Nestled inside Australia's beautiful Tamborine mountains, Binna-Burra Mountain Lodge was somewhere destined to steal my heart.
If I am lucky enough to revisit Binna Burra, there's a good chance I'll never return home. This mystically tranquil place is were Earth blends into Heaven, a place I'd happily spend my final days.
If you visit Binna-Burra, part of the experience is to take advantage of the spectacular sites around the park. My daughter and I chose to walk to a destination called Coomera Falls. This was a medium level hike that seemed achievable but also challenging at the same time. I was sure we would be rewarded for our extra effort, but I could never have predicted the bounty of nature we were about to experience.
Along the way, we witnessed wildlife to the fullest extent. From the magnificent trees that towered hundreds of meters above you, all the way to the scurrying skinks that crossed our path, this was an experience we could never have imagined in our wildest dreams.
As soon as we arrived in Binna Burra I could sense we were somewhere very special and as we walked through the forest it seemed like Mother nature had every intention of showing us all she had to offer. Nothing proved this more than what we encountered halfway along the trail...
As you can appreciate, that was a breathtaking moment neither of us expected and we could have just called it a day right there. Surprisingly, my young daughter wasn't the least bit shook by what could have been a dangerous situation and I instantly knew I was with the best travel buddy in the world. So, with our pulses still racing we carried on walking, determined to get to our final destination.
After a VERY long walk, we finally arrived at Coomera Falls and it became apparent that the pictures inside the map(and the ones I took) did not do justice to this enchanting place.
The look-out point above the waterfall was supposed to be the end of the trail but a group of elderly walkers, who seem to pop up from nowhere, explained otherwise. As we all said hello, one of the group advised us to carry on down the path to the bottom of the valley. They mentioned it was "a little tricky", but I assumed if they could handle it then we'd have no problems. In fact, the path turned out to be a near-death experience due to its narrowing to a foot's width and having a mahoosive 100ft drop at one side. "A little tricky"...I want whatever they had for breakfast! Embarrassingly, my daughter (laughing all the way) ended up having to coach me all the way down the path!
Once I'd regained my composure and made some excuses for my show of cowardice, I realized it was a very worthwhile decision.
I think we've landed in paradise!
It made for a perfect end to our journey and while there we spent time playing in the creek and eating our packed lunch, during which we were joined by a family from Scotland. After this, we packed up and began the long walk home.
Waking up the next day, our legs felt as if we'd ran a marathon, which wasn't far from the truth. As it turned out, I had read the map wrong, and HUGELY under-estimated the distance of our chosen route and instead of walking 5 or 6 kilometers, we ended up walking 17.5km!
Moral of the day. The more you put in, the more you receive.
Nearly 4-years on and my daughter and I still speak about this holiday quite often. We feel very fortunate to have had this opportunity and even more so after the recent bushfires tore through Binna Burra, devastating this beautiful resort.
Thanks to the community and the tenacious Aussie spirit, Binna Burra is being rebuilt. Although many animals lost their lives and whole ecosystems were destroyed, the forest is coming back to life and, in time, will return to its former glory.
I've promised myself that, someday, I will go back to Binna Burra and experience its wonder all over again. Until then I have the memories to keep me happy and if for some reason I don't get to return, at least I can close my eyes and relive these awesome moments.
PTYAY
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[//]:# (!pinmapple -28.194074 lat 153.187504 long Binna Burra Lodge d3scr)
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