Welcome to the tropics

We check out at the campsite, go shopping and head towards Springbrook National Park. The park, located inland, is said to offer some beautiful viewpoints and a worthwhile short walk to the "Natural Bridge". The pictures on the internet look great and since rain is forecasted for the afternoon, a short walk fits into our plans nicely. As soon as we leave the coast, we drive through green meadows, banana plantations, and later into the Australian rainforest. For the first time, we are truly impressed by the nature in Australia.

When we arrive at the starting point of the short walk and open the car door, we start groaning immediately. It's quite humid here. The walk through the rainforest is not strenuous, but the humidity makes it quite a sweaty affair. But it's worth it. The nature is truly impressive!

After a lunch break, we head back towards the coast. Originally, we wanted to spend a night in the national park, but we decided against it due to the weather conditions. Like along the entire east coast, the weather here is currently far from good and strong thunderstorms and rain showers are forecasted for tomorrow and the following days. Since some roads in the national park have to be closed during heavy rain, we decided to wait out the rain on the coast. Just like in New Zealand, we will adapt our plans for the next few days to the weather and therefore drive a long distance north tomorrow to the largest sand island in the world (Fraser Island). The next two days are expected to be good there. After that, we will drive back down the coast and explore Noosa and its surroundings before heading north again. Complicated, time-consuming, and exhausting. But in New Zealand, we saw that the extra effort paid off with a fantastic day in Tongariro National Park.

Let's hope that the plan works out and that we can skillfully avoid the bad weather. Keep your fingers crossed for us!