{"id":11836,"date":"2025-04-28T03:51:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T10:51:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/petersontravels.com\/?p=11836"},"modified":"2025-04-28T03:51:57","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T10:51:57","slug":"lamington-national-park-australia-oreillys-rainforest-retreat-a-plane-crash-and-moran-falls-hike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/petersontravels.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/28\/lamington-national-park-australia-oreillys-rainforest-retreat-a-plane-crash-and-moran-falls-hike\/","title":{"rendered":"Lamington National Park, Australia; O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat, a Plane Crash, and Moran Falls Hike"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are winding down the trip with one more National Park, this one called Lamington, which was founded in 1915.\u00a0 The park, which sits in the McPherson Range, is a sub-tropical rainforest that sits mostly at 3,000 feet above sea level, so the temperatures are thankfully much cooler than we experienced in Daintree National Park.<\/p>\n

At the very end of the road into the park sits “O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat”<\/a><\/strong>, a privately owned 4th generation family operated lodge that has been here since 1926.\u00a0 We stayed in one of their Villas, which have an amazing view!<\/p>\n

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Upon arrival we had a welcome talk about the history of the lodge, complete with sparkling wine, made by the O’Reillys themselves.\u00a0 Since it was dumping rain we also watched a documentary at the lodge that discussed a 1937 “Airlines of Australia” plane crash on the property, which we would hear more about during our stay.\u00a0 That night, we had a visitor\u00a0 on a tree next to our balcony,\u00a0 this Mountain Brushtail Possum.<\/p>\n

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He even jumped on our balcony, clearly looking for food.\u00a0 You are reminded to keep the doors closed to prevent these guys from coming in.<\/p>\n

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The next morning we walked up for breakfast, and got a better look at this mock-up of the Stinson airplane that crashed into the rainforest.\u00a0 The plane, carrying two pilots and five passengers from Brisbane to Sydney, crashed during bad weather.\u00a0 The McPherson Range is known to have unpredictable winds and heavy downdrafts.\u00a0 Upon crashing, both pilots and two of the five passengers were killed.\u00a0 One survivor went off the find help, while two stayed at the crash site and hoped for a rescue.<\/p>\n

Back in 1937 there were no flight-plans and the plane didn’t have a radio, so nobody knew which route they took or where they crashed.\u00a0 Everybody thought they flew over the ocean, and nobody was looking in the McPherson Range.\u00a0 After a 8 days they plane had not been found.<\/p>\n

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Enter Bernard O’Reilly (note the last name) an accomplished bushman living in Lamington, who deduced that the plane must have flown over the McPherson Range.\u00a0 He set off on a hike into the rainforest, and trekked for a full day before seeing a burned tree across a valley.\u00a0 Thinking this was from the plane crash, he hiked all day the next day and found the crash site, and the survivors.<\/p>\n

After giving them the rest of his food and some hot tea, he hiked 16 miles back home for help.\u00a0 This story was huge news in Australia, prompting documentaries (which we watched) and movies!\u00a0 This statue near the Stinson mock-up memorializes the moment Bernard helped out the survivors.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the third survivor who went for help died on the way.<\/p>\n

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We took a hike that day to Morans Falls.\u00a0 On the trail were several trees that show how much the vines make up the foliage in the rainforest, with estimates that vines are approximately 60-70% of the plants here!<\/p>\n

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The vines take on some interesting shapes.\u00a0 Look at the size of that vine!<\/p>\n

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It had been raining heavily, so Morans Falls was in excellent form!<\/p>\n

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We exchanged photo duties with some other hikers.<\/p>\n

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This is Moran Creek above the falls.\u00a0 Such a beautiful spot in the wilderness!<\/p>\n

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Right above the falls is this stunning view into the valley below.\u00a0 It’s like something out of Jurassic Park!<\/p>\n

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The falls deserved a video on our way back, when there were no screaming children to ruin the vibe (there have been a LOT of screaming children in this park).<\/p>\n