Terra Nova....or, Cedar Creek Falls
If the photograph attached to this post looks a little familiar, but you have never been to Queensland, Australia before, here is a fun fact: Cedar Creek Falls (as well as a large portion of Mt Tambourine) was the shooting location for television series Terra Nova, an extremely popular series based around the concept of what would happen if humanity had to be sent back to the prehistoric world in order to avoid extinction, using a time travel portal that bridges the gap between the dinosaurs and the age of humanity.
Did you ever watch that fantastic Spielberg television show, Terra Nova? I was so upset when it got cancelled. Dinosaurs, a storyline that kept on unfolding in exciting ways, a beautiful natural backdrop...epic. Where I live, the shooting location that much of the show plays out in is just an hour or so away from my home, meaning that I got to grow up hiking those falls with my family and friends on weekends. Terra Nova is Cedar Creek Falls, off the Gold Coast and into the hinterland.
The series was directed by Spielberg (a strong starting point, right?), however after failing to reach viewing goals set by overhyping the series months before it began, the expected experience with Spielberg being the director, and comparing the series to HBO legend, Game of Thrones. When the series was cancelled, many people — myself included — hoped that another channel would pick it up, but unfortunately, no one did. Buuuuut the positive of this is that this little gem remains (mostly) a secret.
'Life is wonderful. It's a gift to be alive, to see the sun and breathe the air. And there isn't really anything else.'
Michael Crichton, The Lost World
While Cedar Creek Falls’ car park is always full, once you go down and then climb off the trail’s pathway, the falls cascades into smaller falls and the area is so expansive that it is easy to find a spot that has little to no people near you. This place is one of my favourite places to go. It is not much of a hike, the falls start from the beginning of the trail. You can take the trails down all the way to the bottom and have amazing views down into the various waterfalls from the safety of the guard rails that run along the outer side of the trail. If you’re more adventurous, you can climb off the trail at a little section just after the first (and biggest) waterfall and climb down and through the falls.
I have been going here since I was a kid with my family, and I still love it. The water is perfect for swimming in, and while you have to walk down from the outer carpark (if you weren’t lucky enough to get a park in the immediate carpark at the bottom of the road into the falls’ park) it is a nice walk. There is a house that sits right next to the entry boardwalk of the park, but you cannot go into the property — it is private.
There was a beautiful white horse that lived on that property a few years ago, but I have not seen her the last few times that I went to Cedar Creek Falls. I don’t know what happened to her, but I do hope that she is okay. Right next to the entry road down into the falls is Thunderbird Adventure Park, a place of fun outdoor activities — I have stayed here for a weekend with my partner and the accommodation is wonderful…it is honestly so beautiful.
