The one where we went bush

So a few weeks back I asked where you thought I should go: beach, bush or city. In my head I hoped you’d vote beach, or city and I wasn’t too fussed on bush. In fact I wished that bush wouldn’t win. I wanted to somehow rig it. But alas, bush won.

So bush it was.

One sunny day, we packed the car and headed north and west into the bush. We’re beach people, so it was foreign to us. We had no idea where we were going, so we typed the location into the navigation system and went on our way.

When the bush won, I actually didn’t know where we should go. I thought about the Byron or Noosa Hinterlands, but a friend recommended The Natural Arch {or Natural Bridge as it’s called now}, and it sounded too good to miss out on. It wasn’t far from home, it was meant to be stunning, and it was short enough for Lacey to walk around and explore too.

Springbrook National Park has various different areas you can explore, all accessible from different parts of the Gold Coast. The section that is home to The Natural Arch has a walk that takes about 30 minutes to complete {when walking slowly with children}. It’s not pram-friendly or wheelchair friendly either, so take that into consideration when planning your trip.

I put Luella in the carrier on my back for the first time, and she was apprehensive at first, but ended up loving it.

It was only moments into our walk that we spotted an animal just off the track. It was a little bit like a rock wallaby but maybe a bit smaller. The exact type of animal it was is still a mystery, obviously I’m no Ranger Stacey!

It’s not long after you’ve let the car park that you can hear the water falling. There’s a little brook, and the most stunning waterfall.

You can view the waterfall from all around, above, to the side, and best of all within the caves which at night are filled with glowworms. We’re so going back when the kids are older. I love glowworms.

What goes up, must go down, so after walking all the way down to the waterfall we head back up to the top of the Natural Arch and make our way back up to the car park.

We then decide to go exploring a little bit more and take a different route home {thanks to the navigation system for helping us find the way}.

It was a red car-off. We kind won.

After passing by what looked like a cult, lots of beautiful mountains, retreats and small communities we stop at a little place called Chillingham. I had no idea it even existed. At this little gallery I met a woman who sells her son’s pottery creations.

We then stopped a little further down the road, still in Chillingham, for some lunch. We spotted some homemade caramel slice and it was pretty amazing. Almost worth the drive back that way to discover it again.

There’s also lots of stalls on the roadside selling fruit and vegetables, and macadamia nuts too. Plus we met this guy.

And also a little friendly advice too…

We took the friendly advice and headed back home, via more bush.

I’ve been lucky enough now to travel so much of the world, well not so much, but a little bit… and I have to say that Australia is just gorgeous. The Natural Arch was pretty much in my backyard and I had no idea about it, until now. I’m glad now that bush won, because I wouldn’t have seen these beautiful sights, and discovered that amazing caramel slice.

Roxie {our Nissan X-Trail} has been in the family for almost 3 months now, and she’s fitting in perfectly. She’s easy to drive, she looks stylish, and I think the kids love how high up they are, and how they can see the world as it passes them by on our travels. The car has USB charging so I can charge my phone on our travels {because iPhone battery life = argh!}, and Bluetooth connectivity so I can play my music {no cords or cables}, or answer phone calls while we drive. She’s a good egg, our Roxie.

Now to start planning the next family trip. Where to next?