BACKYARD TOURIST
ON TOP OF THE WORLD AT O’REILLYS
O’REILLY’S TREE TOP WALK AND WISHING TREE TRACK When it comes to exploring the 320km of walking tracks through the rainforest wilderness of Lamington National Park, there’s only one place to start.
Oh really? Actually, O’Reilly’s.
For 91 years, O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat has been attracting tourists to our Hinterland – and for good reason. But with so many options when it comes to activities, where does the day tripper start? Where else but the top. O’Reilly’s Tree Top Walk, the first of its kind in Australia, is almost 200m long and is made up of nine suspension bridges, with much of the walkway more than 15m above the ground as you stand noseto-leaf with flora – or nose-tobeak with the feathered fauna.
Test your head for heights with the two observation decks constructed in a strangler fig, the highest 30m above the ground. But the fun doesn’t stop there. Take a step into the greater outdoors with a tour of the Wishing Tree Track.
The entrance to the 2.4km return trek is located below the main guesthouse. The journey to the Wishing Tree is all downhill, passing brush box trees, fascinating fungal creations and strangler figs.
The last quarter of the track crosses a cute suspension bridge over a tree-fern gully before winding past hollow buttressed trees and finally to the Wishing Tree itself.
From there it’s a chooseyour-own-adventure option.
You can either turn left into Glow Worm Gully or straight ahead under the Wishing Tree to Morans Creek.
Retrace your steps for the easiest way home or you can extend your walk by following the track downstream to return by the Red Road (2.5km) or Morans Falls (5km).