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Self-drive
tours
(suitable
also
for
energetic
cyclists:
local cyclists might like to join the Scenic
Rim Cycling
Club:
see
photo to right)
There
are
some
wonderful self-drives in our locality, with lush
rainforests, great
mountain scenery, quiet beaches and other natural
features as well as
quaint little cafes and galleries, adventure
activities, theme parks,
wildlife parks and - if you feel the need - large
modern shopping
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South-east Queensland and northern New
South Wales
together
constitute
one of the most
scenic and
species-rich
regions of
Australia, and
one that is
readily
accessible from
Queensland's
capital, Brisbane.
There
are
so many options
for self-drive
tours to
interesting and
beautiful
places
that you could
easily spend
many months
exploring them
all.
Accommodation
ranges from
primitive
camping through
caravan parks,
hostels, guests
houses,
eco-lodges, farm
stays, motels
and budget
hotels to
five-star
hotels and
resorts.
Scenic
Rim - this
is a
region formed by
three
ancient and
giant shield
volcanoes to the
west and south
of what is now
Brisbane and the
valleys
associated with
them
Rainforest
Way -
a
network of roads
linking
rainforest
experiences in
south-eastern
Queensland and
north-eastern
New South Wales
Australia's
Green Cauldron
- the
area surrounding
and including
the long-extinct
Tweed volcano
(one of
the three
mentioned above,
which now
retains one of
the world's
best-preserved
calderas
Country
Charm
- an
upmarket tour
with much
of the
preliminary
organizing done
for you
Longer
drives
- from
north
Queensland,
Sydney or
Adelaide -
we can offer
advice on
interesting
routes
There are
several useful
books to help
you choose a
route and learn
about the
natural history
and culture of
the region: e.g.
Wild
Guide
to the Scenic
Rim
(available from
Information
Centres
throughout the
Scenic Rim),
Take a Walk (J
and L Daly),
Natural History
of Lamington
National Park
(ed. Lesley
Hutley).
Visiting
the
Araucaria property
Our Scenic Rim Wildlife
Ecology Centre and
associated nature trails are
available with prior booking for self-drives,
campers at the adjacent
Andrew Drynan Reserve or anyone living in or
visiting our region. Let
us know if you would like us to arrange some
activities (the longer the
advance notice the better able we will be to
prepare something
according to you or your group's interests).
We
are
positioned on one of the loops of the Rainforest
Way
See Google map of property

Day-trips
from
Brisbane or Gold Coast:
- Full
day at the Centre . Drive from Brisbane via
(more scenic)
down the Beaudesert Road or Beenleigh, or
from the Gold Coast via
Nerang and Canungra (also scenic), through
Beaudesert to Rathdowney,
turn left at Rathdowney Post Office and continue
approximately 17 km to
Taaffe Bridge. The forest on your left is the
beginning of the
Araucaria property (complete with Araucaria
trees). After the next
bridge, most of the Araucaria property is on
your left, but the Centre
is through the green gate on your right. Let us
know beforehand what
you are interested in, so we can prepare
appropriate activities
(anything from activities for pre-schoolers
through primary and
secondary level educational games and
other activities to
tertiary ecology, behavioural studies or fauna
and flora identification
or adult education in birdwatching, rainforest
plant identification for
beginners, wildlife behaviour, basic ecology,
habitat restoration
and other topics. Bring a packed lunch for
a picnic by the creek
(or on the verandah if it is raining). Let
us know if you'd like
to spend some time relaxing in a small boat or
swimming in the creek
(there are a couple of great swimming holes) -
but no insect repellent
before swimming please, as not all the creek's
inhabitants will
appreciate that. If you'd like to schedule your
visit to last into the
early evening and prepapred to spend some time
sitting quietly, there's
a good chance of seeing platypus, especially
when they're breeding in
the second half of the year (most often emerging
from their burrows
somewherte between 4.30 and 5.30pm, but they
don't always stick to that
schedule).
- If coming from Lismore or other parts of north-eastern NSW,
take the road from
Kyogle through Wiangeree and turn left at the
sign pointing to Brisbane via Lions
Road. This winding mountain road takes you
through a narrow
section of the Border Ranges National Park
(including the Border Loop)
before you reach the Qld border. The
Wildlife Ecology Centre
property will be on your left after Moran's
Bridge and the Andrew
Drynan Reserve (picnic and camping ground).
