Queensland Hinterland Adventure

Begin your exploration of the Queensland hinterlands with an early morning meeting in the heart of Brisbane. Meet your fellow travellers and then head south to Lamington National Park, where subtropical and temperate climates converge to create a vast rainforest full of plants, animals and bird species found nowhere else. The park, a Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area, boasts endless miles of walking tracks, and what feels like a waterfall around every corner. Check into your accommodation in the heart of the park, then head out to immerse yourself in the forest as you bushwalk with your own private park ranger. Take a 2-3 hour soft hike past 500-year-old trees, huge vines and hidden waterfalls, try to spot the birdlife – like the Albert’s lyrebird – that call the park home, and see the forest from canopy height on a treetop walk. Wrap up the day with a welcome dinner back at your accommodation – the perfect chance to get to know your group better. If you want to explore more, choose to look out for glow worms on an optional tour as darkness falls.

Get up early for an included guided bird-watching session before breakfast, or choose to enjoy a sleep in if you’re not an early riser. Afterwards head north to the other side of Brisbane via the Glass House Mountains, a colonial name for the peaks that jut out from the landscape and that are culturally significant for the land’s traditional owners – the Jinibara and Gubbi Gubbi people. Pass lakes, waterfalls and parklands full of kangaroo mobs, make your way to lookouts after short walks, and stop along the way to sample local produce and for lunch. This afternoon, after you arrive in Mooloolaba, you’ll have the opportunity to learn from and connect with the First Nations people of the area, the Gubbi Gubbi people, on a memorable two-hour cultural cruise. Make your way through the Mooloolaba canals and experience the life of the traditional owners who have called this place home for thousands of years. There will be storytelling and cultural demonstrations from your Indigenous guide as you make your way to sites of cultural significance, places for hunting and for gatherings, and places where the stories and songs of Dreamtime started. Look out for seabirds, dolphins and turtles as you snack on bush tucker inspired by the surrounding rainforest and ocean. Tonight, head inland to charming Monteville and check out the local bars and restaurants.

Enjoy a slow-paced morning and time for breakfast and to soak in the seaside scenery. Later, make your way inland to the most westerly park of rainforest in southern Queensland, where forest-covered peaks shelter the world’s largest stand of ancient bunya pines. These trees can produce huge pinecones of up to 10 kilograms, and the nutritious seed inside are a famous part of Australian bush tucker. On a guided scenic circuit walk, discover cool mountains, rainforests and waterfalls, unique range-top grasslands, panoramic views over the valley, colourful birdlife and the famous strangler fig. Tonight, you’ll get the opportunity to enjoy one of the darkest skies in Australia with a stargazing experience at an observatory near to the national park. With such little light pollution, the milky way can be spotted with the naked eye on a clear night.

Take an optional walk this morning through the park’s flora and fauna, or choose to take it easy. This afternoon, learn more about the nutritional benefits of the bunya seed, rich in oils and carbohydrates, and other local ingredients on a bush tucker walk led by an Indigenous Bunya Ranger. You’re sure to hear about the ‘Bunya Gatherings’, where Aboriginal groups from all over southeast Queensland came together in the shadow of the trees to reap the bunya harvest and exchange information, songs and stories. Then enjoy a different taste of the region with a wine tasting at a local boutique winery. Later this evening taste some of the ingredients from your bush tucker walk in your meal as you enjoy a farewell dinner with the group at a restaurant in the serene surrounds of the National Park. Don't forget to look up and make the most of that star-filled sky.

After breakfast this morning, take in the beautiful area with one last relaxed hike, or lie in and take it easy at your own pace. Check out of your accommodation and make your way back to Brisbane via Toowoomba, stopping along the way for an optional lunch and to take in a stunning lookout at Table Top Mountain. Your escape to the hinterland of Queensland comes to an end back in Brisbane this afternoon.