Heading North from Byron we had no idea what to expect and no idea where we would end up. Ash had been reliably informed that Surfers Paradise was a dump, and we figured Broad Beach would be a fairly small place. We arrived only to realise that Broad Beach was pretty much part of the Surfers Paradise. As we drove our van through the city streets we were taken back by the bright lights, night clubs, sky scrapers, casino and hundreds of revelers. Compared to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, Surfers is a bit of a dump… but it seamed like our kind of dump!

Like the expert vanos we have become, we quickly hunted down the showers and BBQ’s at the Broad Beach Surf Club before settling down for the night. The next day we met another traveller living out of his car, Rick, and two local girls. We had intended to spend the rest of our time in Oz here and get into a nice routine of surf, work, and exercise every day. However like most Aussies our new friends had some sweet bits of travel advice, and our itinerary gained a few items. Rick raved about Stradbroke Island, promising us dolphins and great surf, while the girls said we should check out Cedar Creek Falls. We decided to leave Stradbroke for a later date, prise ourselves away from the beach, and head inland to Cedar Creek.

The Creek turned out to be on the the top of a mountain. The sign at the foot of Tambourine Mountain read:

“Extremely steep roads! Not suitable for caravans, trucks or towing vehicles.”

Obviously we hadn’t come this far just to be stopped by a steep road. Half an hour in first gear, a long tail back, and an burning clutch later we were there. The rather embarrassing and fuel thirsty drive was well worth it, as some amazing views of the Gold Coast greeted us when we climbed above the clouds. We stopped to take in the scenery and arrived at the Creek just after dark, so simply slept in the car park. The next morning it became pretty obvious that Tambourine Mountain was more of a pensioners retreat that a backpackers haven. I think the creek was meant to be more of a sight seeing attraction that an activity, with lots of warnings, safety notices, and no entry signs there to stop the fun. Being the sensible lads that we are, we strolled passed the no entry sign and went for a swim. The girls told us that they had swam there, but never jumped in, so without a second thought we cannon bombed into the creek and had an awesome mornings swim.

The afternoon saw us indulge in some more civilized pursuits, as we visited a winery and sampled a bit of the local vino. After some steak and blue cheese for dinner we tried to walk to the Witches Point Forest lookout and watch the sunset with our newly acquired bottles of Shiraz. Somehow we ended up lost in a pitch black forest.

The morning saw another relaxing dip in the creek. The peace and quiet was disturbed once, as a big lizard landed on me while I was sitting under the water fall. I would like to say I kept my cool, but in fact, thought I was being attacked by a snake. Luckily only Ash was around to see me scream and try to thrown the poor lizard into the bushes.

On our way home we were lucky enough to see someone paragliding off the side of the mountain, which saw an end to our time on Tambourine Mountain. It had been a nice break from our usual beach life routine.