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Ahhhh. What to do, what to do? The weather promised a mostly sunny day but a storm was predicted for the late afternoon. We decided to head inland to the hinterland area of Mount Tamborine. 

We were reminded of driving through the Dandenong Ranges in Melbourne, Victoria once again as the surrounding foliage and greenery was very similar to that area. It was decidedly cooler the higher we climbed, and as expected the rainforest shielded much of the warmth from the sun. 

We came upon a clearing at the side of the road where hang gliders were setting up to take off. We were 550m up in the mountains and the wind was pretty strong here so we guessed that it was probably a favourite spot for para-gliders and other wind reliant sportspeople. Our assumptions were confirmed when quite a few people turned up like us to watch and then we noticed the spot marked on a map of the local area as “hang gliders”. 

We saw a couple take off and watched their descent into the valley below. Nice, but not something that I think I will ever do. 

We stopped for a cuppa at the skywalk tourist attraction but didn’t do the walk amongst the top of the rainforest trees as it was almost identical to the one we did among the Karri trees in Western Australia when we were there. It was lovely to sit in the peacefulness of the rainforest cafe and listen to the birds though. 

After our picnic lunch we found the beginning of the walk to the bottom of Curtin Falls. This is the only waterfall that you can walk to the bottom of. We set off with Caleb leading the way until we arrived at the waterfall. It was quite lovely although you couldn’t get too close as it was all fenced off. 

Not far away was another waterfall walk “Cameron Falls”. This one was longer and wound through a dense rainforest. Just before we started we stopped at the lookout where we could just see Brisbane in the distance and hear loud rumblings of thunder. I spotted some lightening and we knew it was getting closer. We decided to do the walk anyway and if it rained, well, it was a “rain” forest!
The walk down to the waterfall was so peaceful and it was really enjoyable walking through the moist leaves and slushy thick mud that was in spots. We talked about other waterfalls that we have walked to like in Litchfield National Park (Northern Territory) and compared the weather, plants and the trek to them. 

As we walked, the thunder got louder and louder and the sky darker and darker. We suspected we were going to get wet-and we did.

Caleb thought it was clever how the forest shielded us from much of the downpour, until there was a break in the overhead foliage and he copped really cold, heavy rain. We bolted for the car. 

On the return ride home Ray couldn’t stop saying he couldn’t believe his eyes. All around on the ground was snow! We ALL couldn’t believe our eyes. The boys jumped out and started a snowball fight and I closed my door just in time before I wore a well placed one from Ray. They played until their hands were too cold to continue. A top of 28 degrees on the coast and snow in the mountains. Unbelievable. 

Retraction: it has been kindly pointed out to me, (thanks Ray) that yesterday I wrote that I had beaten Ray by 3 holes in one. He reminded me (twice today) that it was only by two as he also got one hole in one, just like Caleb. I promised to correct my error. (Feel better dear?)