Trade the Beach for the Rainforest

Around 23 million years ago, the peak now known as Wollumbin, or Mount Warning, was the central vent of one of the largest shield volcanoes to ever exist on Earth! It was enormous, stretching across what's now the New South Wales and Queensland border. Over millions of years, the outer slopes eroded away, leaving behind a ring of peaks and valleys that today we call the Scenic Rim. Everywhere you're about to explore is a fragment of that same collapsed volcano. You're not just touring a few separate lookouts, you're driving the rim of an extinct super-volcano

Forty-five minutes inland, and you're standing on one of the outer remnants of the old caldera: boutique wineries, the Gallery Walk's strip of local studios and cafes, and rainforest tracks thick enough to mute the sound of the highway behind you. Time it right and you can catch the glow worm caves after dark, tiny blue-green lights strung along a rock wall carved from the same ancient volcanic rock underfoot. None of this works on a schedule that isn't yours. Linger at the winery for an extra half hour and a tour bus leaves without you, but in your own car, the flow of your day can be as smooth as the wine. 

Further on through the Numinbah Valley, Springbrook is where the old lava flows are easiest to actually see, layered basalt cliffs built up eruption by eruption, hundreds of thousands of years apart. Natural Bridge is the standout: a waterfall that's carved clean through that rock and drops straight into a cave underneath it. The walking loop is under an hour and easy enough for most fitness levels, and if you can time your visit for dusk, the cave fills with glow worms too, a rare two-for-one on the one short walk.

Push further up toward the Green Mountains section and... you're on the opposite side of the same collapsed volcano from Springbrook, just a different arc of the same rim. This is Gondwana rainforest, trees that have had millions of years of volcanic soil to grow into, O'Reilly's tree-top walk swaying 15 metres above the forest floor, and lookouts of Lamington National Park that stretch clear to the coast on a good day. The road up is narrow and winding, which is exactly why the buses don't bother and the crowds thin out the higher you climb. Give it the best part of a day if this is your main stop, the drive alone is part of the experience.

Pick up your hire car at Gold Coast Airport and point it inland. Book at goldcoastairport.com.au/transport/car-rentals.

Tamborine and Natural Bridge sit close enough to combine into one day if you're after a taster of the Scenic Rim. Lamington's further out and deserves its own trip, ideally with an early start so you're not still winding up the mountain as the light starts to go. 

If you're continuing south from here, keep an eye out. Push on toward the Tweed and you'll eventually see the source of this beauty yourself, Mount Wollumbin (Mount Warning) rising directly over Murwillumbah, the ancient creator of this entire scenic landscape that became the Gold Coast.
Northern NSW Travel Guide