(7/3/07) (GPS 154 Track 15) Mt Tamborine. (Pictures)

We were almost at the top of the steep winding road into North Mt Tamborine and had pulled over to look at a Tourist map sign when a “mate” (“bloke”?) pulled over to tell us that there had been an accident up the road from us and it would be hours before it was cleared. He gave us a map with an alternate route into the area. Mount Tamborine is a volcanic mesa with steep sides all around. The alternate route was another half hour of driving and it started to rain. We did have some fun trying to pronounce Biddaddaba on the way. We had come up here thinking we might stay at a remote picnic area. There is nothing remote on Mt Tamborine. It was full of tourists, wineries, shops etc. We ate lunch in a park during a squall but then the weather cleared. We did manage to find a couple of picnic areas that offered some interesting walks, one to a “waterfall”. We decided to go to an RV Park called Thunderbird Caravan Park. It turned out to be a pretty nice place with its own thunderegg mine. I even found one in some new construction dirt mounds. There was a large Christian Youth Group staying there too and they added plenty of noise to the situation L.

We talked with a guy cutting rocks at the rock shop, who reminded us that the term thunderegg came from an Oregon Indian belief that they were left by the thunder gods because they were found washed out of hillsides after a storm. Then we headed out to Cedar Creek (Cedars are not conifers down here.) This was a truly inviting and peaceful spot until the youth group showed up again. So we headed off to our next destination, Bina Burra in the Lamington National Park.