Brisbane things to do: Lamington National Park

Recently, we spent a delightful day feeding the parrots and wandering the walkways of Lamington National Park, home to O'Reilly's mountain retreat and nestled in the Gold Coast hinterland.

Winding road from Canungra to O'Reillys

From Canungra, about 80k (50 miles) south of Brisbane and only 30k from the Gold Coast, the 36 kilometres, 22 miles of winding road twists and turns, climbing steeply through shady rainforest. If you are peckish call in for brunch in the village before you embark on the climb, try a pie from the pie shop perhaps? Although, think twice, locally we prefer to save ourselves for a pie stop on the way home - Yatala Pies, yum! Famous for a reason!

As we climbed, and braved each of the many hairpin bends we were forced into the sunny clearings to suffer the spectacular views over the beautiful Scenic Rim. Stunning! The heat of the day soon cooled as we gained altitude and an abundance of butterflies did what butterflies do best and fluttered by. For the avoidance of doubt, when I say "we climbed", it was more a case of our super-duper little Mini did the climbing, we kind of just went along for the ride! As the passenger, there was more than a moment where, eyes tight shut, I gripped onto the door tightly and tensed my toes! I've had better toe-tensing moments, I'll be honest!

Scenic Rim viewed from O'Reilly's

If you didn't stop at the bottom, not to worry (good choice!), the mountain cafe has a good selection of snacks, from home made soup to pies that are unlikely to challenge the fayre at base camp but tasty enough. The food was definitely a notch up from the usual tourist offerings, the service was good and with the outdoor tables overlooking the Scenic Rim is relaxing and usually an opportunity to say hello to a couple of visiting parrots or even an Australian brushturkey, not the most attractive of the flora and fauna, but common enough around Brisbane.

Ready to feed the parrots?

Be sure to take a hat and avoid bare arms and shoulders! Trust me, the parrots are not shy and dare I say, there is no manicure/pedicure salon nearby to trim their sharp little claws!

Call into the gift shop to collect a feeding tray - $4 for the seed and $10 deposit for the feed tray. As you make your way to the bird feed area, stay alert, the parrots are on to you! They recognise a feed tray when they see one and have no regard for the signs saying "do not feed the parrots in this area". They will dive bomb and land expertly on your tray, using their beaks to push aside the flimsy cover rather pathetically trying to hide the seed from sharp little parrot eyes and beaks!

Feeding the parrots is fun! These are wild birds, there is no cage, it is entirely their choice to dine with us.

They scrap and fight with each other although there is plenty of food for all.

Such trust, both theirs and mine!

Once we were all fed and suitably watered, it was time for a short walk through the rainforest to the tree top walk and on to the botanical gardens. It really is a delightful spot and one I would recommend to anybody visiting South-East Queensland.

Before you go, why not check out the gift shop, lots of useful little collectibles you cannot live without and a lot less junky than the typical tourist paraphernalia.

On our return journey, back down the mountain and equally toe curling, we were fortunate to see a couple of kangaroos bouncing around, I wasn't quick enough on the camera though so sorry, no pickies!

Enjoy!

Tree Top Walk, O'Reilly's Mountain retreat, Lamington National Park

More photos available via Flickr