Name: Hanging Rock Chalets
Address:
City, State: Gold Coast, Queensland Australia
Telephone:
Price (per room per night):
What's it like?
Dave Tardent is a retired surveyor. Born in Brisbane,
he spent much of his career in the rural parts of Indonesia and
Malaysia before returning home, and bringing a touch of Asia with
him.
Settling on the Gold Coast, Dave turned five hectares
of mountainside at Tomewin in the Currumbin Valley into a forest home for his
family. Now he has built three cottages on the site, called them the Hanging Rock
Chalets, and opened them as eco-sensitive accommodation for people who want a
blend of beach and bush in their holidays.
Dave's wife, Agnes, is from Borneo. It shows in the rough-cut,
polished wood furnishings, bamboo futons and Asian wall hangings of the chalets,
as well as in Agnes' cuisine. While the chalets are self-contained, anyone who
comes unprovisioned can buy one of Agnes' self-cook Borneo steamboat and grill
dinner packages and prepare it on the deck of their chalet.
The outlook is outstanding as the sun sets behind the border ranges, creating a golden glow along the tree-lined rim, while a deepening blue takes hold in the folds in the valley floor below.
On our first night at Hanging Rock, it stormed and we drifted off to the gentle sound of rain pattering on the tin roof. Then a clearing change revealed a starry sky through the trees outside the picture window of the bedroom. By early morning, as the sun threw a pink patina on the sheer rock face across the valley, batches of mist were curling up from the still-dark valley floor while whip-birds, kookaburras and mountain parrots heralded another day in the forest.
Some of the best views on Dave's property were from the walking track he cut along the ridge behind the chalets. From there, we could see down Currumbin Valley to the Pacific Ocean, or �down the valley to the alley�, as Dave said - the "alley" being Currumbin Alley, a top spot for Gold Coast surfers.
Dave's track led past a banana clump to the border fence with New South Wales. This fence is maintained by the New South Wales Government to keep Queensland's tick-prone cattle out of their state. The track ran beside the fence to Hanging Rock, the tall, granite monolith after which the chalets were named. Further on, the track sloped up to Mt Tomewin where we clambered up a very steep bank to reach a cliff-top ledge overlooking the Tweed Valley. The spectacular view took in three World-Heritage listed national parks.
A short drive from the chalets, another track led to the Cougal Mountains section of the Springbrook National Park. The twin peaks of the Cougal Mountains feature in a story told by the local Aborigines, the Yugambeh people. They tell of how long ago, two great hunting dogs, Ningeroongun and Barrajanda, were killed by a neighbouring tribe and buried under the twin peaks. They became the spirits of the mountains, and the peaks were named in their honour.
The Hanging Rock Chalets are about an hour's drive south of Brisbane, down the Pacific Highway through Surfers Paradise to Currumbin Beach and then 20 minutes inland along the Currumbin Valley Road past the Bird Gardens and Currumbin Rock Pools to Tomewin.
From the chalets, we took the long way back to Brisbane, south over the border crossing at Tomewin to Crystal Creek where the Palmdale Miniature Stud was well worth a visit. This "amazing world of animals in miniature" features miniature horses, cows and donkeys. A tractor train tour of the property took in a whole herd of tiny horses, as well as Zebu cattle just as small, and a rare chestnut mule less than one metre high.
Further inland was the picturesque timber village of Chillingham where the heritage-painted general store is a post office, video shop, fruit shop, caf�, petrol station and pub. From there, we turned due north to cross the border again just before Numinbah where we stopped at Natural Arch - one of the gems of the Queensland rainforest. A two-km rainforest track leads into a cavern behind a huge waterfall pouring down under the arch. At dusk, as the cavern darkens, the walls glisten with glow worms. From Natural Arch, it's an hour's drive back through Nerang to Brisbane.
For more information:
Hanging Rock Chalets
Tel +61 7 5533 0327
Crystal Creek Miniatures -Palmdale Stud
Tel +61 2 6679 1532
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