H-moon Recap: Hiking in the Rainforest

I am nearing the end of both my honeymoon and wedding recaps.  Today, I wanted to share one of  my final honeymoon recaps with you (only one more to go!). 
We spent most of the week in Australia on the Gold Coast near the beach and surf spots.  But for one day in the middle of the week, we decided to drive about an hour and a half inland to this rainforest for a one night stay at O'Reilly's Retreat.  It was a great side trip in the middle of our 'beach' vacation.  And it was actually one of the funnest things we did on our honeymoon. 

We arrived in the late morning and checked into our room.  Then we immediately headed over to the front desk to obtain some maps and info on the hiking trails around the retreat.  They recommend that you take a guided tour with a guide but we didn't want to do that.  So we asked about a good hike that would take us to a few waterfalls and not be too short but not an all day thing either.  We didn't want to be out while it was dark!

The cool thing is they have a little sign in/sign out sheet so that if you go on a trail by yourself, they know what trail you are on and when you left.  That way if you don't sign back in they know when and where to go looking for you.  So smart!  And comforting too since there were literally only about 2 or 3 other hikers that we passed on our four hour hike!

We are pretty good at reading maps and of course there are some signs, but there's still that chance that you took a wrong turn somewhere when out in a tree infested rain forest.  The weather was perfect and it did sprinkle on us a little bit at one point but it felt good and the sun would shine through in a few different places.  Thankfully, we came across a lone hiker about an hour into our hike.  Since Mr Fix It is a chatter box, instead of the brief little nod hello that you usually give to passing hikers, we somehow managed to stop and chat with him for a minute.  He was an experienced hiker and we randomly mentioned which trail we were taking to which he informed us we took a wrong turn and we were on a totally different trail that was like twice as long!  UGH!  So glad we ran into that 'angel' on the trail because we were able to turn around and go back the right way so we didn't end up stuck on an 8 hour hike out in the dark!

There were definitely some scary parts of the trail where we were on a very small narrow ledge high on a cliff type walk.  Being that Mr Fix It is afraid of heights, we both thought it smart not to look down much and just keep moving carefully.  I love that my loving hubby is so thoughtful and protective of me as in several parts he would reach out and take my hand to help me get across sketchy areas. :)

We finally came to the end of the hike after having seen some very cool waterfalls.  It was a great day, we were a little tired but it was the perfect length and we had a great memory.  Mr Fix It even went a little crazy and took off all his clothes at one waterfall for me to get some pictures of him in it.  Beware ladies, these photos are a little 'R' rated, though I hid most of his personal parts well in the shots :)

Share Time:  Did you do any adventurous or workout type activities on your honeymoon?  Did you do anything scandalous or provacative?  ;)

H-moon Recap: Me, Tarzan...You, Jane!

One of the very coolest things we did on our honeymoon was a tree top walk in Lamington National Rainforest in Australia.  This little 'hike' was part of O'Reilly's Retreat where we stayed for only one day. 

I loved O'Reilly's because it reminded me of those summer or science type camps you would visit out in the middle of the woods in nature.   We had a great time hiking through the rainforest which I'll share in a future recap...but for today, I just wanted to share a few pieced together personal video clips of this little walk through the trees.

You walk along a boardwalk through the woods...we did this the morning that we left O'Reilly's and the sun was out and the birds were chirping and it was so nice out weather-wise.  Just off the boardwalk is a little set of chained together bridges that take you 'up' into the trees.  Most of the 9 suspension bridges that you walk through the trees are about 55 feet above the ground.  Though it's weird because you don't feel like you are really off the ground at all...that is, until you get to the two observation decks.  These are actually 110 feet off the ground and are only accessible by a metal ladder which is surrounded by a protective wire cage.  You'll see all this in the video.  So take a look...

It was actually somewhat scary climbing those ladders.  As I have mentioned before, my tough guy, Mr Fix It is afraid of heights.  So I spared him the embarassment of the video that shows where he started to panic a little climbing to the lower observation deck.  He didn't make it up to the second one like I did but I was so proud of him for pushing himself and climbing up with me. 

This was by far one of my favorite activities on our honeymoon.  What was your fave thing you did on your h-moon?  Or if you haven't gone yet, what are you most looking forward to on your h-moon or what was a fave activity on a previous vacation?

TODAY'S HONEYMOON TIP:  We found out about this little hiking adventure through the resort we stayed at.  So be sure to check with resorts and hotels you are visiting to ask them about referrals and suggestions on local activities and entertainment.