| Springbrook
is the Glow Worm capital of Australia |
Welcome
to my world by night !
My life may seem quite different to
yours in so much as most nights in the wet season I am either out exploring the rainforest
in the dark looking for new bioluminescent organisms, or recording the status of our
multiple glow-worm colonies and firefly breeding ground within our Research area.I invite you to share a little of that life by
joining in on a very informative night tour at our facility. |
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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.
The tour takes around one hour.
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Informative
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 briefing also includes the the process of bioluminescence in detailed or simple
language as you prefer. |
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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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Full
moon nights
Whilst the light from a full moon will only marginally affect the viewing of adult glow
worms, juvenile glow worms just can't produce sufficient light to be easily visible on
bright moon nights, so for the best viewing experience, choose your visit if possible not
to coincide with the full moon. |
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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 ) cultivated specimens of
Mycena lampadis [ Maguire 1988 ],
one of the brightest light generating 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
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 on 0755 335 239. |
