Friday 2 to Sunday 4 October 2026

Hidden Vale,
or the Tweed.

Two very different weekends. One has beds, archery and a hundred kilometres of trail. The other has all three sports and is twenty five minutes from home.

3 days, 2 nights QLD long weekend School holidays, both states

The weekend

"The weekend after next" and "school holidays" only line up on one weekend.

The trip
Fri 2 to Sun 4 Oct
Out Friday morning, home Sunday afternoon.
QLD school holidays
21 Sep to 5 Oct
Term 4 starts Tue 6 Oct.
NSW school holidays
28 Sep to 9 Oct
Both states off. The Tweed coast will be busy.
Monday 5 Oct
Public holiday
King's Birthday in QLD. Changeover day, so probably not yours.
Custody assumption. Working forward from your week of 31 Aug to 6 Sep on a Monday to Sunday fortnight, Smilla is with you Mon 28 Sep to Sun 4 Oct. The trip fits. Confirm before you pay a deposit, because both options want money up front.

Head to head

Costs are for you and Smilla, two nights, food not included. Distances from Palm Beach, approximate.

Option 1
Hidden Vale
Grandchester, Lockyer Valley
SurfMountain bike Horses, with a catchArchery BedsPool, see below
~150 km · about 1 hr 50 each way
A proper destination. Twelve thousand acres, over a hundred kilometres of trail, a cabin with real beds and a fire pit. You drive once in and once out, then you stay put. The riding here is in a different league to anything on the coast.
  • Where617 Grandchester Mt Mort Rd, Grandchester QLD 4340. Ph 0477 402 565.
  • Trails100+ km across 12,000 acres. Plenty of green. Skills park with logs and see-saws, some of it genuinely hard, so keep Smilla on the green.
  • Trail pass$20 per rider per day. One older listing says $10, so confirm when you ring.
  • BikesHire available on site at the office, including e-bikes. Solves the bike problem.
  • CabinsFour cabins, two bedrooms each (double plus overhead bunk), sleeps 6. Private balcony, big fire pit. Kitchen and bathrooms are shared between cabins. Two-night minimum on weekends and school holidays.
  • ArcheryYes, run by the Adventure Park.
  • Friday
    Leave after breakfast, arrive lunchtime. Check in, pick up bikes and passes, easy afternoon on the green trails. Archery before dark, then the fire pit.
  • Saturday
    Big morning of riding while it is cool. Afternoon either the skills park, or drive 45 min to Fordsdale for the horse ride if you have sorted the prerequisite.
  • Sunday
    One last lap, pack up, home mid afternoon.
Cabin, 2 nights price not published$300-500
Trail passes, 2 riders x 2 days$80
Kids bike hire, 2 days~$100
Fuel, ~300 km round trip$55
About$535-735
Add horses at Fordsdale (you $110 + Smilla $99)+$209
Cabin rates are not on the website. Email reservations@hiddenvalecabins.com.au or check Airbnb. This is the single biggest unknown in the whole plan, and on a long weekend in school holidays it will be at the top of the range.
Option 2
The Tweed Triangle
Hastings Point, Uki, Tallebudgera
SurfMountain bike HorsesArchery BedsPool
Base ~30 km · nothing more than 35 min apart
All three sports in one weekend, because Uki, Cabarita and Tallebudgera sit in a tight triangle. Half the cost and a quarter of the driving. The trade is that you are in a tent and you are never far from home.
  • BaseTweed Holiday Parks, Hastings Point or Pottsville. Beachfront. 20% off sites during school holidays.
  • TrailsUki Mountain Bike Park, 165 Smiths Creek Rd. Free, no booking, dawn to dusk. 8 trails over 6.4 km: 3 green descents, 1 green climb, 3 blue, 1 black.
  • Pump trackSkills park built specifically for ages 5 to 12. This is the bit Smilla will not want to leave.
  • FacilitiesFree parking, toilets, water. No food and no bike hire on site, so bring lunch.
  • BikesNorthern Rivers Bike Hire at Mooball does 24 inch kids bikes for Uki.
  • HorsesPandora Downs, Tallebudgera. First-time rider hour $80, no prerequisite, ages 2 and up.
  • Friday
    Horse ride at Pandora Downs at 9am on the way out of town. Down to Hastings Point, set up camp, afternoon surf at Cabarita.
  • Saturday
    Uki Mountain Bike Park under Wollumbin. Green trails and the pump track. Lunch in Uki village, swim in the Hastings Point rock pool after.
  • Sunday
    Dawn surf at Norries Head. Pack up, easy spin on the Northern Rivers Rail Trail if the legs allow, home mid afternoon.
Campsite, 2 nights, less the 20% holiday rate~$90
Pandora Downs, first-time rider hour$80
Uki park and pump trackFree
Kids bike hire, 1 day~$50
Fuel$20
About$240
The catch: you are never more than 35 minutes from home, so it will feel less like going away. The fix is to actually camp and not drive back for anything you forgot.

