Some times you want a few days away where there is plenty to do and at other times you just want to sit back and relax in nature.
The Queen Mary Falls Caravan & Tourist Park is the perfect opportunity to do both. Set on a wide grassy area surrounded by farmland where you can park your caravan, setup a tent or stay in a wide variety of cabins. It is a great place to relax and enjoy nature. Yet there are many attractions nearby.
The office and cafe at Queen Mary Falls Caravan and Tourist Park
Across the road from the Caravan Park is
Queen Mary Falls. This spectacular falls is easily visited from 2 lookouts on the cliffs, as well as a 2 km track that goes down to the base of the falls. The falls walk is a great way to start your day. After a brisk 2 km walk, which took me only 25 minutes, you are ready for a hearty country breakfast served at
The Falls Cafe.
Queen Mary Falls is directly opposite the Caravan and Tourist Park
You don't even need to leave the caravan park to commune with nature as during the day a variety of birds come to visit. At night you will see possums, kangaroos and even bilbies roaming around the campgrounds. If you are lucky you might see some kangaroos around in the early morning, but usually they are shy to approach people during the day.
The camping area is a wide shady green space where birds, kangaroos, possums and bilbies come up to your tent
There are both powered and unpowered campsites. The unpowered ones often look like the better option because you can find a place to setup camp in a quiet spot on the wide grassy grounds. Unpowered sites are $30 a night during the high season and are only a little cheaper than powered sites. The main advantage is getting away from the crowds.
Queen Mary Falls Caravan Park is a great place to relax
The campgrounds also have fire pits spread out across the grounds. At night people will come together around the campfires to chat and on cool winter nights enjoy the warmth from the fires - don't forget your marshmallows. There are also a number of wood fired barbecues on the campgrounds as well.
The grounds have numerous fire pits to sit around and enjoy a fireside chat
The powered sites are in the main area and cost $35 a night during the high season. This area becomes pretty crowded with caravans on weekends. Most people with tents choose to avoid this area and stay in unpowered sites. However, you can actually find some fairly quite powered spots just outside of the main area.
The main area where people park their caravans
The are also several cabins at the park. All have a kitchenette (microwave, fridge and cook top) meaning all you really need to bring is your food. The cheapest cabin is the $90 a night bush cabin with no bathroom, while the best is the $165 a night spa cabin with everything. There are also a number of other options in between. Another option is the Bottle Brush House which can accommodate up to 6 people in 3 bedrooms.
The spa cabin is set aside from the main park area
There are great shared facilities at the park. The amenities block is clean and well maintained with the always welcome hot showers. During the night strategically placed lights help you walk around without getting lost without interrupting people's sleep. The camp kitchen means that all you need to do is bring your tent and some cooking implements and you are set to go. It is also great when you need to cook and it is raining. There are also coined operating washing machines and dryers for laundry.
The camp kitchen means you only need to bring your tent
For breakfast, coffee, snacks, lunch and souvenirs,
The Falls Cafe, which is also the main office of the park, lets you avoid having to cook most of your meals or make your own coffee. However they close too early for dinner, so you have to arrange that yourself.
The Falls cafe and souvenir shop at the park means you don't even need to cook breakfast or lunch
One thing worth bringing is some birdseed. There is a bird feeder in front of the cafe that attracts rosellas. Spread some birdseed around your tent, cabin or caravan and rosellas will come and visit you every morning looking for a feed.
Rosellas will come and visit you while you are staying
Many of the people who stay at the park return on numerous occasions. They are happy to sit around in the park all day, maybe reading a book or chatting with people. The Queen Mary Falls Caravan and Tourist Park is the perfect place to do that, yet there is also a lot to do in the area. This includes visiting more waterfalls, such as
Browns,
Daggs and Teviot Falls. Eat some great food, such as good steak meal in the Killarney Pub or enjoy mountain views at the
Spring Creek Mountain Cafe. You can shop for vegetables at roadside vegetable stalls or for gifts, souvenirs and handcrafts at places like the
Willow Gallery in Killarney.
Willow Gallery at Killarney
You can also visit a number of places in the local area. If you have a 4WD you can do scenic routes such as the Cambanoora Gorge which crosses the Condamine River 14 times. Further afield there are great hiking locations including
Bald Rock National Park and Girraween. For swimming holes there is
Boonoo Boonoo Falls and Undercliff Falls. Let's not forget the towns of Warwick and Stanthorpe.
The author stayed at the Queen Mary Falls Caravan and Tourist Park as a guest of the park and Southern Queensland Country Tourism.
