rose gums

jon & peta's story

Rose Gums had once been extensively cleared under the soldier settler program after World War One but due to its topography was never a very good dairy farm, mostly used for ‘dry’ cows. The steepness of the creek banks prevented total clearing of the forests. Of the 230 acres of property only about 60 acres was suitable for farming.

Jon & Peta Nott found this property in February 1994 in their search for a place to live in the rainforest on the cool Cairns Highlands with the intention of starting their married life together and raise a family. It was a unique property bordering the World Heritage listed Wooroonooran National Park on two boundaries at the end of a no through road and only 15 minutes to the small villages of Malanda and Yungaburra. It did not even have a house on it, which suited Jon, a builder as he wanted to build their dream home, a pole and timber treehouse. They also wanted to build a small eco retreat and the possibilities on this acreage were many.

However the last clearing occurred 6 years previously by a Cairns developer and so the property was rampant with weed infestation – lantana, tobacco bush and glycine. It was a huge job ahead of them to clear the weeds on 60 acres and reforest with native species. Fortunately in 1995, ’97 & 98, in co-operation with the Community Rainforest Reforestation Program (CRRP) over 10,000 mixed native tree species were planted. Since then a further 4,000 trees were planted by Peta and Jon on their own. But the daunting task lay ahead of them and the weed control of mostly grass and glycine was to take every weekend for 5 years to help the small young trees to reach some maturity and develop a canopy to withstand the competition of the weeds. Rainforest trees have a shallow root system so grass is a major competitor for the nutrients in the soil. Glycine is a vine that easily smothers the young trees and has to be hand cut to control it.

Living in a high rainfall and warm climate enabled the new trees to thrive and now they have an amazing forest, which is habitat to many bird and animal species. Research scientists have been welcome to monitor the growth of the trees but also record how the new forest has come alive with our unique wildlife, the most rewarding of which is the return of the Southern Cassowary, an endangered bird found in tropical north Queensland and New Guinea.

So Jon & Peta are delighted to share their vision with their guests. They own, operate and host Rose Gums Wilderness Retreat, a true family businesses with guests from all over the world marveling at our piece of paradise in the rainforests of tropical north Queensland.