Spotlight on Thunderbird Park - The BEST Camping Destination for Active Kids!

Jessica Palmer heads to Thunderbird Park in the beautiful Gold Coast Hinterlands and discovers an amazing camping destination just perfect for kids on the go.

My five year old daughter is frozen to the spot. She looks down at her feet, almost as if willing them to move. They don’t.

‘’You can do it, Trillian!’’ her seven year old brother says to her enthusiastically. ‘’Ready, three, two, one … Go!’’ he says.

Her feet still don’t move. I look up at her, holding on to her harness and standing on a purpose built platform around a large tree around three metres above the ground. They have both been excited to take on the Tree Top Challenge Juniors course at Thunderbird Park for weeks.

After mastering the first three levels, this challenge of stepping from the comfort of the platform and onto a climbing wall nestled among the tree tops appears that it might beat her.

‘’C’mon baby girl, you can do this,’’ I think to myself, willing the thought in her direction. The seconds tick by and we wait, silent, holding our breaths. The course attendant, Kirby, clips his safety harness to the cable and makes his way over to assist.

Kitted out with safety gear and ready to go!

Credit - Jessica Palmer

But she wants to do this on her own, so digging deep, she finds the courage and reaches out her left hand, grabbing hold of one of the bright yellow supports and quickly steps onto a red one with her left foot. I let out my breath in relief.

With sturdy legs shaking, she moves across the wall with determination, rebutting her brother’s suggestions by yelling, ‘’Stop it, Ripley!’’ in annoyance when he yells out suggestions of which colour support to stand on.

Her big brother follows behind and they congratulate each other, harnessed in safely and standing on a platform high among the rainforest trees in the beautiful Mt Tamborine area of the Gold Coast Hinterlands.

They conquer the last few challenges and end the course by ziplining back down to the starting point, landing on a net and giggling. The new spring of confidence in their step is unmistakable and as a parent, I love seeing this transformation.

Braving the climbing wall high up in the tree-tops

Credit - Jessica Palmer

Tree Top Challenge Juniors

The Tree Top Challenge Juniors at Thunderbird Park in the Gold Coast Hinterlands is an amazing experience for kids ages 3-7 years. The course has four sections, with the initial two starting low.

This gives kids the chance to build confidence before moving on to the more challenging sections. Completely harnessed in with an overhead cable which remains clipped on the entire time, kids can balance their way across planks, nets, zig-zag bridges and much more between the rainforest trees before zip-lining to the finish line of every challenge.

‘‘Wouldn’t it be fun if there was one for adults?’’ I said to the attendant, Kirby. ‘’That looks like heaps of fun!’’.

‘’Oh there is, it’s just over there,’’ he says, pointing off to my right through the rainforest.

The Adventure Park at Thunderbird Park is designed for the entire family aged 7 years and up.

Mastering the Tree Top Challenge Juniors Course at Thunderbird Park

Credit - Jessica Palmer

Kirby tells me it’s a lot of fun and I later learn that it’s Australia’s largest High Ropes Adventure Park with over 120 TreeTop activities, including 10 flying foxes. No experience is required and the courses range from easy to extreme, traversing through nine acres of bushland and rainforest.

Although I don’t have time to tackle this today, nor is the dress I am wearing appropriate for standing above people who may be looking upwards, I vow to come back next holidays to experience it.

Thunderegg Fossicking

After a break for lunch, we make our way over to the Thunderegg Mine and Crystal Panning rock shop.

After learning how to successfully fossick for Sapphires in Rubyvale the previous year, I was sure we would all love fossicking for thundereggs.

Local residents at Thunderbird Park

Credit - Cedar Creek Lodges & Thunderbird Park

A thunderegg is a kind of rough looking, roundish rock that when cut into two sections, reveals a hidden star shaped mineral inside. They are a 200 million year old mystery!

It’s thought they are formed by a volcanic upheaval millions of years ago, whereby bubbles formed in the silica-rich rock. As it cooled off, shrinkage of the materials produced a star shaped cavity which was eventually filled with minerals such as jasper, quartz, agate and others.

I fail at suppressing a giggle as I imagine myself, hair unkempt, squatting down in the dirt and picking up a thunderegg, likening the image to Gollum in the famous Lord of the Rings ‘’my precious’’ scene.

