Rainforest's burbling beauty

JENNY Stevens marvels at the sights and sounds of Far North Queensland's Daintree Rainforest from her treetop guestroom at the Silky Oaks Lodge.

Stressfree ... guests stay in treehouses and can treat themselves to a massage at Silky Oakes's Healing Waters Spa.

THE American woman insisted the lodge turn off the water because the noise kept her awake.

The night manager at Silky Oaks Lodge managed to keep a straight face but this time there was nothing he could do.

The culprit was the Mossman River which begins as a trickle in the rainforests of north Queensland, joins other streams and then plummets over the cataracts of the escarpment west of Port Douglas on its way to the Coral Sea.

As it passes Mossman Gorge, the crystal clear water is so pure photographers come from all over the world to capture the magic.

Where it passes the lodge, it burbles over and around smooth river stones before coming to a pause in a wide, green pool.

When it is hot and sticky, the sound is not only soothing, but cooling. You just want to throw yourself in, clothes and all.

Some guests wait out the heat of the day in hammocks strung between the riverside palms or on their treehouse verandas.

A few energetic ones take to the river in canoes or brave the chilly water to snorkel. Others walk upstream for an hour to Fig Tree Rapids before collapsing into the swimming hole.

Even on the well-marked routes of the Daintree rainforest you'll see scrub fowl busily scratching in the leaf litter, seed pods in all shapes and colours, ferns clinging to branches high above, birds galore and butterflies you don't see any more in the cities.

The rainforest is never tamed though – one moment the track is well-worn and signposted, the next moment vine tentacles and leaf mulch cover the trail.

The one constant is the river, not always visible but always audible. In the low water season, the river flows down a narrow channel leaving a wide, dry riverbed littered with huge boulders.

It's hard to believe the roaring water could pick up and carry stones as big as cars, but this is the tropical north and 224,000 megalitres pour down the river from the 4.5m of rainfall in the hills each year.

Peter Cooper, from Mangrove Man Tours, is an ardent supporter of the Mossman River and after two hours with him you won't look at a mangrove the same way again.

At dusk he takes lodge guests to the mouth of the Mossman and meanders up the river in a zodiac, pointing out small crocs, bats, fish, birds and beautiful wild flowers.

For a bird's eye view of the area, Ballooning with Hot Air flies out of Mareeba, in the hinterland behind Cairns.

The early mornings are lovely this far north – mild and exhilarating, with none of the humidity of the day.

A final treat is a visit to Silky Oaks' Healing Waters Spa. This is one of Australia's finest destination spas, with its signature Li'tya and Sodashi treatments.

A two-day stay is hardly enough, but you come to appreciate the rainforest and river and learn to embrace serenity in comfort.

Sunday Herald Sun