gold coast hinterland walk story

world heritage rainforest and waterfalls tramping

Find more information about Auswalk's Gold Coast Hinterland walk.

Do you know what the most popular Aussie destination is for New Zealanders to visit? The Gold Coast! What a lot of people don’t know is that there’s a whole lot more to this region than shopping and theme parks.

Just an hour’s drive inland brings you to an area of astonishing scenic grandeur. Don the tramping boots and you can experience one of Australia’s newest long distance walking tracks – the Gold Coast Hinterland Walk. Along the way you’ll be pampered in eco lodges and comfortable B&Bs.

The track begins high on the Lamington National Park, a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of the Gold Coast. As you are driven up the narrow winding road to the top of the plateau, the vegetation changes dramatically and you’ll find yourself in dense rainforest with giant trees delicately draped with ferns and mosses. It’ll probably remind you of a scene from Lord of the Rings.

Into the forest on foot where there’s an array of unique flora. The sheer diversity of these magnificent forests led to the creation of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area in 1986. This World Heritage Area contains the largest protected subtropical rainforest in Australia, most of the world's warm temperate rainforest and nearly all of the Antarctic beech cool temperate rainforest. Even today, botanists are discovering, classifying and naming new plants.

Gnarled, multi-stemmed Antarctic beech (Nothofagus moorei) tower overhead. Their magnificent branches densely festooned with epyphitic plants and colourful orchids that put on a show during September and October. A 3000 year old specimen stands as testament to Australia being part of the southern supercontinent, Gondwanaland, more than 130 million years ago. Give it a hug as you pass by. The tall straight trunks of the massive red cedars were highly prized by early loggers. They were also easy to spot in the lush green rainforest, being one of the few Australian trees to lose their leaves each spring. The new leaves start life as an orange/red colour, making them easy to identify from a distance.

Another gem is the walking stick palm, so called because the trunk looks like a cane walking pole from a bygone era. In early winter, this small, slender palm produces long strings of delicious red fruits. These berries are part of Australian folklore for the role they played in the story of the 1937 crash of a Stinson airliner that went missing on its daily flight from Brisbane to Sydney. One heroic Bernard O’Reilly decided to go and investigate after locals reported that they saw a plane disappear into clouds over the Lamington area. He hiked through untracked dense rainforest and found two of the men alive after 10 days. The berries had sustained them. Bernard and his rescue party then cut 16km of track through the rainforest to rescue them.

Bernard O’Reilly and his family established the eco lodge where you’ll be based for the first couple of nights of this trip. After dinner, you can watch “Miracle of the Mountains”, a film that vividly recreates the story of the Stinson crash with a re-enactment and interviews with people directly involved in it.

The next section of track is the classic Lamington Traverse along the McPherson Ranges to Binna Burra. This section has been here since the 1930s. It was constructed during the Depression after World War One. You should thank the main track designer, a dairy farmer by the name of Romeo Lahey, for his careful planning. He noticed that his cows never seemed to be out of breath even though they had to walk up and down steep hills to graze. He discovered that the cows’ paths never exceeded a ratio of 1:10 so he laid out tracks in the park using same principle. Large sections of the Gold Coast Hinterland Walk also follow this principle, making for very pleasant tramping.

One of today’s highlights is the Tree Top Walk where you traverse a 180 metre long series of 9 suspension bridges about 15 metres above the ground. Here you can gain a unique perspective of life in the treetops. Two observation decks have been constructed in a Strangler Fig above the walkway, the highest one being 30 metres above the ground.

Back down at ground level, it’s a special feeling as you tick off the kilometres, getting closer and closer to your next destination, Binna Burra. This place has quite a different feel to the slick luxury of O’Reillys. Binna Burra features rustic timber and log cabins built back in 1932 from hand-cut tallow wood slabs. It has a homely, welcoming feel with roaring log fires, pre-dinner drinks in the cosy communal lounge and hearty dinners that will reward you for your efforts.

