Day tour - rainforests, glow worms and wine

The largest colony of glow worms in the world is not in the national parks or even a genuine cave, but in a very well-designed artificial cave, the purpose of which is to take pressure off the natural caves that have been over-exploited by a constant stream of thousands of visitors. There is nothing artificial about these amazing little animals that produce an extremely efficient light, and have been happily breeding into their thousands. Rainforests, eucalypt forests, waterfalls, wine-tasting and a delicious lunch overlooking landscaped gardens add to the day's experience, and you can let us know if you would like to visit other interesting venues on the mountain.

A walk through the rainforest canopy at Skywalk is our first experience upon arriving at Tamborine Mountain. This will be a gentle meandering through the treetops and along the forest floor, with interpretation of the fauna and flora of both rainforest and eucalypt forest. Strolling through tall eucalypt forest nearby, we view the Cedar Creek Falls and its series of rock pools.

Now it's time to see the 'stars' of our visit - those fascinating little glow 'worms.' They are not the same as the 'glow worms' of the northern hemisphere, which are the larvae of fireflies (which just to confuse things are not flies but beetles). Australia has fireflies also (and they're beetles of course), but our glow worms are the larvae of gnats, and produce an extremely efficient light, with amazingly little energy waste in heat, and as a group are found only in Australia and New Zealand. They are indeed so fascinating that they have been visited by thousands of tourists every month in the national parks, which is why one national park ranger had the idea of building an artificial cave for them, to take some of the pressure off the natural populations. The owners of Cedar Creek Estate were happy for such a cave to be built on their premises, and guidance was sought from Claire Baker, who was conducting her PhD research on local glow worms. She has since headed to California to engage in important biomedical research using this amazing ability to produce 'cold light.'

We first explore the cave and watch an interpretive video, then with our eyes now adjusted to the dark, we walk through the glow worm cavern, which now houses the world's largest colony of glow worms (they reached these numbers by themselves, happily breeding away since the first 300 or so were introduced). The cave may be artificial but there is nothing artificial about these little creatures, glowing all around us in their thousands as they attempt to attract tiny insects into their webs.

After local wine-tasting and a delicious lunch overlooking the beautiful gardens of Cedar Creek Estate, we head to either Witches Falls (rainforest with giant fig, palm groves and cycads), or (if the weather is wild or you are not feeling energetic) the attractive Botanic Gardens. It is then up to you to decide to spend more time in these lovely locations or visit the arts and crafts area of Gallery Walk, or other places we can recommend along the way, before returning to Brisbane.

HALF_DAY VERSION:
During the winter months of 2013 we are also offering a half-day version (without lunch or Skywalk)
Saturdays to Tuesdays only
Leave Brisbane 8.00am or 1.30pm, from Roma Street Transit Centre (Traders Inn end)
As for all our tours, bookings essential
Visit the glow worms, taste a few local wines (fruit juice available if you don't ant to participate in this) and walk through the forest to view a waterfall.

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Day tour: Rainforests, Glow worms and Wine