Australia: Not Just a Pretty Beach!

The Enchanted Forest.

There are probably hundreds of pictures scattered around this blog of beautiful beaches, sun, sand, people surfing and swimming and just having loads of fun. But Australia is more than one great big wraparound beach.

For example, something like 35 km inland from Surfers Paradise, one of Australia’s most famous beaches, is a place called Mount Tamborine. You may recall our first ever camping trip was at Mount Tamborine.

Here is a view from Mount Tamborine……..

Gold Coast Hinterland

This area is known as the Gold Coast Hinterland and it is nothing short of breathtaking. As I mentioned in a recent post, we’ve had a lot of rain lately. I am no expert so I’m guessing here, but I would think rain is more than welcome in rainforests.

And the Gold Coast Hinterland has plenty of rainforests; I went to one last week.

In the rainforest

More rainforest

In Mount Tamborine alone, there are nine individual national parks and these pictures really do not do the place justice, But it’s still better than me trying to describe the area to you. Because I would probably just say something like “it’s really green and lush, there’s lots of trees and plants and everything, and it’s really nice”.

So here’s another picture instead…..

The rainforest creek

What exactly is a rainforest?

In very simple terms it is a forest in an area that gets lots of rainfall, resulting in a dense growth of tall and evergreen trees characterised by a diversity of species and life forms, flora and fauna.

A tropical rainforest would normally get in excess of 4,060 mm of rain each year, whereas a subtropical rainforest should have over 1,300 mm of rain during the same period. Mount Tamborine is a subtropical rainforest.

Obviously there is a little more to rainforests than that, like……..

Like the twisty tree....

...and berries, or is it nuts?

……..but I think the above description will do for a blog about life in Australia.

And the real beauty of the Gold Coast Hinterland? Well, if you get bored with it you can still be at the beach in about three quarters of an hour…..

Surfers Paradise - couldn't resist a beach pic!

PS. For those of you who were concerned about the amount of rain we have been getting lately here, worry no more. Today, for example, it’s just hitting around 36°C right now where I am and at the Gold Coast, it’s said to have hit 38°, that’s around 100°F.

Scorchio!