The Coombabah Lakelands Conservation area protects 1200 hectares of wetlands and eucalypt forest, right in the middle of the northern Gold Coast suburbs. Visit in the late afternoon to see grassy open fields bathed in golden sunlight and hundreds of kangaroos grazing on the grass!
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Daisy Hill State Forest & Koala Centre
Daisy Hill State Forest and Koala Centre is a fabulous, free centre that you can visit to learn more about our endangered koalas. Packed with interactive displays, here you can learn about what they eat, where they live, their social aspects and also how we can care for them. Situated within the Daisy Hill State Forest, this is a great spot for a picnic with friends - visit the koala centre, ride your bike, play in the bush, and enjoy time in nature.
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Tamborine Mountain Botanic Gardens
Tamborine Mountain Botanic Garden's family-friendly discovery trail, Sooty Owl’s Creekside trail will intrigue, surprise and educate children and adults alike.
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Pacific Pines Central Park
Nothing beats a play at the park! Even with so many new parks opening up across the Gold Coast, Pacific Pines Central Park has us coming back time and time again. Big trees giving lots of shade, play equipment catering for toddlers through to school kids and a lakeside walk mean this park is one for all!
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Farm & Co, Cudgen
Farm & Co at Cudgen is home to a Farm Shop, Restaurant and sunflower fields! Wander the veggie fields, swing on a hammock, say hello to the rescue pigs and see the free range chickens. Pick your sunflowers and grab a coffee from the Farm Shop.
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The Faerie Park, Merrimac
Do you have a little one fascinated by fairies?? Hidden away in the suburbia of Merrimac, lies a little playground that encourages imaginative play in children of all ages. The Faerie Park on first glance doesn’t look as enticing as some of the newer playgrounds with all their fancy play equipment, but take a moment to look a little closer and see what you can find… perhaps a troll, a goblin or even a faerie!
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Karawatha Forest Discovery Centre & Nature Play
Just 30 minutes north of the Gold Coast lies Brisbane City Council’s Karawatha Forest Discovery Centre, and Queensland’s first nature play space for kids! With an interactive self-guided experience, visitors young and old can learn about the forest and all the animals that live there. Fly over the forest in a virtual reality experience, check out the night time forest audio visual experience and catch frogs in an interactive floor projection. Once you’re finished at the Discovery Centre, kids can get back to nature in the water play, climbing features, discovery trails and sculptural artworks of the Nature Play space.
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Gold Coast Botanic Gardens
The Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens have something for everyone! Free to visit, you can smell, touch and taste plants in the Sensory Garden; discover butterfly friendly plants in the Butterfly Garden; check out the Bush Tucker gardens; grab a coffee in the cafe or let the kids play on the playground!
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Currumbin Valley
Images: Pasture & Co Images: Must do BrisbaneImage: Brisbane Kids Only a short drive inland from the golden sands of the beaches that the Gold Coast is best known for, is another world that the Gold Coast keeps hidden – Currumbin Valley. Being only 40 minutes from the northern Gold Coast where we live, we decided to head there one Sunday mainly to check out a café I had heard plenty about, but also to take in the beautiful scenery and rediscover this little corner of the Coast. Currumbin Valley is mainly known for two things – the Currumbin Valley Rockpools, and the Eco Village. Visiting both of these places…
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Kooroomba Vineyard & Lavender Farm
A perfect weekend drive, the Kooroomba Vineyard & Lavender Farm is located at Mt Alford, which is just near the town of Boonah in the Scenic Rim. We headed out on a Sunday morning (in what should be mid-Autumn, but still feels like Summer!) for what was an easy drive from the northern Gold Coast. The road is sealed the entire way and not too bumpy, and there were few others on the road either. No matter the time of year you visit, you’ll be able to experience a meandering sea of vivid violet as you wander around the six hectares of vines and lavender fields, as they have been…
