Walk through the treetops in the O'Reilly Rainforest, listen to jazz and try a new grape at the Canungra Valley Vineyard or if you feel like an adventure then take a four-wheel drive through beautiful expansive Australian bushland.
The total driving time for this trip is 3 hours 5 minutes with 1 hour 25 minutes being the drive time to O'Reilly's from Ruffles Lodge.
After leaving Ruffles Lodge and joining Reserve Rd you head south to the junction with Oxenford Tamborine Road where you turn right. The 25 minute drive to Mt Tamborine one could never tire of as you climb to 600 metres through beautiful rolling countryside and elegant country homes. At Mt Tamborine there are plenty of restaurants and tempting shops and galleries to keep you busy. Once you've pulled yourself away from the many pleasant eateries and shopping temptations of Gallery Walk and surrounding area take the Main Western Road to Canungra. As you cross the mountain the vista of the valley to the west opens out before you. The trip is about 20 minutes.
Canungra is a quaint historical town with a few local cafes, shops and the pub. Instead of stopping for lunch there you can head towards O'Reilly Rainforest and stop at Canungra Valley Vineyards, just 10 minutes up the road.The boutique vineyard has plenty of atmosphere in its historic Queenslander homestead with a high ceiling ballroom, wide relaxing verandahs and beautiful surroundings. The vineyard offers gourmet picnic basket lunches and Devonshire teas seven days a week and on Sundays you can enjoy an a la carte lunch while live jazz entertains you from the gazebo. You can also spot platypus in the nearby river if you're lucky. The winery is open 10am to 5pm daily.
From the vineyard drive through the extremely winding roads to O'Reilly's and if you can take your eyes off the road for a moment appreciate the expansive views of typical Australian bushland surrounding you. You may like to stop for coffee at Rosemount Alpaca stud, which is around 30 minutes from the vineyard. There's a shop with all kinds of unique alpaca clothes and toys and a coffee shop with a good view and lots of cute alpacas.
From there head further into O'Reilly's National Park and leave behind the open expanse of dry Australian bushland and enter into dense rainforest. The driving time to O'Reilly's is about 1 hour 25 minutes. At O'Reilly's you can walk amongst the treetops 15 metres above the ground and feed the local birds. There's also a bistro with great views.
If you have a four-wheel drive an interesting diversion after leaving O'Reilly's is take Duck Creek Road and be amazed at how the dense rainforest dramatically drops off into dry Australian bush and typical country properties with cattle regularly crossing the unsealed road. The drive is picturesque and strewn with funny signs of 'Martha's Lookout', 'Dan's corner', 'John's slope', etc. It should take you about 50 minutes to reach the country town of Beaudesert. From there it's about 25 minutes to Mount Tamborine driving through the small village of Tamborine before taking the winding road back up the mountain. Finally you have the pleasant 25 minute return to Ruffles Lodge.
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