Lamington National Park: Beauty & Intrigue

Lamington & Springbrook National Parks in South East Queensland are mecca's for bushwalkers and have over 200km of walking tracks.

The Gold Coast Hinterland Great Walk joins these two parks and this walk has outstanding natural and cultural attractions.

On this Great Walk you will trek through lush temperate and sub-tropical rainforest, you'll see evidence of early settler occupation and hear stories of courage and hope.

One such story, in February 1937, a Stinson Airliner, VH-UHH went missing on a flight from Brisbane to Lismore.

The airliner crashed into the dense rainforest on the Lamington Plateau. Initially it was thought that the airliner was never in the area until local farmer Bernard O'Reilly had a hunch and went in search for the wreckage.

Five men died in the crash but remarkably 2 men survived. They were found deep in the rainforest by Bernard O'Reilly 10 days after the crash.

South Coast Track: A walk on the wild side.

The sound of your guide assembling the trangia stove each morning is your cue to get out of your tent.

What's stopping you is the thought of putting on your wet socks and your damp clothes but your guide shouting "cuppa" is enough incentive to get you moving each day.

With a coffee in hand its' just a stroll from your bush camp to one of many secluded beaches that you camp beside on Tasmania's South Coast Track.

The South Coast Track is one of Tasmania's greatest guided walks. You'll encounter very few people and see amazing landscapes and wildlife.

Wombats: Close Encounters!

How cute is this little guy?

He is one of hundreds of wombats that run wild on Maria Island, Tasmania.

Maria Island is a National Park off the East Coast of Tasmania and you can arrange a guided tour of the island to uncover its history and meet its amazing inhabitants.

Close encounters with the wildlife are numerous on Maria Island.

Wombats generally don't come out during the heat of the day, so late afternoons /early evenings are the best time to go wombat spotting. You can generally get pretty close to them as they have trouble seeing you until you're pretty much on top of them.

When they do see you, they sometimes stand really still and pretend that you can't see them!

You've got to love them!