Hustle and bustle, city life, bars and restaurants--that's not us. We've planned our trip to see some of wild Australia, far from the madding crowd. Heron Island is part of the Capricorn-Bunker complex of reefs and islands in the southern part of the Great Barrier Reef. Heron is unique among Great Barrier Reef destinations--no day-trippers. Only those staying on Heron may experience its reef. Part of the reason is because the University of Queensland has long had a reef research station here, where scientists study everything from coral spawning to fish behavior. The Great Barrier Reef begins at the beach. We love fish and invertebrates, and plan to see as many as possible. We're also looking forward to short trips to nearby reefs, underwater photography, and starwatching far from city lights.
Heron Island resort is 40 hectares of paradise, 60 miles from the mainland. Go to Heron for a quick look to see why we're excited.
O'Reilly's Green Mountain Lodge, a private inholding in Lamington National Park south of Brisbane, has been operated by the O'Reilly family since pioneer days. They know and love the area, and foster close encounters with all kinds of wildlife--this is not a zoo or animal park! Go to the Green Mountains now for a look at this exotic habitat. Here's more scenery. It's a pretty nice place-- --and still more. Parrots, bowerbirds, cockatoos, firetails, whipbirds, and many other birds are everywhere. Small 'roo-like pademelons graze the lawns. Sugar gliders and possums gaze down from the trees, and platypus swim the waterfall-fed pools. The area is somewhat like Grand Canyon clothed in subtropical rainforest--fascinating trees, vines, and epiphytes, including orchids--in a deep, complex gorge. The O'Reilly family have built a forest canopy boardwalk so guests can be up where the action is. Resident naturalists make sure you see the shy critters, and 4x4 excursions allow guests to experience other habitats.
We look forward to seeing many of Australia's native plants and animals in the wild, long forest walks, night possum-spotting, hand-feeding colorful parrots, and some long-deserved rest. May you someday wake to the sounds of the eastern whipbird and the pied currawong, and see the southern cross at midnight!
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