Tuesday, April 20, 2010

One Of The Greatest Places To Visit In The Gold Coast

By Cordelia Kennedy

About 20 kilometers inland from Bruce Highway is Tamborine Mountain. The route takes you through beautiful farming and gourmet food areas. You will then begin to climb up the steep mountain where you will discover heritage towns and National Parks.

The Tamborine-Oxenford road, when starting at Oxenford, takes you past Thomas Estate Wines, which is a winery with a small museum and restaurant. Then travel a little further and you come across the Nut Shed. This is a Macadamia Farm that sells a large variety of Macadamia and other nut based products.

After a steep climb you will arrive at the Mount Tamborine area. It sits on a 600 metre high plateau in the northern spur of the McPherson Range. Queenslands first National Park can be found in this area, Witches Fall which has been there since 1908. However, due to the only tiny patches remain from the original forest and are split into nine smaller parks.

The areas, in between the parks, are filled with heritage communities of Mount Tamborine, North Tamborine and Eagle Heights. These areas were established in the late 19th century and are now home to arts and craft shops, bed and breakfasts, wineries and Devonshire Tea houses. This area is very touristy and people often come by busloads.

Southwest of North Tamborine and Cedar Creek Falls is Witches Falls National Park, possibly the best spot on the mountain. In the town of North Tamborine is a visitors centre which as a variety of brochures on areas to visit and information on the ecology areas. You will also find brochures on the many wineries scattered throughout the mountain, which can make for a very fun day of wine tasting.

There is also the fabulous Tamborine Mountain Distillery, a boutique distiller which manufactures its own schnapps, liqueur and other spirits from organically grown fruit. Nearby is St. Bernards Hotel, a great place for meals, drink and relaxing. It is a rustic mountain pub with a large deck with a panoramic view of the gorge.

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