Escape the hurly-burly of the city and get lost in the Mist at Cape Tribulation

A three-pavilion retreat at Cape Tribulation in far north Queensland adds whole new meaning to the expression “get away from it all”.

Mist at Cape Tribulation is a world away from civilisation and your everyday cares.

STANDING on the beach at Cape Tribulation in the showery, luminous late-afternoon light, the surrounding vegetation is so profuse it feels as if it’s about to bear down on the shore like a verdant tsunami.

The remote cape, 140km north of Cairns and 1820km and another universe away from Brisbane, is the end point of the sealed road that runs through the Daintree National Park. This is off-the-grid territory, with the focus on embracing the quiet beauty of the traditional lands of the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people, where the mountains clad in the lush emerald cloak of a 165-million-year-old rainforest fold towards the sea.

Visitors will find the creek enticing at Mist near Cape Tribulation.

Not far from the cape – given its pessimistic European name by James Cook in 1770 after the Endeavour scraped a nearby reef – is Mist, a luxury eco- enterprise run by brother and sister Paul and Mary Martin.

The former Brisbane-based communications executive and telecommunications worker bought the land two years ago, renovated the existing home for their own use, then built the three cabins on the slope behind it themselves.

These open-plan pavilions are designed for visitors to go troppo in style.

At one end of each main cabin a very comfortable, linen-sheeted king-sized bed is artfully draped with mosquito nets and is separated by a lounge and small table and chairs from the kitchen, with the bathroom behind that.

The roomy teak daybed on the front deck faces the slopes of Mt Sorrow (another bleak name bestowed by Cook), and is the perfect place to set up a horizontal HQ for reading or watching birds using the binoculars and guidebook provided.

Screens keep tropical bugs at bay but the solar power means airconditioning and the flat-screen television can be deployed if needed.

Also on hand are pillows of varying levels of softness/hardness, rain capes and umbrellas.

Toffee the cocker spaniel enjoys a dip in the creek.

A walk towards the back of the 3.5ha property with the pair and Mary’s cocker spaniel Toffee reveals strangler figs with huge buttressed root systems and woody vines twisting down from above that are so thick it seems a shame Tarzan isn’t around to put them to good use. Our destination is a stream gushing down from Mt Sorrow that rumbles down a waterfall, then widens into a rocky-floored, perfect in-ground pool.

Mist is self-catering – visitors are advised to shop at Mosman as they wind their way up the scenic Captain Cook Highway from Cairns. But to cover bases,
a starter pack of a bottle of champagne,
a couple of beers, jams and butter, paté, cheese biscuits, chocolate, fruit, milk, granola and bread is on hand. Freshly baked muffins are delivered each morning.

Rather than cook dinner, we visited what seemed to be the community hub, Whet Restaurant, run by Matt and Michelle Wenden

Bush surrounds the veranda of one of the pavilions at Mist at Cape Tribulation.

for the past 12 years. It was locals’ night in the bar area but we were out on the deck in the cool, surrounded by dramatically lit foliage. Crocodile seems on-theme for a starter given the many crocodile warning signs we’ve seen in the Daintree. The meat, softened by a buttermilk marinade and atop a soba noodle salad, was perfectly non-threatening and surprisingly appealing. Chermoula-rubbed grilled local prawns were another sound option, as was the local line-caught barramundi.

Between the Cape and the ferry crossing of the Daintree River 35km south, there are multiple boardwalks to explore the rainforest. At Cow Bay Beach, there’s no one about on the crescent of white sand beyond the crocodile warning sign, but
a lunching council worker at the barbecue shelter takes a moment to show us a bright green peppermint stick insect secreted in
a strappy leaf of a nearby pandanus plant. Just up the road at Floravilla ice-cream shop, Betty

The interiors of the pavilions are both stylish and functional.

Hinton’s signature Daintree Rainforest green-hued confection conjures up the surrounds with the help of lemon myrtle, coconut, ginger, Daintree organic vanilla, spirulina and kale.

Further north, after passing scores of “cassowary crossing” signs that are unfortunately always devoid of cassowaries, we stop at Mason’s. At this multi-tasking venture you can buy a bottle of shiraz, post a letter, book a tour, order
a tasting plate of “croc, roo and emu” and finish with a lamington. For $2 you can swim in the creek. “No crocodiles in the swimming hole, they’re in our burgers,”
a sign advises and the rainforest-lined swimming hole is a beauty, the water clear and filled with fish.

Nearby are businesses offering bigger-ticket activities including Jungle Surfing zip-lining over the rainforest, tropical fruit tasting, wildlife cruises, Ocean Safari snorkelling trips to reefs a mere 25 minutes offshore or horseriding on the beach.

Back at Mist after dinner, I drifted off with the rain beating down on the roof in
a tropical tattoo. Then at dawn, an early morning mist appears like a haze across the flanks of Mt Sorrow, underlining just why this remote but very well-appointed retreat got its name.

BOOK IT NOW

MIST AT CAPE TRIBULATION

94 Nicole Drive, Cape Tribulation

Pavilions $385 per night

0408 256 957

mistatcapetribulation.com.au

The writer travelled courtesy of Tourism and Events Queensland