After having a few months at home, we were itching to get back on the road again! Keen to try somewhere new, we randomly picked Mt Nimmel Campground because it was close to Springbrook & Lamington National Park. It’s always a treat staying close to a National Park as there’s always lots to explore!
If you haven’t already, do yourself a favour and buy the WikiCamps app, it’s so great to find new camp spots and it gives you all the information you need before you go - like photos, reviews and star ratings. It’s where we find the majority of our camp spots.
On day one we arrived just after lunch, which gave us enough time to set up camp and head up to Springbrook. It was freezing and very windy (thank you Cyclone Oma, seriously you were much tamer than the weather report predicted!) We checked out “Best of All Lookout” which gives amazing views of the Tweed Valley including Mt Warning, Byron Bay and The Cougals. The walking track to get to the lookout is super easy and short - perfect for little ones! We then stopped in to show the kids Purling Brook Falls lookout, it was too late in the day to do the full hike but we have done it before with the kids and it is a beautiful view of the falls when you get to the bottom.
The following day we decided to drive an hour and a half up to Lamington National Park - the reason the drive is so long is because there are very windy roads leading up the mountain (make sure to pack ginger gummies for motion sickness!) We took the walking track signed “Moran’s Falls Lookout” which has two lookouts and is approx 4.4k return. The walk is quite easy and our kids managed it without fuss, the first lookout is a stunning view of the falls. The second lookout you’re mainly looking out across the valley, we took a little side track and ended up at the top of the waterfall with breathtaking views. We set up for lunch on one of the larger boulders and had the place to ourselves!
After that big walk we treated ourselves to coffee and a late lunch at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat, from the cafe you can take a short walk to the Tree Top Walk, this was a big hit with the kids! It’s a suspended walkway up to 16 metres above ground through the rainforest, entry is free of charge. We definitely recommend climbing the 30 meter fig tree, it has ladders built around it so the kids can safely get to the top. There are other great walks around here that we didn’t have time to do - if you’re looking at going you might want to check out The Wishing Tree, Mick’s Tower or the Centenary Track.
We finished off our last night with board games and a yummy stir fry cooked in the caravan. The campground itself allow fires (there was a fire ban while we were there) there is also a toilet/shower block and a communal camp kitchen. Drinkable water is only available in the camp kitchen but you can request power for certain sites, if you’re not a camper there were little cabins also available. The caretaker was lovely and gave us some great tips on the area, overall we were really happy with the camp ground and would stay again next time we’re in the area.
Happy Travels! Mia xo