Thunderbird Park is actually home to the world’s largest thunderegg mine! Finding one is surprisingly easy and the instructions given on where to dig and what to listen for when the pick hits the rock is spot on. Families get to keep what they dig up, providing it fits in the supplied buckets, and both kids and adult pick axes are supplied.

The kids trudge on up to the mine without too much complaint, although obviously tired after the Junior Tree Top Challenge. We all sit down to dig, making use of a hole that someone else has already started. I tell the kids we are digging smart and not hard, but really I am just tired.

Digging for thundereggs at Thunderbird Park

Credit - Jessica Palmer

‘’Is this a thunderegg,’’ Trillian asks, picking up a rough egg shaped rock. ‘’I have no idea, we don’t know until it’s cut open,’’ I reply. She gives it a little whack with her pickaxe, and satisfied with the ‘’clink’’ sound, tosses it in her bucket.

Being the youngest, she is first to run out of steam, preferring to just pick up rocks found on the surface and throw them in her bucket rather than exert any more energy with her pick.

Trudging back, I find myself carrying not just my own, but two extra buckets of rocks, two extra pickaxes and the backpack containing our drinks.

As a mum, I’m no stranger to being a pack mule but this was too much. “If I carry them back, I’m keeping them,’’ I say. Strangely enough, they find a burst of energy to carry their own buckets!

Tipping our potential thundereggs onto the counter, Quenn, the extremely knowledgeable guy behind the counter, picked out a few he was confident would be good thundereggs and went out back to cut them in half for us.

Thunderegg Crystal Mine rock shop at Thunderbird Park

Credit - Cedar Creek Lodges & Thunderbird Park

The thundereggs on display are magnificent, ranging in size from golf balls to extremely large watermelons, each with a variety of colours contained within its star

shaped core and each polished to perfection, showcasing the wonderful minerals contained within.

I wonder how they managed to cart the larger ones from the mine back to here. Do they just roll them for the downhill parts? Once again, I fail at suppressing a laugh when a memory resurfaces from over 30 years ago of my mother mortified, when at the top of an escalator, our watermelon escaped from the bottom tray of the trolley and rolled all the way down to splat at the bottom.

I doubt the thunderegg would splat though.

More likely it would act as a bowling ball, creating carnage for the human leg pins on its speedy journey down the hill. On second thoughts, they probably just use a tractor or something.

Returning with our loot, Quenn uncovers six thundereggs with varying colours and minerals and explains how to polish them at home. We bag our remaining uncut treasure to take home with the intention of finding someone to show us how to cut them open. However, before heading home, we have to try just one more thing!

Lake Waterlilly at Thunderbird Park

Credit - Cedar Creek Lodges & Thunderbird Park

Crystal Mining

The kids each grab a bag of sand and head over to the crystal panning area. Water is channelled through long, narrow troughs, allowing you to add a few handfuls of sand to the supplied sieve, which you then dunk gently into the water to wash away the sand and reveal the hidden crystals.

This is a great activity for younger kids as the sand bag is guaranteed to contain crystals, thus avoiding disappointment. Even I am surprised by how many beautiful coloured sparkly gems the kids uncover.

Acutely aware of the time, I stare longingly back towards the camp grounds as we head towards the car.

Mining for crystals near the rock shop at Thunderbird Park

Credit - Jessica Palmer

Camping Bliss

Families can bring their caravan, tent or camper and set up in either a powered or unpowered spacious site, nestled along the boundary of Tamborine National Park, a natural oasis featuring rock pools along Cedar Creek which flows through the property.

A rock-boarded circular fire pit is available at every van and camp site and comfortable amenity blocks with a great communal camp kitchen are also available on site.

For families staying longer in the lush campgrounds, or perhaps living it up in one of the bush cabins or lodges, there are plenty more family friendly activities on offer at Thunderbird Park.

Cedar Creek

Credit - Cedar Creek Lodges & Thunderbird Park

Other Fun Activities

Swim in the natural rock pools, join in the daily bird feeding, go on a hike, play laser skirmish or spend a day at Thunderbird Park’s newest attraction, Fun Fair.

Here you can scoot along the water in pedal boats and water bikes, zoom around on pedal go karts and let the kids loose in the jumping castles. Thunderbird Park is great for active kids!

Funfair Paddle Bikes

Credit - Cedar Creek Lodges & Thunderbird Park