| Springbrook
is the Glow Worm capital of Australia |
The Tour
We are fortunate at our Centre to have
the most spectacular natural environment colony of glow worms on the Springbrook plateau.
Our glow worms are NOT in caves but out in the open on 5 to 10 metre high vertical rock
walls.
From local reports, the glow worms in
the main viewing area naturally migrated from a nearby existing colony in 1951.
The vertical rock wall of our main viewing area was exposed by rock extraction works done
at that time.
The tour takes around one hour.
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Educational
Introduction
An brief overview / question time is held prior to the guided tour in the display area of
the Research Centre.
The lifecycle of the glow worm and similarities to other bioluminescent organisms that are
found on the Springbrook Plateau will be explained.
The talk also includes the the process of bioluminescence in simple language. |
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The
viewing circuit
You will then be guided down the ground lit concrete pathways that extend for the full 200
metre walking circuit to and from the viewing area.
As glow worms tend to live in places not always convenient to visitors, please be aware
the use of two very steep staircases is required to access the viewing area.
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Luminous
Mushrooms
In the luminous mushroom season ( December - February ) you will be able to see luminous
mushrooms that have been cultivated from clones of species newly discovered in our
research area.
The fungus of these clones has been innoculated into logs that are stacked in the
rainforest.
Our Research Centre is the only location in Australia that is intentionally growing
luminous mushrooms.
The Springbrook Research Centre
is also the sole location worldwide where in season the specimen Mycena
lampadis[Maguire 1988], one of the brightest luminous mushrooms in the world can
be seen. |
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Personal
Torches
Torches are not required as the whole
concrete circuit pathway is illuminated by 12 volt ground lighting.
High Intensity LED and Laser pointers/torches are definately not permitted. |
No flash cameras please
Visitors please note that flash cameras
are not permitted in our colony viewing area as the glow worms are bright-light sensitive.
If not subjected to flash damage,our glow worms will be here for many more years for our
visitors to enjoy.
Photos are made readily available to our visitors for downloading from this web site.
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Meals
We do not provide food for visitors
here.
Please be aware that restaurants at Springbrook are generally are not open at night unless
prior arrangements have been made.
We suggest that if you have not booked into a local restaurant, that you dine at the Gold
Coast, Nerang or Mudgeeraba prior to driving up the mountain to Springbrook. |
Earliest
Viewing Times
Summer
8:00pm
Autumn 7:30pm
Spring 7:30pm
Winter 7:00pm
One of our researchers does the rounds
of the colony every night and visitors are welcome to join in on the observations.
In order to create a more enjoyable
atmosphere we limit the number of visitors here to small personalised groups by advance
bookings to prevent overcrowding.
So please book in either here online or by telephone. |
