Glamping Getaway at Lamington National Park
Life has been a little busy lately, and with Christmas just around the corner, it is only going to get busier. Before the festivities begin, we decided to nip away on a family adventure, making time to reconnect, make more memories and spend time together in nature.
We decided to go to a place that we had been together before, not out of familiarity but for the beauty and magic we feel in this special place. Now having a toddler in tow, our time here has been different in many ways, but also much the same.
Last time we drove up to Lamington National Park after work and set up just before nightfall, camping in a tent, and cooking our dinner on the trangia. We spent our day consuming as much of the hiking trails on offer, easily knocking over 50 kms in our weekend here.
This time we left early in the morning, travelling slowly, stopping to explore quaint towns with cute playgrounds, before arriving at our safari tent, where we cooked dinner with our camp kitchen. We spent our days hiking slow too, peaking at toddler pace and distance.
We actually didn’t have a lot planned for our time here. We decided to purposefully slow down, be present, and use the time to recharge.
Let’s get settled in!
We arrived at O’Reilly’s Safari Tent at Lamington National Park in the afternoon, and got set up and comfortable for our long weekend of relaxing and adventuring.
The Safari Tents are well equipped with the barebones, and you can really design your own experience and dress it how you like. Each Safari Tent is a room with a big deck attached. The room houses a comfortable queen bed as well as a bunk bed with a double on the bottom, and a single bed on the top. On the deck there is an outdoor setting, so no need to bring any tables or chairs. So all you need to do is bring in the rest.
We packed a few essentials to bring some warmth and comfort to our Safari Tent, and also learnt what we might bring next time. Bringing your own bedding is essential at the Safari Tents as it is not provided. Even though the provided bed is quite comfortable, next time we come we might add in mattress topper for extra comfort, especially when visiting during winter or cooler seasons. For our toddler, we brought an additional bedding as travel cots are not supplied.
Let’s get out to explore!
With the room all set up, we headed out for an afternoon of adventuring not far from our abode. Walking up the hill from the Safari Tent and campground, we checked out the Stinson Plane, which is a replica aircraft of the plane that crashed in the Lamington National Park region in 1937. Then we headed across to the Bird Feeding.
The next day.
After a lovely sleep in the tent, where the rain pattered on the canvas tent all night. we woke the next morning to beautiful birdsong and misty skies, the perfect weather for a snuggly morning coffee on the deck. We were joined by a wonderful variety of birds; rosellas, king parrots.
After our morning breakfast and coffee, we wasted no time in getting out onto the trails.
We set off through the beautiful subtropical rainforest at toddler pace, stopping along the way to look at pretty leafs, interesting tree hollows, moss and vines, or to try and spot birds that are singing beautiful songs from the canopy high above our heads.
It is such a privilege to slow down, to see and enjoy things at a slower pace that you might not have otherwise seen.
We stopped at the next look out, watching the water tumble into the gorge below, and the clouds drifting through the treetops. The air was fresh on our cheeks, and you could feel the rain was coming.
On our walk Moran Falls Track was an almost perfect hike to do with a toddler. At 6kms return, it was short enough that he could walk a decent chunk of it, exploring at his own pace, and also short enough that it wasn’t too far to carry him when his legs got tired. We did find that when you got closer to the turn around point which is at the water fall lookouts, that the terrain did change, and we didn’t let him walk independently any more, with steep drop offs down into the gorge.
On our walk back it started to rain. The rain fell softly with only a few droplets making it through the thick canopy of the rainforest. Then it got a little heavier, and we quickened our pace back.
When we got back to our safari tent, it was time to relax into the afternoon. The rain fell on the canvas tent, and the thick clouds hugged the mountain. We sat out on the deck, enjoying a bottle of red wine while birds dropped by. The perfect start to our final night here.
Our Final Morning.
It was a cold, cloudy and very rainy morning on our final day at Lamington National Park. After enjoying our coffees in the warmth of our snuggly bed, we then ventured onto the deck for breakfast, and we were greeted by a flurry of feathery visitors.
When breakfast was done, it was time to pack up, check out, and head home. We loaded up the car, and set off down the curly road, the rainforest was so foggy and atmospheric. It was the perfect little escape for our family, we left feeling refreshed and rejuvenated going into the festive season.