Rainforest House

http://www .rainforesthouse.com.au/rooms.html

Rainforesthouse is set right in the rainforest. We have the bottom half of a Queenslander style house complete with patios and a deck overlooking a pond and the trees below. Our hosts Nevon and Linda are very friendly and helpful. Both have been in the food business and are constantly trying to find things that fit with our diets, which in Sher's case is very restrictive. Artisan baked baguettes were delivered fresh from the local baker the other day as a result of a request from our host for bread with no added oils or fats. A fruit platter is delivered each morning with fresh tropical fruit prepared for throwing on to porridge or cereal. When we finish with the melons, the peels are thrown over the railing where foragers come to clean up (a tiny musky rat-kangaroo appeared the other day).
 

The forest here contains over 300 species of trees per acre and as many as 30 varieties of saplings in a space as big as a living room (daunting as I venture out to identify some of the species) . Fortunately, Murray an 86 year old gentleman who lives the down the road, collects tree fruits and seeds, illustrates them, identifies the tree, presses the leaves and adds them to a large portfolio of his life's work in this field. He also labels the trees on his property so I will have a place to start putting names to trees.
 

Being located right in the rainforest has other benefits, the wildlife come to see you. A number of cockatoos come to the feeder daily as well as other birds, especially honey eaters and a spotted catbird (call sounds like a cat fight in an alley - Google 'Spotted Catbird' and take a listen). The laughing kookaburra truly sounds demented and a brush turkey with red head and elegant yellow "ruff" visits regularly. Apparently, other "guests" drop by as well. Our hosts showed us pictures of a 10 foot long carpet python that crawled up on the deck, stretched out on the railing for a bit of sunbathing then slithered straight up a drain pipe and along an eaves trough to disappear who knows where . Needless to say, Sher and I keep the screen doors closed and take a quick glance when we hear the palm fronds rustling to make sure it's just the wind (apparently the bite of a carpet python is painful but not poisonous). A three foot long monitor lizard crossed the road the other day, so it is becoming apparent that size matters up here.
 

In addition to the animal life, the plants also keep you on your toes here. A large tree next to the Rainforesthouse is dropping seed pods the size and weight of very large walnuts from a height of over sixty feet. Flying foxes or some other night flying creatures feed on the fruit and it sounds like a hail storm for a short period as the fruit pelts down. However the tree also drops fruit randomly throughout the night and day giving our host an endless clean up job.
 

We have been making day trips to a variety of parks and protected areas (many of the parks in this area are within the Tropical Rainforest World Heritage Site, one of the reasons we chose this location) and have not been disappointed as each location provides opportunities to see more new species and experience new landscapes.