Saturday 30th April - Sunday 1st May – Rosegums Treehouse Retreat
We had planned a special treat today – to go to stay in a luxurious treehouse in the rainforest over our anniversary.
On the way there we stopped off at a famous tree called The Curtain Fig which is just amazing and the biggest tree we have ever seen!
The area we were heading to is situated in the Atherton Tablelands which is about an hour from Cairns. The landscape around this area is used for dairy farming and it was almost English looking with cattle in fields at the side of the roads. The only difference was that a lot of the fields weren’t fenced off and there were signs warning that cattle may be roaming across the roads! As we approached ‘Rosegums’ (the area where the treehouse retreats are) we saw a few old looking shack type places and were having the kids on that we were staying in one of those!
They started to believe it and were becoming really disappointed and Daisy almost in tears! Once we got our key and went to look in the house, their disappointment soon faded. It was fantastic. The views from the balcony were amazing – looking onto rainforested mountains with clouds hovering on top, it was so peaceful where all you could hear was birdsong and crickets!
A lounge area with large glass windows to see the view and a log woodburning fire.
Upstairs there were 3 beds and the kids were most impressed that you got bathrobes and crocs to wear!
Although the bathrobes were adult size!
We were going to try to shop on the way in, have tea and just relax and appreciate our lovely surroundings. However, for many months now, Emily has been desperate to see a Lumholzt tree kangaroo. They are an endangered species and quite elusive and shy creatures. They are very cute looking, a bit like a teddy bear with a long tail that can sometimes be seen hanging down from tree canopies.
The lady at the reception at Rosegums told us that just about an hour ago, the man from the café at Malanda had rung and told her there was a family of them playing in the trees at the side of the café. So staying in the treehouse was out of the question. We set off in our quest to see a tree kangaroo. The man at the café had told us they had been in the same trees for 3 hours that morning but had now gone – story of our lives trying to spot wildlife!
We had a walk, craning and straining our necks but to no avail. So we decided to stop off at a platypus viewing platform to see if we would have more luck here...you guessed it…. no we didn’t, it wasn’t really the right time of day (dawn or dusk) to see them, but we did see loads of turtles!
The next morning we woke up at 6.30am to the sound of very loud birdsong! Not wanting to miss a minute of it, Rich and I made a coffee and sat on the balcony watching the sunrise over the rainforest. It was a perfect moment and so special to spend it here on our 17thwedding anniversary!
The children got up not long after, so as we were all up early we decided to try to go on a platypus hunt and were in the car and driving to the bridge at 7.30am! We found the bridge marked on the map that is a platypus viewing platform and had a walk along the river. Unfortunately we were disappointed again but had a lovely walk in the early morning sun.
Kuranda Village
After a cooked breakfast, provided by the complimentary breakfast hamper, and all three girls having a Jacuzzi, we decided to head towards Kuranda, a village in the rainforest which has a skyrail, a train, some markets and wildlife centres. But first, we couldn’t resist another tree kangaroo hunt! We followed tracks again but to no avail. Oliver pointed out that we had not even seen a normal kangaroo yet, yet alone search for a tree kangaroo!! Emily, Daisy and Richard went back, but Oliver and I decided to stay because we kept hearing noises, then I spotted some poo! We spoke to the man at the café again, and he came back with us and confirmed it was definitely tree kanga poo! He had a scout round and told us that they have a strong, musky smell and had smelt them this morning. But again it was not to be and that was probably our best chance of seeing them in the wild!
This stop meant we were about an hour behind schedule so we made the decision to miss out the skyrail though drove to Kurranda and had a wander around the markets then decided to go to the koala sanctuary where you can cuddle and have a photo taken with a koala bear. We were really lucky because it shut at 4pm and we went in about 3.15pm. We were the only people in so they spent a lot of time with us which enabled us to take lots of our own photos aswell. Daisy was too little to hold one so I had to hold it and Daisy stroke it for the photo. It was called Tilly and very cute. Then Oliver had his turn but when it came to Ems turn, she had had enough and kept kicking her back legs into Em. This didn’t really help Em’s nervousness so in the end, the girl fetched another fatter koala called Chibby!
We can’t believe that in just 2 and a half weeks we have packed so much in…seen so much…experienced so much!
Tonight is our last night in Port Douglas before flying over to Darwin for the 4th leg of our trip (a 2 and a half hour flight). We pick up our camper van to travel around Litchfield National Park, Kakadu and have 3 tours planned!
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