Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day 13th Edition - To Parent Directory

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CHAPTER 6 . QUEENSLAND & THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
Charlie Pride, Glen Campbell, Don McLean, and Gene Pitney in the Auditorium
(tickets for performances A$20 to A$35/US$13–US$23). Live music plays
every afternoon and evening. Just to make sure nothing comes between you and
the one-armed bandits (slot machines), there’s a supervised children’s lounge
(entry A$5.50/US$3.60 per child) for the over-4s open every evening until
10pm Sunday through Thursday and until midnight Friday and Saturday.
Although the club is over the state border by a matter of meters, it ignores NSW
daylight saving and runs on Queensland time year-round. Admission is free.
10 The Gold Coast Hinterland: Back to Nature
The cool, green Gold Coast hinterland is only a half-hour drive from the Coast,
but is a world away from the neon lights, theme parks and crowds. Up here, at
an altitude of 500m to 1,000m (about 1,500 ft.–3,500 ft.), the tree ferns drip
moisture, the air is crisp, and there’s no pressure to do anything too quickly.
Mt. Tamborine shelters several villages known for their crafts shops, galleries,
cafes, and lovely B&Bs. Easy walking trails wander from the streets through
rainforest and eucalyptus woodland, and as you drive you will discover magnificent
views.
The impressive 20,000-hectare (50,000-acre) Lamington National Park
lies to the south of Mt. Tamborine. The park, at around 1,000m (3,328 ft.) above
sea level, is a refreshing eucalyptus and rainforest wilderness crisscrossed with
walking trails. It’s famous for its rich, colorful bird life, wallabies, possums, and
other wildlife. The road to the park is full of twists and turns, and as you wind
higher and higher, gnarled tangled vines and dense eucalyptus and ferns make a
canopy across the road so dark you need your car headlights on. The park is about
90 minutes from the coast—but once you’re ensconced in your mountain retreat,
the world will seem remote.
The hinterland is close enough to the Gold Coast and Brisbane to make a
pleasant day trip, but you will almost certainly want to stay overnight, or longer,
once you breathe that restorative mountain air.
MT. TAMBORINE
40km (24 miles) NW of Surfers Paradise; 70km (42 miles) S of Brisbane
Crafts shops, teahouses, and idyllic mountain vistas bring visitors to Mt. Tamborine.
The mountaintop is more a plateau than a peak, and it’s home to a string
of villages, all a kilometer or so apart—Eagle Heights, North Tamborine, and
Mt. Tamborine proper. Many of the shops and cafes are only open Thursday,
Friday, and weekends.
ESSENTIALS
GETTING THERE & GETTING AROUND From the Gold Coast, head to
Nerang and follow signs to Beaudesert. The Mt. Tamborine turnoff is off this
road. Alternatively, take the Pacific Highway north to Oxenford and take the Mt.
Tamborine turnoff, the first exit after Warner Bros. Movie World. Many tour
operators run minibus and four-wheel-drive day trips from the Gold Coast, and
some run tours from Brisbane. Another option is to pay A$15 (US$9.75) for the
day to ride the Tamborine Trolley Co. buses (& 07/5545 2782), modeled on
early-20th-century trams, which run on a 25km (16-mile) circuit linking four
wineries, a distillery, pub, cafes, restaurants, antiques shops, markets, galleries,
hang-gliding lookouts, and rainforest walks. The circuit takes an hour and you
can hop on and off as you like. Owner/operator Sue Netherway will organize