Port Douglas holiday house Mali Mali a luxury hilltop hood
Between the rainforest and the ocean, this holiday home has the best of both worlds.
A little gecko plops on to the outdoor dining table just as I’m about to tuck into morsels of Moreton Bay bug served with slivers of orange and a savoury-sweet tamarind and coconut jam. On the timber beams above me the lizard’s companions skitter this way and that, chasing their own dinner. Mosquitoes would appear to be endangered in this corner of tropical north Queensland.
Sydney was a miserable wet 14C on my departure but I landed in Cairns to blazing 27C sunshine and a cloudless blue sky. It’s the kind of stark contrast many of us are missing in the absence of overseas travel. This could be Phuket or Bali, and not just because of the weather.
The airy pavilions of luxury holiday house Mali Mali take their cue from Southeast Asia. Cathedral ceilings, held aloft by hefty spotted-gum pillars, are lined with New Guinea rosewood; cool travertine tiles demand shoes be banished from arrival to departure.
Water gardens bobbing with lilies lead from the open-plan living area and adjacent media room to three private sleeping quarters, each with its own ensuite lined with tumbled marble. A palm-fringed cabana provides the ideal evening perch for watching the sun sink into the impenetrable mystery of the Daintree rainforest. The garden is the very definition of abundance, its thriving greenery interrupted only by the red trunks of lipstick palms and the triangular tangerine blooms of heliconias.
Designed by acclaimed architect Chris Vandyke, Mali Mali commands a densely forested hillside north of Port Douglas. With 270-degree views over a semicircular infinity pool, down to cane fields and out to the glittering Coral Sea, it was built in 2007 and crowned best house in the Master Builders Australia awards the following year.
Owners Jules and Peter Denman developed a deep affection for the area in the 1980s during annual holidays at Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort in Port Douglas. Peter, who has been in the wallpapering and painting business in Sydney for 50 years, says they were drawn to the tropical climate, especially in winter, and had long desired to buy a plot and build. Having secured this spectacular 16ha site, they set about creating a retreat that wasn’t flashy but worked with the environment. It was a project that enabled Peter to indulge his passion for architecture and design.
The end result is a house that harnesses soothing breezes and enables guests to be as sociable or reclusive as they desire. At the rear of the property, a full-size tennis court and barbecue area provide plenty of space for get-togethers. Want to make an entrance? Have your helicopter pilot land beside the dwelling; the helipad disguises a biocycle plant that recycles the property’s grey water.
Peter’s favourite spot is the secluded terrace adjoining the master bedroom, encircled by a low stone wall and looking out to sea.
“I really enjoy sitting out on the balcony there looking back to Port Douglas,” he says. “I find looking out over that valley really peaceful. Sometimes you get eagles flying down over it.”
There are other visitors, too. Peter has heard dingoes howling in the distance and, closer to home, seen bandicoots, tree kangaroos and the occasional feral pig and python. During my stay a small and harmless water python seems to be searching for supper in the pond. A bright green tree frog hiding in the powder room suggests this is one meal that got away.
For the real wow factor, though, the gold star goes to Mali Mali’s pool deck, where you can lounge on sunbeds, sip margaritas and be spoilt as local private chef Gabi Redai serves a candlelit multi-course taste of the tropics in the alfresco dining area. I can imagine watching storms roll in over the ocean to deliver torrential downpours during the wet season. At night, the flick of a switch turns the mosaic-tiled pool a luminous blue. Farther afield, all is pitch black apart from the random pinpricks of headlights on the Mossman-Daintree Road and a twinkling cluster of homes on the coast.
I wake on the cusp of dawn and can’t resist the pastel sky. I pad barefoot around the garden path to the pool, where a lone eucalypt is reflected perfectly in its glasslike surface. The sun peeks through the clouds on the horizon, slowly extending its rays to the mountains behind me. Up there, hundreds of critters, big and small, are waking to another emerald day.
In the know
DRIVE
Captain Cook Highway is a fabulous stretch of tarmac that should be driven in style. Take your pick from Cairns Luxury Car Hire’s Ford Mustangs and Ranger Raptor, Porsches and Mercedes-Benz. The Mustang V8 GT Convertible turns heads.
VISIT
Mossman Gorge in Daintree National Park for walks, Indigenous experiences and the impressive visitors centre. Daintree village to browse artist studios and take a sunset croc cruise.
DINE
At Oaks Kitchen & Garden (or do a cooking class). Alternatively, Executive Retreats can arrange for Gabi Redai of Chef on Go to prepare a scrumptious meal at Mali Mali.
PLAY
A pleasant round at nearby Mossman Golf Club’s 18-hole course.
Essentials
Mali Mali is in Miallo, a 1¼ hour drive north from Cairns. From $950 a night, minimum five nights, for four guests; additional guests (maximum eight)
$50 a night.
Penny Hunter was a guest of Tourism Tropical North Queensland and Executive Retreats.