Visit the Centre for an hour or
so during a scenic
drive. Drive from Brisbane as
above, maybe with a detour to Tamborine Mountain
on the way (SkyWalk,
Cedar Creek glow worms, Distillery, various
sections of the Tamborine
Mountain National Park), stop in for lunch at
Bearded Dragon
(Tamborine) or EveryDay's Cafe or Happy Valley
(Chinese) Restaurant in
Beaudesert, visit Araucaria and then detour to
see kangaroos and
wallabies at Kooralbyn on your return journey.
Alternately, come
straight to Araucaria, visit the Centre, then
take a picnic lunch
across the border to the Border Loop, where the
interstate train makes
a complete circle (in aerial view) around the
hill, and enjoy a short
walk through eucalypt forest and subtropical
rainforest. If returning
on a Wednesday or weekend afternoon, you might
like to drop in at
Bearded Dragon and watch their live reptile
show.
- Spend a
couple of
days or
more in the district. This is the best
way to see wildlife,
most of which are active in the early morning,
late afternoon or
evening. The stars also appear far
brighter here than in the
townships, and the sounds of frogs and running
water can provide a
welcome relief from traffic noises and
neighbours' hifi's. Camp at the
Andrew Drynan Reserve adjacent to the property,
or stay in the
beautiful Cougal Park B&B a few km
south of the border, the
Rathdowney Hotel/Motel (17km from Araucaria) or
at any of various
guests houses, cabins, farm stays and B&B's
in the Scenic Rim or
below the border. Explore the
Rainforest Way both sides of the border
(Lamington National Park,
Border Ranges NP etc.), perhaps head south-east
to Mt Warning and the
Tweed Valley and back via the
coast, or west to Mount French. St Mary's Falls
or Cunningham's Gap and
back via
Ipswich.
- Next time you're traveling
from Brisbane or Ipswich to Sydney or other
NSW destinations and
not in too much of a hurry, consider this scenic
route through the
mountains, via Beaudesert and Kyogle, instead of
the coastal highway.
Maybe spend a night in the Scenic Rim or Border
Ranges on your way
through, or schedule a stop at Araucaria on your
way through to
Lismore, Grafton or beyond for the night.
Google
map:
View
Larger Map
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Scenic Rim
Geographically,
the
Scenic
Rim generally
refers to the
mountains
south and west
of Brisbane
formed by
three ancient
and gigantic
shield
volcanoes.
It is
sometimes
extended to
include
mountainous
country just
south of the
New
South Wales
border, which
is after all
part of the
same
geological
series of
events, just
an artificial
political
boundary
separating
them.
Politically,
the Scenic Rim
Regional
Council
includes the
southern half
of this
region, from
Binna Burra to
Tamborine
Mountain and
west almost
to the Great
Dividing Range
(west of
Boonah), with
the New South
Wales
border as its
boundary.
There are many
wonderful
opportunities
for
self-drives,
for just a day
from Brisbane
or the Gold
Coast or sites
within the
Scenic Rim
itself,
or for a
weekend or
better still,
several
days.
Accommodation
includes
campgrounds with and
without
facilities,
caravan
parks, guests
houses, romantic
cabins, family
cabins, eco-lodges
by networks of
rainforest walking
tracks or rugged
mountains to
climb, farm stays,
motels, hotels
for all budgets
and upmarket
resorts. You can
use this interactive
map to find
out how to reach
the region from
wherever your
starting
point might be.
For advice on
self-drives and
chartered outings
( families,
individuals,
school groups,
tertiary groups,
scouts and
guides,
researchers,
conference
delegates,
birders, nature
photographers,
artists...) that include the Scenic
Rim Wildlife
Ecology Centre on
Lions
Road, contact
Araucaria
Ecotours for
suggested
itineraries to
maximize your
experience of the
wildlife,
forests, mountains
and other natural
wonders of this
region. Closest
accommodation to
the Wildlife
Ecology Centre is
camping at
Andrew Drynan
Reserve
(adjacent), the
motel at
Rathdowney
(17km)
or a
very beautiful
bed-and-breakfast
at Cougal Park
(14km).
