....

Not much water in the creek this time...

 Sadly it has been so dry in Queensland, that the creek is not running this visit, and the forest hasn't been quite as lush as a rainforest normally it...

The arrows change from green to red and we head back to the cafe and centre now...

Keep following the red arrows...

 We are back on another section of the skywalk which deliver stunning views of the forest below and above...

Looking down onto the floor of the forest.

 We found this beautifully carved timber seat at the end of this particular skywalk.  It has Australian animals carved into it and it was just beautiful.  Lots of photos as Willow wanted to be in on them too with both her Poppy and Moppy...

 There was a bit of a logging display there as well with lots of infornation on the logging that was performed in this area.

 We came across this big goanna too much to Max's delight...

 It was good to get back to the Centre and have a seat in the air con... Even though we were in a rainforest it was still incredibly hot..

By now the kids were really hungry so we decided to head up into Mt Tamborine to see if we could find a park to have our lunch.  Sarah had packed us a picnic lunch again for today, but we did buy the kids a cupcake and a brownie for Sarah and Steve.

As we were driving into Mt Tamborine we noticed a sign for the Mt Tamborine Botanical Gardens so thought we would go and check them out and see if they were suitable for us to have a picnic.

The gardens surprised us...They are  unique for the fact that they have been developed by volunteers and also for the blend of both tropical and temperate plants.  There were plenty of spaces to picnic... Right at the entrance to the park there was a covered pavilion which had several picnic tables so we set up our lunch there as the kids were really hungry.  We also noticed though lots of other picnic tables spread throughout the gardens. 

 This covered pavilion was pretty central to the toilet blocks, so after lunch that seemed to be everyone's priority before heading off to explore the gardens..
The gardens have an interesting history....
They were established in 1983 as an initiative of the Tamborine Mountain Garden Club. 
The 11 hectare block of land was a weed-covered swamp that had been designated by the then Beaudesert Shire Council as the site for the establishment of a sewage treatment works.
Negotiations by the Garden Club with local councillor Vonda Youngman, saw the management of the land – owned to this day by the council – handed over to the Garden Club for the establishment of a Botanic Garden.
Work then commenced on clearing the site and building the lake.  To this day these gardens are maintained by a dedicated group of volunteers who have worked tirelessly to develop, construct and improve the gardens, creating a first-class attraction for both locals and visitors to the mountain.

Entrance to the gardens

 After lunch we all went for a walk around the gardens. 

Part of the lake - all covered in lilies

 We started strolling along many of the pathways throughout the gardens.  Most were easy gradients, but there were a few steps in the Rainforest Walk.  All the walkways are signposted for your convenience which makes it easy to recognize which part of the gardens you are in.

Off to visit the palms and rainforest area of the gardens

 

There was a lovely big open area in front of where we had lunch and they had some large flower sculptures there as well as a little boardwalk out over the lake.

Playing Tag with Poppy

View of the covered pavilion from below...

 The wisteria was flowering and just beautiful

 Steve and Sarah and the children decided to go further afield and head towards the Asian gardens.
Were they in for a surprise.....
They found this awesome children's play area right out of fairyland.....

 And then they found the amazing children's play area...
The kids certainly didn't want to leave at all and Sarah thinks that they might all head back there one day soon for one of their family days...

 The Music makers

 There was a water play area...

 more little huts to play in....

 and some mystical creatures...

and giant eggs to be found...

 There were pathways to explore.....

 and many interesting things to discover....

 All under the canopy of a rainforest.....

 and then on the way back they checked out the fauna....

 Would they visit here again....
Yes Yes Yes
in a heartbeat and so would we....

 It was almost 4pm by the time we got back to the parking lot at the gardens.  We figured that we still had an hours drive ahead of us before we got home, so we had better get going otherwise it would be a late night for the kids, and they would already be tired from all the walking they had done today.
The big thing was how would we keep them awake on the drive home so that they wouldn't fall asleep and then not want to go to bed when they got home...
The good old phone and iPad came out for the trip home... something Sarah hates to use, but we really did want them in bed for a good nights sleep at a reasonable hour tonight.

What a great start to the year....
And what a great family day we had all had...