Explore Australia's ancient Gondwana Rainforests

Conveyancing Home’s Pick of the Week – Explore Australia’s ancient Gondwana Rainforests. If you love all things new, try this age-old treat; walk rainforests where dinosaurs roamed.

Australian rainforests are said to be so ancient that they have existed before Australia split from the Gondwanaland supercontinent during the Jurassic Period – 180 million years ago when dinosaurs roamed.

Here is your guide to visit and explore the remaining forests scattered in Qld and NSW. A popular area near the QLD Border is Mount Warning. In winter, these are the first places sunlight hits. Hiking to the summit involves walking up a rainforest-covered mountain. 200 million-year-old forests are easy to visit; picnic or barbecue where dinosaurs uses to roam, forage and fight, with short and long walks that will take you deep into this ancient landscape for days at a time.

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Imagining that forests in existence in Australia have been in the same location for nearly 200 million years is astounding.

That they are easy to visit and you can have a picnic or barbecue in the same forests dinosaurs uses to roam, forage and fight, is a great luxury. Then, of course, there are both short and long walks that will take you deep into this ancient landscape for days at a time.

Ancient Gondwana Rainforests

It is commonly believed that once upon a time, all the continents of the world were together into one landmass called Pangea. This split up into several supercontinents with Gondwanaland being one of these. This landmass was covered in rich tropical and subtropical forests, and yes, they would be home to many species of dinosaurs during this period. Then Gondwanaland split up into areas that include South America, Africa, Antarctica, the Indian Subcontinent, Arabia and Australia.

As the other landmasses drifted off, only Australia stayed at the same latitude. So while the ancient forests changed overtime elsewhere, only Australia was able to keep some of its original forests. Today these forests contain the same type of plants that would have existed at the time of the dinosaurs. While the species are not the same as those that were around in the Jurassic Period, there are plants and animals whose lineages had their origins in Gondwanaland.

The Gondwana rainforests and how to visit them

The premium area for these ancient rainforests in Queensland is in Lamington National Park, which is 59,000 hectares of rainforest lying on the Lamington Plateau. It is extremely accessible, with 2 commercial areas at Binna Burra and O’Reilly’s where there are cafes, cabins and camping. Even a short walk will take into lush rainforest and walks go all the way up to difficult off-track hikes to remote bush camping sites.

The Springbrook National Park is nearby and while not as lush as Lamington National Park, it still has some beautiful pockets of rainforest. The Natural Bridge feature in this park is the most visited area of the Gondwana Rainforests in Queensland.

The Main Range National Park covers much of the Great Dividing Range west of Brisbane and there are some very beautiful rainforest areas along its length, though I am not sure if all of them are part of the Gondwana Rainforest. There are some amazing areas in the Goomburra Section of the national park. Other areas to visit include the walks and lookouts at Cunningham’s Gap, the short walks on the falls drive over The Head, and at Spicers Gap.

While known more for its various peaks than its rainforest, The Mount Barney National Park does have areas of rainforest. The main place that I know of to find rainforest is hiking along the Cronan Creek Track.

Out west of Lamington National Park is Mount Chinghee. Unfortunately, there are no walking tracks or other visitor facilities here. However, there are some unofficial walking tracks just outside of the National Park. Across the border into New South Wales, the Gondwana Rainforests extend into the Border Ranges National Park. This area is full of easily accessible picnic areas and lookouts and of course, many great walks.

Other national parks in New South Wales include Werrikimbe, Wili Wili, Washpool, Oxley Wild Rivers, Nightcap, Mebbin, New England and Dorrigo National Parks. Of these, Dorrigo is the most visited. This is a forest that really makes you feel like you are stepping back into another time and place.

The southernmost point of the Gondwana Rainforests is Barrington Tops in the Hunter Valley. While many people head to that region to relax in luxury accommodation and enjoy the local wines and food, no trip there is complete without a short or long walk through this exceptional 76,000-hectare national park.