Treetop adventures and digging for treasure at ThunderBird Park

From digging for hidden treasure to swinging between the treetops, wearing the kids out is a walk in the park at this adventure playground, writes Elle Halliwell.

I’m stuck in the mud. No, I’m not playing the classic kids’ game … my gumboot lets out a loud squelch as I finally free myself from the gritty bog I’ve sunk into during my desperate hunt for treasure.

I’ve been hacking at a deposit of wet clay for more than an hour, looking for thunder-eggs, when suddenly the heavens open. The intensity of the downpour increases, and after a moment of contemplation my fellow fossickers and I call it a day. We pick up our metal buckets and make a beeline for shelter.

My bucket makes a tinny sound as I slosh back down the open crystal mine; a sign I either didn’t work very hard or today just wasn’t my day. I cast a furtive glance inside the pails of my fellow amateur miners and notice their contents look more much more promising than my own.

Roped into fun

It’s the first activity I’ve partaken in since arriving at ThunderBird Park, an adventure holiday spot located at Queensland’s Tamborine Mountain in the Gold Coast hinterland. I’ve flown up from Sydney with my husband and two-year-old son for an extended family vacation, and there are 11 of us – four kids and seven adults – crammed into Mill Lodge, a self-contained residence managed by Cedar Creek Lodges on the 112-hectare rainforest property.

What it lacks in luxury it makes up for in comfort and cosiness, and when the torrential rain continues after my mining adventure for almost two solid days, I’m relieved we didn’t opt to camp. When it’s dry, you’re spoilt for choice here, but wet weather will have you hoping you brought the playing cards and remembered to download a few movies.

The park is a winner for adventure-loving families with young kids and teens. There’s laser skirmish, putt putt golf and horse riding, but the jewel in its activity-laden crown is its award-winning treetop challenge – Australia’s biggest zipline and high ropes course. There are three options to choose from: a Juniors challenge for kids aged three to seven, the main Adventure Park for kids over seven and adults of all fitness levels and the Canyon Flyer Tour.

The Canyon Flyer Tour

The last time I used a carabiner was at year 6 camp, so I’m not feeling very confident as I practise clipping and unclipping my harnesses before joining my sister, husband and three nephews on the three-hour high ropes course. But by the time I’ve traversed my first two challenges – a wobbly log and tightrope suspended metres above the ground – without issue, I’m hooked, both literally and metaphorically.

The adrenaline increases as my husband and I attempt a black run, the hardest on the course, which involves flinging oneself onto a rope net from an extremely high platform, navigating rows of awkward metal riding stirrups and taking leaps of faith over yawning gaps between horizontal ladder rungs almost 20 metres in the air. I’m on such a high I momentarily contemplate signing up for the next series of Ninja Warrior. Although, the highlight for me is watching the combined confidence and pride of my three young nephews soar as they successfully navigate the challenging activity.

deduce that a few days spent in a location with terrible Wi-Fi and a plethora of outdoor activities should be forced upon every child and their parents at least twice a year. I haven’t heard the familiar ‘ping’ of an email notification for almost 48 hours, or the hypnotic jingles of my son’s favourite TV shows, and it is bliss.

All that glitters is not gold

After an action-packed four days, it’s time to head home and I’m full of anticipation as I offer up my mineral haul to Tina, one of the staff at the park’s crystal mine shop, to see if any of my mud-covered rocks might be a thunder-egg. Thunder eggs aren’t as eye-catching as geodes – their semiprecious cousins that contain glittering crystal cavities – but a fine specimen can contain anything from opal to agate.

Looking at some of the more impressive polished finds scattered around the shop, I decide the eggs, which are created over millions of years inside ancient volcanic ash layers, look a bit like MRI scans. I’m not expecting my rocks to offer up anything spectacular and Tina puts most of my marble-sized stones aside, save for two. “These might be good,” she says, and heads over to a cutting and polishing station.

I’m presented with two pairs of shiny little hemispheres. There’s a fleck of jasper and some quartz, not exactly a generous reward for 90 minutes of hard labour. Compared to the shop’s impressive examples they’re underwhelming, but the hunt itself was fun. I pocket my treasure and head back to the cabin, deciding that I’ll be sourcing my semi-precious stones at the local craft markets from now on.

This article originally appeared in Caravan & Camping with Kids magazine. To subscribe to the latest issue, click here.

Cedar Creek Lodges offer self-contained lodge accommodation starting from $329 per night, unpowered and powered camping sites from $32 per night off-peak and $42 in peak season.

All images © ThunderBird Park

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