So on the 5th of September I went to Springbrook with my pals from the Griffith University Village. It was a trip arranged by the Village and booked through Adventure Dudes which are a tour company in Australia that arrange trips all over for you. We had two really nice tour guides called Adsy and Izzy and a lovely bus driver too!
We met in reception at 8.45am and then got in the mini bus provided by Adventure Dudes and traveled to the mountain which took about 40 minutes drive. Springbrook is an extinct volcano. It’s got lots of nice green scenery and the soil there is good because of the old lava in it. There are lots of cows as you go up the volcano and it has many waterfalls.
There are lots of picture spots at Springbrook and in the summer you can go swimming in the waterfalls. You can go swimming in the winter but it is freezing. It is a nice place to go on a hike and take lots of pictures of the natural resources our world has.
- Natural Bridge, Springbrook
- Me and Amy – pic by Izzy
I booked the trip through the Griffith University Village and it was expensive but we got our lunch included which was actually very nice. We had nice posh sandwiches and there was a choice of chicken, ham or hummus and there was a selection of fruit, crisps and cookies. It also included our transfers to and from Springbrook and our guides Izzy and Adsy who took us on the 4km walk which was enjoyable even for a person like me who hates exercise. Adsy and Izzy made the trip very enjoyable for us and played games to break the awkward silences!
It cost $69 for the trip which I do personally think is too expensive because you could just rent a car for the day for $30 and share between the five of you and go up there for free. However if you do not know the route you could end up doing a 10km walk instead of a 4km walk which if you fancy doing that its great but if you don’t then you have a problem on your hands. I would recommend going to Springbrook. Going in the morning when its dark to see the glow-worms would be a cool thing to do and then you could watch the sun come up. The other worry is if you are not used to hilly roads in the dark and you have not driven in Australia before you might find it a bit difficult and there are no barriers on the edge of roads either so you need to be extra careful when driving.
-Nicole
Nicole is currently on a year abroad studying at Griffith University on the Gold Coast. This post, Gold Coast – Springbrook was originally published on her blog The Black Backpacker and you can read more of her adventures there!