The Best Of All Lookout ~ Springbrook

We spent the recent long weekend exploring one of our beautiful national parks here on the Gold Coasts hinterland. Springbrook National Park and what a treasure it is.

Of course when exploring we are always keen to see the local lookouts and the Springbrook area has no shortage of them.

We actually only noticed the signage to The Best Of All Lookout whilst driving to Canyon Lookout so on our return we decided to take the brief side tour to check it out.

Considering we did scoff at the name, I mean seriously, who names a lookout the best of all? So of course we needed to know if it really did live up to its name.

It was very close to dark on our first visit and the area was receiving wind gusts of up to 30km so we made a quick mad dash to the lookout, whilst we froze our tooshies off. We had a quick look, took a couple of snaps and vowed to return the following day to inspect the stunning little walk more closely.

We did just that and whilst the wind had died down the next day, the weather was overcast and showery, so it was very cold and dark.

However, it gave the 700 metre return walk a true magical rainforest feel. Low lying cloud cover ensured that there was plenty of mist through the forest.

We were not prepared clothing wise and whilst we did linger a little longer it still wasn't enough to truly enjoy everything this stunning little walk has to offer.

I absolutely wish to return but next time it will be with my tripod and my tracksuit!! The low light simply makes it too difficult not have photo's with some amount of camera shake.

New fern growth was emerging everywhere. I am always in awe of these stunning plants and could sit and look at them for ages.

My daughter and I noticed these tiny little orange fungi growing on a log on our first walk through, it took us a bit of back tracking to find them again on the second visit. Seriously, they were only a few milimeteres in diameter, what a treasure.

This truly is a fabulous walk for families, there is a car park right at the entrance, the path is bitumen the entire way. Absolutely no trudging through any over grown rainforest walks here. However you still have the feel and the experience of a true rainforest walk.

If you haven't done this, put it on your list. It really is so close to the gold coast, just follow the signs down Repeater Station road, off Springbrook Road.

The prize at the end of the walk is of course "The Best of All Lookout". It is rather stunning I must say. On a clear day you can see as far as Coolangatta.

Why not do some mountain spotting with the kids. Here you will find Mt Warning, the twin peaks of the Cougals, with Springbrook National park all laid out before you. If you are really lucky you may even see as far south as Byron Bay.

You know I think they may have come pretty darn close when choosing the name for this lookout.

Happy Travels,
Kylie

The Otways ~ The Otway Treetop Walk

The Great Otway National Park has got to be one of the most stunning natural places to visit in Australia. We only had but a day to see as much of this spectacular area as we could. Let's just say that we will most definitely head back to that region of our world. It is purely magical.

Heading to Ballarat was a last minute decision. My husband had to head down for work for a few days and he suggested we all tag along. Normally I would say no, but this time I ignored all reason and said yes!

We did have a fabulous few days exploring Ballarat and in another spur of the moment decision, we decided that we could absolutely tackle The Otways and The Great Ocean Road in a little over a day. Some may call us mad and it certainly was a whirlwind visit but I am so very glad we made the decision we did.

We headed straight for the Otway Fly Treetop Adventures, this was kind of out of the way considering our very limited time frame but we made the mad dash anyway.

Unfortunately we just didn't have the time to undertake the fly. I'd have to say though that zip lining through this magnificent place would be awesome so if you are in the area be sure to allow plenty of time to fit that in.

We did however, have just enough time to fit in a wander through the Treetop Walk. They suggest this takes approximately 1 hour. You could most definitely do it in less time but it would be a rush and the pure tranquility of this place simply begs you to spend more time there.

After a brief dirt road stroll through the rainforest you arrive at the first section of the mighty steel structure. This thing is huge. In fact it is the longest and tallest of its kind in the world.

With a massive cantilever section that juts straight out into the forest canopy and a 45 metre spiral tower that truly takes your breath away; because by the time you are at the top you are so damn dizzy you can barely breath from walking around in circles! Hehehe, ok so it isn't really that bad but it is some set of stairs I will say that much.

The vegetation is simply stunning. I adore the way in which both the ground level and higher walkways have all been designed to allow you to be completely immersed in the vegetation without actually harming any of it.

Be sure to look up as you walk, there are some pretty spectacular views of the Treetop Walk structure.

Of course there is always one crazy in every family selfie. Isn't there?!

This gives you a good overview of the area, the walkways and the Treetop Walk itself. I know I've already said it but this is most definitely worth a visit.