When we woke up, we showered and had breakfast, it was then Raine told me about my surprise - we were going to spend a couple of nights in Springbrook National Park, surrounded by sub-tropical rainforest, afterwhich we would make our way back to the Gold Coast.
We stopped at the Mount Burrel General store and the fruit store, they had an interesting scarecrow outside ...
The bananas tasted beautiful, as did the grapes, as we were still in Northern NSW and we were travelling across the border it was important to eat the fruit before crossing over. We travelled towards Murwillumbah, as this would be an ideal place to stock up on supplies before heading into the Springbrook National Park, especially extra water supplies as sourcing food and water may be difficult.
Travelling towards Murwillumbah we passed by the Nightcap Ranges ...
Once we arrived at Murwillumbah, we also made a phonecall to Raine's mum as we had been out of range and would be again in Springbrook National Park, we also stopped by the Tweed River and double checked with Murwillumbah's tourist centre we were heading in the right direction.
On our way we also pulled over by a nice little picnic area by the river ...
Once we hit the turn off for Springbrook National Park, just off the Nerang - Murwillumbah road around Numinbah, we took the long and winding road, which warns you its very steep, we even felt like singing "Climb every Mountain" and "She'll be coming round the Mountain" in our case we were coming round the mountain behind a tour bus kickng out some awful smoke.
Somewhere up the track we noticed a fudge shop and pulled in to check how close we were to the campsite. It turned out not to be that far, although when we arrived (after 12 o'clock) someone was already camped in our spot that we had booked months ahead. So we had to go in search of the Park Ranger, who were responsible for the campsites.
In the end we had to change our spot as the ranger couldn't locate the other campers in our spot, whilst we waited for the ranger to re-allocate our spot we had some of the cooked chicken we had bought previously. Once settled into our spot, we arranged everything ready for sleeping.
Once we had the campervan ready , we decided to take a short walk through some of the rainforest. We were close to the Purling Brook falls walk, so we walked towards that deciding not to do the full circuit today.
Once back we settled down and had some tuna with crackers with a big grin on my face. The cicadas here are exceptionally loud you almost need ear plugs to quieten the deafining shrill. We watched a movie and had some popcorn before crashing.
For more information on Springbrook National Park Camping see this link http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/parks/springbrook/camping.html#camping_in_springbrook_national_park there are only 11 camping areas and they are booked well in advance constantly via the website, turning up and hoping is not an option. There is a policy of taking rubbish with you, so make sure you have plenty of rubbish bags. Water isnt in plentiful supply, so bring your own too. Toilets are available, which are eco friendly and well lit and clean. There is also a BBQ sheltered area with a tap for water to assist with keeping area clean but no sink to wash cooking utensils in, again it's use your own. There are also no showers available. It's all about tread lightly, tread carefully and preserve the environment so generations to come may enjoy this beautiful habitat.
The camping fees are very reasonable see: http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/parks_and_forests/activities_in_parks_and_forests/camping/camping_fees.html for further information. the park is well organised and plenty to see and do. Be aware that some of the circuits are prone to landslides and tree falls and in wet weather paths can become inaccessible. Luckily when we arrived few were cut off for walking.
I would certainly recommend staying in one of our National Parks and have fun exploring. Everything is well set out and there is nothing more beautiful than getting out , walking, exploring in landscape that is often devoid in suburbia. There was so much wildlife to see and experiencing a sub-tropical rainforest first hand is really quite something.
To find out more about Springbrook National Park click on this link, it has all the latest information on whcich tracks are accessible and what to see and do, including the night tour of the gloworms at Natural Bridge http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/parks/springbrook/index.html
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