Two things about Hidden Vale you had slightly wrong

Both are fixable, but both change the plan, so they are worth knowing before you book.

There is no horse riding at Hidden Vale. Spicers runs archery, mountain bike tours, 4WD tours, koala safaris and farm animal feeding, but horses are at their Tamarind property on the Sunshine Coast, not here. The nearest real option is Fordsdale Horseback Adventures, 171 Wagners Rd, Fordsdale, about 45 minutes away. One hour is $110 for you and $99 for Smilla, weekends at 9am, 11:30am and 2pm, maximum four per group, 80 kg limit.

The catch that matters: riders under 16 must already have had riding lessons at another facility. Smilla has not. So if you want horses on this trip, book her a Pandora Downs lesson at Tallebudgera for Monday 28 or Tuesday 29 September, the first days of your custody week, then ring Fordsdale on 0427 584 363 and check that one lesson satisfies them. It might not.
The pool is not at the cabins. The two outdoor pools, the tennis court and the restaurant belong to Spicers Hidden Vale, the luxury retreat on the same property, which runs from roughly $260 to $420 a night. The Adventure Park cabins are the affordable option and they share a kitchen and a bathroom block between four cabins. Good cabins, real beds, big fire pit, but no pool. If the pool is the thing Smilla is picturing, you are looking at the Spicers price, and a two-night stay there is more than the entire Tweed trip.

Side by side

The honest summary: Hidden Vale is the better place, the Tweed is the better trip for this particular weekend.

 Hidden ValeThe Tweed Triangle
SurfNoneYes, and uncrowded
Mountain bike100+ km, world class6.4 km, enough for a beginner
Pump track for SmillaSkills park, some of it too hardPurpose built for ages 5-12
Horses45 min away, needs a prior lesson$80, no prerequisite
ArcheryYesNo
PoolOnly at Spicers, ~$260-420/nightOcean and a rock pool
SleepingCabin, real beds, shared kitchenTent
Driving, total3 hr 40, plus 1 hr 30 if you do the horses1 hr 30
Bike hire on siteYes, including e-bikesNo, hire at Mooball first
Cost~$535-735, or ~$745-945 with horses~$240
Weather backupTrails get greasy, little else to doThree sports, one of them will work
Biggest unknownCabin price and availabilityCampsite availability

What it looks like

Free-licensed photos. The place shots are the real locations, the activity shots are stand-ins.

Sunrise over the Lockyer Valley
Lockyer Valley, Hidden Vale country
Mountain biker on a trail
100 km of trail
Archery targets in a forest
Archery
Fire pit at night
The cabin fire pit
Outdoor resort pool
The pool, but only at Spicers
Trail riding on horseback
Fordsdale, 45 min away
Hastings Point headland
Hastings Point
Wollumbin Mount Warning
Wollumbin, above Uki
Child riding a pump track
Uki pump track, ages 5 to 12
Girl riding a pony
Pandora Downs, first ride
Nippers on an Australian beach
Surf mornings
Tent on grass
Two nights in a tent

Smilla, which one?

Tap the one you want. Dad gets to see your pick.

To book, in order

Steps 1 and 2 are time-critical on a long weekend. The rest can wait until midweek.

1
Confirm the custody week
Smilla with you Mon 28 Sep to Sun 4 Oct. Check before any deposit.
2
Get the Hidden Vale cabin price
Email reservations@hiddenvalecabins.com.au or ring 0477 402 565. Two-night minimum on school holiday weekends. If it comes back over $500 for two nights, that alone decides it.
3
Or ring Tweed Holiday Parks
Hastings Point or Pottsville, and ask for the 20% school holiday rate on sites.
4
If you want horses at Hidden Vale, act this week
Book Pandora Downs 0406 071 899 for Mon 28 or Tue 29 Sep, $80. Then ring Fordsdale 0427 584 363 and confirm one lesson is enough for a 9 year old. If they say no, the horses only work in the Tweed version.
5
Sort Smilla's bike
Hidden Vale hires on site, so no action needed there. For Uki, book Northern Rivers Bike Hire at Mooball. Or buy one off the September shortlist.
6
Check the forecast Thursday
Wet weather hurts Hidden Vale much more. Clay trails go greasy and there is not much else to do out there. The Tweed keeps working in the rain because the surf does not care.
Dropped from the earlier version: Broken Head, which had the best camping and the best surf but no bikes and no affordable horses, and Toowoomba, which was five hours of driving for riding that is mostly too advanced for Smilla. Hidden Vale is the better version of the inland idea and it is on the same road, so it replaces both.