This is the wilderness edge of Lamington National Park where the mountains loom dramatically and the chill bubbles of the Albert River offer spa pools in the rocks.

There has been good rain this summer and the valley is lovely and lush.  The cattle and horses and sheep and wallabies are lazy and rolling fat.  Everything waits for the clash and flash of the days end storm followed by a green and yellow sunset light or the dazzle of a rainbow.

Mild protests of cattle, indicate action at the stockyards as the Christmas muster progresses and young stock are weaned from reluctant mothers.  Then there is bellowing and lamentation until lush feed provides a distraction.

Spanning the river back towards town, Worendo olive grove offers welcome shade under soft grey branches where new fruit makes a tentative appearance.  In April there will be a festival here to celebrate the harvest and this will provide the venue for creative arts workshops in such diverse disciplines as basketry and blacksmithing.

The valley community knows this is a special place of spectacular scenery and unique remoteness so close to the rat race.  Everyone wants to keep it like this and one way to do this is to encourage a tourism industry that is discreet and whose operators savour the opportunity to live here.

There are a number of romantic B&B cottages with distinctive ambience and dramatic outlooks.  There are farmstays which are true working properties and big comfortable farmhouses to house happy groups.

A property that once was a Chinese market garden now houses a very special collection of cottages and outbuildings that have been saved from dereliction and brought back to life as museum displays telling stories from the past.  This is Garden Hill and here, an Art Gallery has been established against the unique backdrop of a slab built carriage shed – a perfect foil for the lovely pieces that hang there.

This valley is home too, to a Cooking School specialising in wild food cuisine, an exercise in fusion with Asian and Mediterranean inspirations.  The setting of Wild Lime Cooking School is spectacular and the kitchen an inspirational backdrop for exciting food ideas.

From my window, green hills merge into the rainforest clad heights of the mountains of Lamington National Park and I can hear crickets and cattle and cockatoos.  We may have a storm again tonight to maintain the lush green of this lovely season and even if we are lost for a while in the flashing and crashing we’re sure to find ourselves in Lost World Valley at the end.