Lamington National Park

Before heading into Brisbane, we made a quick stop the following day at Lamington National Park to fit in a few walks. The drive up to our campsite was quite a steep one, but even at the top of a mountain the weather was noticeably warmer that what we had left behind. The next day's weather wasn't fantastic, with patches of cloud and rain, which was unfortunate for those without a rain coat. But the walk was through some temperate rainforest, which was nice because it provided a lot of cover. The first walk led us to an old aboriginal cooking cave, located beneath a huge rocky overhang. It was a lot larger than what the pictures make it seem. The placard said the aboriginals would use the cave for shelter and cooking during periods of bad weather. 

The other short walk led us out to a nice lookout called Bellbird lookout that gave some nice views over the valley. Along the way we spotted several small wallabies that turned out to be called pademellons. They were so cute!

Our next venture was to the other side of the park via a different very long, steep, and windy road to a place that was a big resort but had a rainforest canopy walk on the property that was free to access. On the way there we passed by a group feeding some birds while they were flying and landing all over them. John and I stopped just to get a look and one bird decided John's head was a good spot to land!

After that we ventured out onto the short rainforest canopy walk. It's accomplished through a series of swing bridges that are connected between big trees starting at the top of a slope---that way you just walk straight onto it and then gradually the ground moves further and further away. At one point, you can climb two sets of ladders to reach the very top of the canopy and get a great outlook over the whole area. It's a very small space and only 2 people can go at once, but it was a great view!

After that, it was time to make the one hour drive into Brisbane, where we would be staying for the next two days and finally accomplishing the #1 on my bucket list: hold a koala!