Wake up feeling refreshed and head out the door for another day’s adventure. The Coomera Circuit is undoubtedly one of the prettiest walks in the park. The track criss-crosses rainforest creeks for much of the day, passing many spectacular waterfalls. The Coomera is a magnet for birds, with 160 species of sub tropical birds that will surely keep any bird-lover engrossed. The rare and elusive Albert's lyrebird is more often heard than seen. In the winter months its vibrant composite call can be heard from the depths of the valleys. Much easier to see are the bowerbirds. The male regent bowerbird is an unmistakable striking black and yellow. He’ll get the camera clicking. And the male satin bowerbird builds a “bower” to woo females. He collects blue things to decorate the bower. When a female approaches, he picks up a blue object in his beak and does a dance with it, in the hope of attracting the female inside the bower to mate. Once that’s accomplished he goes off in search of his next conquest, leaving the female to build a nest, incubate the eggs and raise the young on her own. Any wonder he’s nicknamed the “playboy of the rainforest”!

Time to leave the Lamington plateau and descend into the picturesque Numinbah Valley, or Yugambeh country to the indigenous people. This is special land – walk carefully. It’s likely that Aboriginal people colonising Australia from the north had extensive experience of rainforests in South East Asia and that they followed rainforests through Australia. In this region they would have had a good life. There are numerous edible fruits, berries and tubers such as black apple, native tamarind, lilly pilly and cunjevoi. Bats, possums, pademelons and brush turkeys provided a plentiful meat diet. Vines were used to make ropes and nets for hunting and carrying. Fibre collected from beneath the bark of giant stinging trees was woven into dilly bags. Bangalow palm fronds were fashioned into excellent water carriers. Black bean trees and tree ferns were used to make medicines. Grass trees provided resins, fire starting material and firesticks. But you won’t have to rough it tonight – there’s a lovely B&B waiting for you!

The walking is going to get tougher now as you leave the valley and climb to the Springbrook plateau. Spectacular waterfalls, cascades and tumbling creeks are the dominant features on the Springbrook end of the track. You’ll walk through the ancient volcanic landscape of the Tweed Volcano, a broad dome or shield-shaped mountain that erupted about 25 to 23 million years ago. The landscape is still being eroded by rushing streams and plummeting waterfalls.

Warringa Pool is the penultimate rainforest swimming hole and it’s well located at the top of a strenuous climb. Take the time for a refreshing dip before continuing to the big daddy of the waterfalls, Purling Brook Falls. It will take your breath away, especially as you walk behind the back of the falls on a track carved into the cliff face. Keep your eyes open for lace monitors (goannas), glossy black skinks and carpet pythons. Don’t worry, carpet phythons are harmless and they make a stunning photo to take back home! In the water you may see Australia’s unique egg-laying mammal, the platypus, or perhaps a blue spiny crayfish or native eel.

An historic mountain manor awaits you at the Springbrook end of the Gold Coast Hinterland Walk. You will have covered around 100km (shorter options available), tramped through a World Heritage Area, seen dozens of magnificent waterfalls, learnt about unique rainforest flora and fauna and stayed at some of Queensland’s finest rainforest accommodations.

Auswalk Walking Holidays offers fully packaged holidays on the Gold Coast Hinterland Walk. You can choose from guided and self-guided trips. Some people prefer to walk self-guided, as they can select their own starting date and walk at their own pace with their own friends. Auswalk arranges everything and provides maps and easy-to-follow Walk Notes. Most importantly, luggage is moved ahead while you walk. Other people prefer the added security and interpretation a guide can offer as well as the company of other like-minded people. For these people, Auswalk offers scheduled group guided trips.

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Auswalk Pty Ltd | 4 Red Gum Lease Track | Halls Gap Victoria 3381 | Australia
Phone +61 (0)3 5356 4971 | Fax +61 (0)3 5356 4970 | Email info@auswalk.com.au