Thunderegg Crystal Mine Tamborine Mountain Road, Tamborine Mountain, Queensland 4272

"We rocked up and were able to get straight onto a group. The intro was informative and not too long and then it was a gentle walk up to the mine. There is some shade in the mining area but be sure to bring water bottles and sunscreen. The 9 and 5 year old enjoyed digging and fossicking and found some really nice eggs! An hour was enough time and walked back at our own leisure. We were assisted by the friendly staff to grade and cut the eggs and we left with a smile and lots of stories for mum. (We might have also had to pay$4 for a special egg as we didn't officially find any good eggs in our search but the guys made our kids feel like they did and they left none the wiser that we sneakily purchased a quality geoade to take home)."

"The walk up the hill is steep and slippery, but back down holding a heavy bucket of rocks and a pick, is next level difficult. (Just to forewarn anyone that was unsure.) and the actual mining was quite difficult and a lot of work. My kids worked on some areas for hours. But it was such a great experience. It’s no ‘jewels put in sand for you to pan’ experience, it’s legit. The ones we found were SO cool. Definitely worth having them cut it open and tell us about each mineral that is inside. We loved this and will be talking about it for years to come."

"Take boots if it has rained! Great fun. None of the rocks have very bright colours but out of 3 buckets the rock cutter sorted 4 worthwhile ones. These ppl are experts! The rocks we cut look good under water but a bit plain “rockish” otherwise ;). For kids sensitive to loud noise the intro and cutting (obviously - but wait time was around 45min) in the workshop was tricky - take noise canceling headphones."

"I took 3 children and a friend to thunderbird park yesterday. What an amazing place! I tried to book the tiny tots high ropes course before leaving, but it turns out the site I was on (adrenaline) was not very fast or helpful with our chat session ending before actually booking us in. So book directly with the park before leaving home if you plan to go. I could not find disabled parking and there was a sign with an arrow pointing to the road that goes around the back so I parked there and a few hours later a chef came out while I was at the van and asked me to leave as apparently it was staff parking (even though the staff parking sign was further up with the arrow pointing the opposite direction). So when we got there the tiny tots high ropes course was completely booked out so we took the kids to mine for thunder eggs instead which my son and I enjoyed, but the younger children got bored easily as it was very sunny and no nearby shade. It was certainly not accessible for people with mobility issues and injuries (such as myself who needed to supervise my child and was still charged quite alot to "spectate"). The waiver was confusing with parent/child/group roles and adult and child concession buttons could be simplier so 1 person could easily fill it out on the tablet provided. The info/briefing session was executed well by staff but went on a bit long and the children and some adults in the group lost interest towards the end with the do's and don'ts. There were plenty of golf buggys and atvs that could have been used to transport disabled, pregnant and elderly people up the steep and rocky path by a staff member which would have been appreciated, but this service was not offered. We had 3 thundereggs cut open when returning back to the shop which was also quite expensive for the size of the rocks. It was also quite a long wait and nowhere to sit down in the shop whilst waiting for our turn to go through our bucket to determine which ones would be best to cut. I would suggest some packages with other activities at the park as we would have done the digger activity, gemstone fossiking and mini golf had it not been so expensive for us to take the 3 kids mining with their own buckets and having a few cut open. The cafe food was good but it was a bit disorganised and a long wait for my lunch which was just a premade sandwhich to be toasted. There was a fire pit in the middle of the outdoor seating area in the cafe which needed some firewood on it as it was just glowing coals with no safety cover on the top so little kids didn't stick their hands in it. It was the first day of school holidays so probably a bit busier than usual and the staff at the cafe seemed a bit unprepared. We will go back there to try the other actvities as the park itself was beautiful but the day will need to be planned out better (including disabled park reserved) and I'll bring my mobility scooter with me too."

"This is a fun activity for kids, I think it is a bit rich to charge an adult to supervise if they are not participating. Then charge again to cut the rocks. I really think you should include at least 1 rock to be cut in the price. It ends up being a rather expensive activity."