We picked up our hire car at Cairns Airport, and set off on the 2 hour journey to Daintree, along the Cook Highway. The Daintree Rainforest is virtually cut off from the rest of Australia by the Daintree River and the Great Divide mountain range. We took the ferry across the river and eventually arrived at or destination: Cockatoo Hill Retreat. This turned out to be even better than I had assumed from looking at their website. The buildings were all designed in Balinese style, with lots of hardwood and woven cane used in their construction. Our ‘treehouse’ cabin had a balcony with a wonderful view over rainforest and mangroves towards the sea. A great place to chill out for four days.
After a swim and a laze by the infinity pool, we headed towards Cape Tribulation for dinner at Whet restaurant. This is supposedly one of the top 10 restaurants in Queensland, a thoroughly justified accolade in my view, judging by the excellent meal we had there. Back at the Cockatoo Hill Retreat, time for some stargazing from the balcony. It seems you have to go as far as Australia or New Zealand to get away from the light pollution that ruins the night sky over most of Europe. The sight of so many stars that are invisible back home is quite spectacular. By late evening, all the jungle animals, birds, and most insects, have gone to sleep to the place is totally quite except for the distant sound of the surf on the beach.
The next day involved more lazing by the pool, and getting stuck into some good holiday reading. In the afternoon we went for a guided walk though the Daintree rainforest at nearby Cooper Creek. Our guide, Pru, owned a lodge and a considerable area of the surrounding forest, and turned out to be an expert in all the plants and animals that we encountered in our 3 hour walk, entertaining us with numerous stories as we went. The outing ended with a swim in the creek. Not as warm as the swimming pool but very refreshing.
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