This was published 12 years ago
Where the sea is the only sound
A Jacuzzi-bound Mal Chenu soaks up the peace where rainforest meets ocean.
Haven ... Cape Tribulation from the air.
Escape is quite impossible from Bloomfield Lodge. Cut into a seaside hill on Weary Bay near Cape Tribulation, Bloomfield is not easy to get to, either, and even when you get here you could still miss it - a rickety-looking jetty is the only clue that here lies luxury accommodation, hidden in the undergrowth.
As we take off from Cairns and head north, Tony the pilot tells us the 35-minute flight is one of the world's most scenic - along the coast and over the Great Barrier Reef. And, when the rain clouds finally part, we are treated to the reef's stunning aquamarine palette sprinkled with whitecaps, postcard perfect from 1200 metres.
After landing on a grass airstrip - where a sign advises "Immigration & Customs - Not Here Mate" - it's a 15-minute drive then another 20 minutes by flat-bottom boat across the shallows of Weary Bay to Bloomfield where, finally, a tractor pulls the boat ashore so we don't get our feet wet, a first taste of the luxury to come.
Relaxing in style ... a Bloomfield Lodge villa.
Cape Tribulation is a place of pioneers and explorers and one can only imagine the hardships. At Bloomfield Lodge, circa-1890s photos of the region line the open-air restaurant-bar area. One depicts a rough tennis court that must have taken enormous labours to carve into the hillside. The players (in full head-to-toe proper English garments, of course) are about as far from Wimbledon as it's possible to get.
Greta and Travis welcome us to the resort, invite us to relax and show us where the sunscreen and insect-bite cream is kept. Bloomfield is owned by an English travel company and many of the guests are from the Old Dart. Their immediate concern is just how many animals, plants and insects can actually kill them.
Bloomfield revels in its remoteness and the peace and quiet are palpable. A guest is quietly chided for glancing at his watch - the only times you need to keep here are mealtimes.
The only times you need to keep here are mealtimes.
One interesting time they did have was when Cyclone Yasi came calling. She missed them but dumped 228 millimetres of rain (about 20 per cent of Sydney's annual total) in three hours. Even the laconic locals were impressed.
The 17 free-standing and self-contained villas have everything you need except a TV, internet and mobile access. Desperadoes can hook in to a dial-up but this gets very expensive. Bloomfield is one of the few places in the world where you can still see teenagers playing Scrabble.
The balcony of my villa is the highlight and overlooks the rainforest and ocean. It's as big as the rest of the living area and comprises a table and chairs, day-bed and a four-person Jacuzzi facing Rattlesnake Point. It's almost a shame when the meal or cocktail hour arrives and I have to climb out of the bubbles to join the rest of the relaxed for lunch or dinner. The set-menu meals are mid-to-high-end restaurant standard and are included in the price.
Night-time brings a sense of tranquillity that is barely plausible. The movement of the sea is the only sound and the moonlight plays with the ripples washing onto the shore until morning brings a fresh vista and a symphony of bird life. The rainforest is open for business and there is no better way to see it than on the local guided tour. This and the Bloomfield River cruise are must-dos.
The cruise takes us eight kilometres upstream along a mangrove-lined, deep-green mirrored waterway. Jamie the tour guide runs through the history of the place, all the while scanning the riverbank for crocodiles.
Ospreys and sea eagles circle high overhead, while kingfishers and heron fish for their lunch. A jabiru launches into flight right in front of us and rainbow bee eaters flit about the branches. Jamie spots a 12-foot croc basking in the sun on the bank and we stop and stare at each other just 20 metres apart. We're mightily impressed but he (only males generally grow to this size) is disinterested, occasionally eyeing us off from the waterline. He hasn't changed for about 100 million years and he'll be damned if he's gonna start now.
You can walk through the rainforest on your own and miss pretty much everything of interest or you can take the guided tour and learn some really cool stuff, including the fact that there are 30,000 species of fungus here. Good to know.
Paul Condon has been wandering this 110-million-year-old part of the Daintree rainforest for 12 years and his bush-tucker and medicine lessons are a delight. He is thrilled to introduce us to the gympie gympie or stinging bush, the silica hairs of which contain 85 toxins and can kill a horse and give humans an agony they will never forget.
"This is not good bush toilet paper," he advises, unnecessarily.
And it's not just in the rainforest that you feel "at one" with the pristine lungs of northern Australia, it's everywhere at Bloomfield. So close are the rainforest and ocean that the sensation of peace is always with you, even as the barbecue sizzles, the wine breathes and the cheesecake awaits.
The writer travelled courtesy of Tourism Queensland, Bloomfield Lodge, Sebel Cairns and Virgin Australia.
Trip notes
Getting there
Virgin Australia flies Sydney to Cairns seven times a day from around $176 a person.
Staying there
All-inclusive four-night packages at Bloomfield Lodge from $1520 a person in low season (April-June, 2012 and January 3-March, 2013) and $1745 in high season (July-December). Includes twin or double share accommodation in a Rainforest Room, all meals, guided rainforest walk, guided river cruise and all transfers, including private chartered flights from and to Cairns. (07) 4035 9166, bloomfieldlodge.com.au.
More information
Three things to do
1 Jungle Surfing Canopy Tours have run flying-fox zip-lines through five tree platforms, which offer "surfers" unique views of the canopy and streams below, and the ocean in the distance. Eight tours daily. $90 a person, junglesurfing.com.au.
2 Jungle Adventures Nightwalks take you through an ancient world of enveloping darkness, nocturnal beasties and the rustling, breathing rainforest. Two-hour walks depart at 7.30pm daily. $40 a person, junglesurfing.com.au.
3 Cape Trib Exotic Fruit Farm. Ultimate fruit-growing conditions help the farm produce 150 species of rare fruit from around the world. Tastings and orchard tours are held at 2pm most days ($23 an adult, $10.50 a child) and there are two bed-and-breakfast units available at $180 a night. capetrib.com.au.
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