Brief Escape(s) from the Boat Yard

[Maryanne]We took just three days off during our seven weeks hauled out in Coomera, QLD. Even those I had to battle for, with Kyle preferring to get jobs done. I knew we needed some balance in our lives and heading out to see some of the area's natural beauty was just what I wanted, just what we needed.

Our first day off, ended up barely being an afternoon, but at least we made it. Tamborine Mountain National Park was just a 40-minute drive NW from the boat yard.

Tamborine Mountain NP - Rainforest SkyWalk

Cedar Creek with its Wine/Tawny tasting and man-made glowworm caves

Exploring the rainforest trails - bliss

We couldn't find time for another adventure until I insisted on our last weekend in the yard. We were scheduled for a splash on the Monday, we had the car reserved, and we'd been told of some beautiful places we could visit within an hour's drive to the south of us. Between us we worked even harder than normal on the week leading up to this last weekend to be certain we'd be free, but it was touch and go until late on Friday night before we were willing to allow ourselves the full two days off.

[Kyle]On the Saturday morning, we drove to Springbrook National Park. It was much less populated than Tamborine Mountain had been. We found plenty of trails where we could walk on the forest floor, breathe in fresh air and listen to the sounds of birdsong, zumming insects and the crunch of our feet in the gravel. There were no cars, no pneumatic tools, no grinders, just nature. It was such a simple activity and yet so marvelous for our weary souls. We walked to waterfalls and lookouts. At the end of the day, we decided we had just enough time to go to the far end of the park at Natural Bridge. This is a spot where a big waterfall plunges into a glowworm cave and then exits under a big arch. It was well worth the time to get there.

Springbrook National Park

In order to maximize our time in the woods, we had a plan of finding somewhere along the way to stay the night. Since we didn't know for sure that we would actually make it out of the yard until the previous night, we had left it too late and everything that looked especially picturesque or romantic was booked full. About twenty minutes from home, Maryanne found a vacancy at the Advancetown Motel, so we booked it.

Three minutes later, we pulled in. We immediately wondered what we had done. There seemed to be a big gathering of motorcycle aficionados gearing up for an evening of live music. We squeezed our way through a sea of black leather to the bar, for there was no front desk, per se, to check in. We were given a room right by the stage.

Our room was not particularly inviting, but it was better than some we have seen. We were both gratified and worried that its amenities included a can of bug spray. We considered leaving and going back to our newly-refit boat. Maryanne and I are both familiar with the Sunken Cost Fallacy, where the natural temptation in circumstances like this is to stay, so you don't waste the money. The thing is, we've already paid, so the cost to us is the same whether we stay or not. In the end, we decided that, while it may not be better, it was different and it was fifteen minutes closer to the mountains, and they had hearty pub meals available, so we stayed.

It wasn't bad. The bed was comfortable, the water was hot, and all of the "bikies" left en masse at dusk. I guess it was a whistle stop for them. Also, live music night was scheduled for Sunday; so we slept pretty well given we were there on the Saturday.

In the morning, we were up reasonably early for the trip to Lamington National Park. This place was very different. Firstly, it is accessed by a long, sinuous and, most of the time so narrow that it was one lane, road. We saw few other vehicles along the way and were fully expecting the terminus to be three parking spaces and a guy playing the banjo. Instead, we emerged from the darkness of the thick forest canopy into a giant parking lot with dozens of cars, fronting a whole resort complex that even had full-sized replica of an airplane on the lawn.

Lamington National Park

We started with a circuit of the Tree Top Walk. Unlike others on which we have been, which were cantilevered boardwalks, this one was a series of swaying suspension bridges way up in the canopy. At the end, we stopped at an area they have set aside for feeding the area's wild rosellas and lorikeets. That kept us both grinning for a while. We also took a couple of their medium-length trails, which were nearly devoid of traffic. It never ceases to amaze me in places like this how as soon as you get a hundred meters from the car park (and the cafe and the gift shop), you can have all of this pristine nature to yourself.