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Hassle-Free Escape

The Carins Post Friday – April 27, 2001

Making the great escape can involve nothing more than getting the day off work and jumping in the car, reports Narelle Muller.

“WHERE else could I swim in the nude on my 70th birthday?” quipped the lavender haired visitor to Rose Gums Wilderness Retreat.

I could only think such a criteria may find this septuagenarian some what limited in her future holiday options. But it did aptly sum up the totally luxurious seclusion guests revel in at the mountain top resort near Malanda on the Atherton Tableland.

There are two types of human visitor to Rose Gums – escapists and escapees.

Not escapees of the Lotus Glen variety, rather those who nip off from the real world and reinvent one devoid of work, noise, kids and obligations, snatching brief serenity amid the mist covered peaks.

The escapists, on the other hand pack up kids, toys and toil and haul them along because, as several noted in the visitors book, they didn’t have to worry how rowdy they were.

Total peace and privacy tends to insulate the nerves from negative effects.

Chores that seem like a drag at home can be fun in blissful surrounds. As Rene from the Netherlands admitted: “I even enjoyed doing the dishes here.” Considering the spellbinding view from the kitchen sink across the rainforest to Mount Bartle Frere, what’s a few dirty plates?

Peta and Jon Nott have built four pole and timber chalets on private eucalyptus forest and rainforest over looking Wooroonooran National Park, near Lake Eacham. Some are ideal for families, others perfect refuges for couples weekends in front of a log fire. When it’s sweltering in Cairns, it can be electric blanket weather on the Tableland. And while a lot of romancing obviously goes on up there - “She said ‘yes’.” A euphoric favourite among guests’ comments – there is so much for families to do and see, it seems almost a shame to hide away indoors.

Jon Nott is a builder who strives to create dwellings that blend into the natural environment without compromising comfort or quality. “And on the seventh day, Hon created heaven on earth,” said one happy camper on departure.

On entering chalet number one our home for the weekend, it was easy to see what he meant. Cathedral ceilings and 30ft (9.15m) windows look out onto a deck which could quite easily lay claim to some of the most beautiful scenery on earth, cosy yet spacious, we felt right at home… if only this were our home.

The complimentary welcome basket is packed with fruit, eggs, bacon, cereal, yoghurt, bread, chocolates and ah, a sigh of relief – very good coffee. Peta Nott often finds guests arrive tired out, hungry and overwhelmed with the sheer unadulterated beauty of the place, but haven’t thought about self – catering. “I just throw a few extra eggs in their basket and they usually cook themselves up an omelette on the first night,” she says.

But there are lots of good places to eat, shop and sight see around Yungaburra and the Nott’s comprehensive local guides give full detail on all that the region has to offer. They also give insight into the environment, animals, plants and a brief history of the area, with walking maps, “things to do” list, menus of nearby restaurants – it seems nothing is overlooked.

There are board games and television but my bet is the two most popular pastimes at Rose Gums are lounging in the family sized spa bath watching steam whirl around in the candlelight and plonking down on the veranda chairs, glass of wine in hand, memorising the view for future recall at times of stress.

Bushwalking to a steam and waterfall can be as challenging or gentle as you make them. Think Gorillas in the Mist, to get an idea of the terrain and then substitute the primates for bandicoots, kangaroos, possums, dingoes, bush rats, owls, the ever elusive cassowary, a profusion of other birds and a generous sprinkling of butterflies.Keen to invite as much local wildlife as possible to their patch, Jon, Peta and their young family do not keep domestic pets on the property.

When the Notts moved to the area in 1994 it was rampant with weeds such as tobacco bush and lantana. Over five years, with the co-operation of the Community Rainforest Reforestation Program, they planted 14,000 trees, mostly natives, and proudly state that not one tree was removed in constructing the entire complex.

Water is tapped from a spring and there is every home comfort imaginable, but it is the beauty – both natural and man-made – that makes Rose Gums special. Native flowers zap burst of colour through the bedroom windows, the furnishings are tasteful with colourful rugs and gorgeous timber.

Thought has gone into every detail, such as the child-proof gate at the foot of the stairs, which lead to the gallery bedroom, and safely railed verandah which allows small children to play outside and still be seen from the kitchen and lounge rooms. Mosquito nets are presumably more for aesthetics than necessity and lend a cosiness to the bedrooms.

The Notts could have built more chalets, given the expanse of their property, but to their merit, felt it prudent to retain the essence of total privacy vital to a wilderness retreat.

While many guests venture no further than from one room to the next in their little slice of paradise, it’s more likely you will come face to face with a rare blue-face finch than hear the voice of and annoying neighbour.

And when the morning bird song bursts into full chorus, it sounds like all bird life on the planet wants to talk until they are blue in the face.

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