the road more or less traveled: gold coast adventures

Adventures started in Snapper Rocks where Danny surfed. After months & months of no surfing due to ear drum, moving, working & not having a car he was finally able to get some waves... he had fun regardless of the wave quality.

Afterwards, off too the Springbrook National Park part of the Gondwana Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Gondwana Forests of Australia are the most extensive area of subtropical rainforest in the world. It is so named because the fossil record indicates that when Gondwana existed (southernmost part of two super continents, the other being Laurasia, that later became parts of the Pangaea supercontinent some 100 odd million years ago) it was covered by rainforests containing the same kinds of species that are living there today (Wikipedia).

Our first stop was Mt. Cougal. We went to see the cascades surrounded by rainforest, it was pretty rad... it was late afternoon so the setting sunlight was just phenomenal. We hiked up to the Old Sawmill which was lame, the creek and the cascades were the best part.

Then, the Natural Bridge. It was dark by the time we reached the hiking trail...
1. it ruled because we had to hike in pitch dark...the only other time that I had done anything like that was hiking up Machu Pichu before sunrise... it's exhilarating knowing that the only things surrounding you are the trees, the forest creatures and the only reason why you can see the silhouette of the mountain is because it is shades darker that the completely dark sky.
2. it ruled because it felt like we were the only ones on the trail - but comforted knowing that we weren't
3. it ruled because we saw glow worms surrounding us as we walked the trail
4. it ruled because as you get closer to the bridge, the only thing you hear is the rushing sound of the waterfall...super creepy.
5. it ruled because when you enter the cave at the base of the waterfall, you are completely surrounded by the little blue-ish light from the glow worms.

We stayed in the cave for what seemed like forever... all you can see is the blue glow worms and all you can hear is the rushing sound of the waterfall, it was completely dark.

glow worms

waterfall at night

waterfall daytime

The following day we checked out the Purling Brook Falls and a few other spots with amazing views of the the Gold Coast. Then we hiked 4km on the Twin Fall trail. The trail was fairly easy and truly amazing. The hike down to the bottom of the waterfall, walking behind all the waterfalls and hiking the whole trail encountering no one in the lush subtropical rainforest...freaking cool.