Behind the bright lights and surf-sun-sand atmosphere of the Gold Coast lies an area of rainforest-clad mountains, tinkling mountain streams and plunging waterfalls.

The Springbrook Plateau is a remnant of the northern side of a once huge volcano that was centred on Mt. Warning. From the "Best of All Lookout" it is very easy to see the shape of the ancient caldera with the mountains of the Nightcap National Park to the south and the Lost World Wilderness Area and the Lamington National Park to the south and west.

The cliff face of the Springbrook plateau forms the Queensland-New South Wales border, and the Best of All Lookout, with its platform extending over the cliff face of the plateau, sits only a metre or so within the Queensland boundary. From here, the twin peaks of Mt. Cougal stand like a punctuation mark near the eastern end of the steep escarpment of the Springbrook plateau. The rich farming area of the Tweed River Valley has, as a backdrop, a stretch of coastline from Coolangatta to south of Byron Bay with the ocean beyond.

In the cool temperate rainforest on the highest parts of Springbrook, stands of ancient gnarled Antarctic beech trees survive, with the most accessible ones on the 600 metre walk to the Best of All Lookout. These trees may be more than 2,000 years old and indicate the climate here was once much cooler.

Over time, abundant rainfall of over 3 metres per year has given rise to numerous creeks that have carved spectacular waterfalls and deep gorges from the rugged cliffs of volcanic rock. The magnificent Purling Brook Falls drop an unbroken 109 metres into a lush gorge filled with palms and lillies. A circuit walk, closed when we visited because of rock falls on the track, winds its way into the gorge and behind the waterfall, before climbing the opposite side of the gorge. This walk is not too strenuous for the moderately fit, taking around 1½ hours for the 4km track.

The original Springbrook schoolhouse, built in 1911 for the children of the pioneering dairy farming families, now houses displays on the Park and an adjoining boardwalk leads to one of the many lookouts in the Park. The Twin falls circuit (4km - 2 hrs.) from the Canyon Lookout at Tallanbana passes behind two waterfalls, through rock clefts and among palms and treeferns with interpretive signs guiding the walker through different forest types. The Bilbrough Lookout track (3km - 2 hours) is a steady climb from near the end of the main road to a lookout with magnificent views encompassing Byron Bay to Moreton Island.

A feature of Springbrook is the wildlife which includes goannas, frogs, rainforest wallabies (pademelons), possums and sugar gliders as well as abundant birdlife. A more unusual form of wildlife which the visitor can see is glowworms.

We visited the Forest of Dreams and felt that our tour of their glowworm habitat was one of the highlights of our visit to Springbrook. The tour is very informative and visitors can see the glowworms at almost nose-to-nose distance (that is if you can get "nose-to-nose" with a worm) and experience the spectacle of around 10,000 glowworms all optimistically shining their blue tail lights to attract dinner in the form of an insect. We also saw close-up one of the protectors of the glowworms, a trapdoor spider, and saw him close the door to his home as our guide shone her torch on him. We found the visit to this habitat amazing, and a totally different experience to the glowworm caves at Waitomo in New Zealand.

In addition to the glowworm habitat, the Forest of Dreams has a coffee shop in the idyllic surroundings of a tranquil rainforest, a rainforest walk as well as abundant wildlife. When we visited, there were well over a dozen crimson rosellas on the bird feeding trays, as well as numerous smaller birds, and in summer, the pond on the terrace is home to green tree frogs that are encouraged to live and breed here. The Forest of Dreams is near the southern end of Lyrebird Ridge Road, and, while there is no charge to visit, a tour of the glowworm habitat costs $7.95 pp and is available half-hourly from 11am to 4pm.

There is another glow worm research centre at 2509 Springbrook Road, and it has tours in the evening only (7pm in winter, 8pm in summer). Cost of entry is $5.00 for adults.

Another attraction of Springbrook is the craft shops. The potteries we visited, the Pumpkin Patch and the Forest of Dreams, had very interesting and unique pieces, designed and crafted by the owners.

On a practical note - Springbrook, at over 900 metres elevation, is a cool rainforest area that can be a relief from the heat of the coast in summer, but nights here in winter can be quite cold.

The winding road to Springbrook from Mudgeeraba on the Pacific Highway is narrow in sections as it climbs the mountain and it has a couple of very interesting curved wooden bridges. This makes the road unsuitable for towing vehicles or even motorhomes around 30 feet or more in length but would be no problem in smaller motorhomes - as long as the motor can cope with hilly terrain. Stop at the lookout on the one-way section of the road for a panoramic view of the Surfers Paradise end of the Gold Coast.

After enjoying the delights of the Springbrook plateau I suggest travelling down the Springbrook-Nerang Road to the Numinbah Valley to the west of Springbrook. This road is steeper than the ascent from Mudgeeraba, but not as narrow or winding. Only a short section of bitumen is old and a bit bumpy but the rest of the road is excellent - although steep.

The dramatic cliffs of the Lamington Plateau provide a back-drop for the scenic Numinbah Valley, nestled between the Springbrook Plateau and the Lamington Plateau to the west. Black and white dairy cattle dot the fields of lush grass while the dramatic forms of Turtle Rock, Egg Rock and Ships Stern tower above.

The Natural Bridge section of the National Park has, as its centrepiece, a rock archway spanning the mountain-fed waters of Cave Creek. The creek forms a waterfall which plunges into a gaping hole in the rock, disappearing into the depths of a cavern. The pathway encircles this feature so walkers can enter the cavern and see the cascade falling from above, then emerging as a sparkling stream winding through dense rainforest.

This subtropical rainforest is characterised by a closed canopy, vines, palms, epiphytes such as orchids and staghorns and large trees such as strangler figs. The strangler figs start life as a seed dropped by a bird in the top of a rainforest tree then, after extending roots to the forest floor, take 200-300 years to overcome their host tree and stand triumphant as one of the largest trees in the forest.

At night visitors can see a colony of thousands of glowworms in the cavern at Natural Bridge and must observe basic rules banning cigarettes, fires, bright lights and insect repellents. A torch covered by a red cloth or even a red paper serviette is sufficient to illuminate the path for safe walking, but not bright enough to bother the glowworms. At certain times of the year the forest floor is dotted with luminescent mushrooms glowing in a similar fashion to the glowworms.

Camping - In addition to the National Park campground at Purling Brook Falls on Springbrook Plateau, there are caravan parks at Mudgeeraba and Advancetown. The CMCA Rest Area Guide lists the following overnight spots - James Sharpe Park at Canungra (charge applies) and Mebbin State Forest 8km south of Tyalgum (west of Murwillumbah) (no charge).

We spent a lot of time at Springbrook a few decades ago, and found it as enchanting now as it was then.