See also Visit
Scenic Rim
(Scenic Rim
Regional Council:
southern end of
the Scenic Rim), Scenic Rim Escapes (tourism
attractions and
accommodation
mostly in the
eastern part of
Scenic Rim
shire). Scenic
Rim
Tourism (tourism attractions
and accommodation
mostly in western
part of Scenic Rim
Regional
Council), and country
drives
from
Toowoomba
(northwestern
section of the Scenic Rim, not
within in the
SRRC)
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Rainforest Way
This is a series of
suggested scenic drives to
the various
rainforests of
the Qld/NSW
border regions easily accessible
from Brisbane,
Gold Coast or
Byron Bay. There
is a major route
and
several loops
The Lions Road
loop brings you
past the Araucaria
property with its
Scenic Rim
Wildlife Ecology
Centre
(contact us first)
and the
adjacent Andrew
Drynan
Camping Reserve
(phone 07 5544
1281). For those
who would like
more
comfort overnight
there is the
wonderful
bed-and-breakfast
Cougal Park
on Lions Road on
the NSW side.
From Brisbane,
head through
Beaudesert, then
to Rathdowney and
turn
into Running Creek
Road at the Post
Office. The
Araucaria property
begins after
Taaffe Bridge.
After visiting our
Wildlife Ecology
Centre,
you can continue
on across the
border to
the Border Loop
lookout,
where the
interstate train
does a spiral to
decrease the slope
it needs
to climb on its
way towards
Queensland. From
here a short
walking track
takes you through
open forest and
rainforest, with
many of the trees
and other plants
named.
Continue on to
Simes Road and
turn left
to visit the
eastern section of
the Border Ranges
NP with walking
trails in cool
temperate and warm
subtropical
rainforest and
some great
views, including
the Mt Warning
caldera.
If coming from the
Gold Coast you
could visit Binna
Burra, O'Reilly's
or Tamborine
Mountain on your
way to the
Araucaria
property, and
perhaps
spend the
night at Andrew
Drynan Reserve
or Cougal
Park
If coming from
NSW, visit the
Border Ranges
National Park then
head up
Lions Road,
perhaps with a
stop at the Border
Loop, then on
across the
border, where
after crossing
Moran's Bridge you
will see the
Andrew
Drynan Reserve on
your right, and
the Araucaria
property is just
around
the next corner.
See
the
Araucaria
property
on
Google
maps
Other loops
include
Mallanganee and
Richmond Range,
Tamborine Circuit,
Main Range, Mount
Warning View
Circuit, Minyon
Falls and the
Tweed
Range Scenic Drive
- you could easily
spend a couple of
months
exploring them
all. Pictured
above right is
rainforest in
Lamington
National Park near
Binna Burra
Australia's Green
Cauldron
Australia's
Green
Cauldron refers to the
forest-covered
mountains that
were once the
scene of
fiercely hot
lava
flows from the
Tweed Volcano,
now one of the
best-preserved
calderas in
the world,
with
readily-accessible
rainforest
walks, scenic
beaches
(the
easternmost
volcanic rocks
extend into
the Pacific
Ocean) and a
variety of
accommodation,
dining
experiences,
galleries and
other
travel
adventures.
Mt Warning is
the central
plug
containing the
last bit of
lava that did
not quite make
it into an
eruption, and
is
today the
first part of
Australia to
see the sun
each morning,
being
just high
enough to
catch the
first rays
before Cape
Byron, which
is
the most
easterly part
of our
coastline. The
Rainforest
Way
is
mostly within
the Green
Cauldron, as
is the
south-eastern
portion of the
Scenic
Rim.
Click here for
further
details of the
richly diverse
region of south-eastern Queensland and
north-eastern
New South
Wales,
including
fauna flora,
geology and a
sample of
tourism
features. The
Rainforest
Information
Centre at
Murwillumbah
has some good
interpretive
displays.
Country
Charm
The
upmarket Country
Charm
Self-drive
tour by Travel
Associates
does most of
the
organising for
you to
experience
rainforest,
wining and
dining,
farm stay,
cooking
classes and
alpacas, as
well as
information on
wildlife and
geology,
starting in
the south-east
but
concentrating
on the
south-western
end of
the Scenic
Rim.
Longer drives - from north
Queensland,
Sydney or
Adelaide
Contact
us for
suggestions on
interesting
places to see
along the way,
especially if
you are
interested in
wildlife and
natural areas.
When
you
arrive in the
Scenic Rim you
can connect
with any of
the above.
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