Imagine flying south of Cairns, over the Barrier Reef, to Proserpine, near Airlie Beach, and boating out to a secluded island off the northeast coast of Australia. From the moment you arrive at Palm Bay on Long Island you’re instantly embraced by its glorious peaceful tranquility of light sandy beachfront, impressive palm trees and clear turquoise ocean. A pathway going inland from the beach, leads through remarkable undergrowth and past a trickling water feature to an inner garden brimming with colourful flowers, luxuriant plants and chattering birdlife. To be encompassed within this tropical island environment is an extraordinary escape.
Our delightful welcome includes tasty cocktails, which we sip as we wander along the garden path to our hideaway sleeping cabin, nestled among tall leaning palms, slightly uphill from the ocean, and at the edge of the island’s inner forest. We see lone wallabies, moving slowly, silently foraging within the manicured grounds, occasionally pausing to acknowledge us, while sitting up on large hind legs and exposing much smaller front limbs. Each wallaby’s endearing face has a whiskered nose, brown beady eyes and dramatic dark stripes across each furry cheek.
Quietly walking along the cabin’s deck, we’re suddenly greeted by a group of cheeky squawking sulphur crested cockatoos, a row of them, leering down at us from the roof edge above. These pure white birds, the size of a goose, are curious and friendly, with a glamourous spray of yellow plumage feathers atop their heads, which can be flared open when they fly or closed, into their stylish signature flip. Cockatoos can live up to 100 years. The kookaburra, often heard yet elusive to see, is native to eastern Australia and is the world’s largest known kingfisher. Its early morning calls, a guttural laughing “Ou Ou Ou Ou Ah Ah Ah Ah”, are unmistakeable. The day I finally spot one sitting high up on a branch in forest foliage, I’m impressed by its size, close to 50 cm tall. The smaller rainbow lorikeet parrots, 25-30 cm tall, are brilliantly attired, flaunting distinct colourful blotched plumage of neon blue, orange, green and yellow. We often see the lorikeets chattering and fliting about in pairs high up in the palm frond clumps.
Our week at this tropical retreat comprises of daily ocean dips and kayaking, in addition to swimming in an exquisite freshwater pool, surrounded by extravagant gardens of towering palms, lavish blooms of bougainvillea and a dramatic waterfall.
Hiking through the island’s forest, the trail leads us first to a dramatic ocean front panorama at Pandanus Bay. As the trail opens onto the rock beach there is a cluster of screwpine palm trees, whose large fruit, known as pandanus, resemble a green pineapple. These must ripen yellow before cooking with sweet ingredients to make them palatable. Screwpine have exposed buttress roots, like mangrove, which enable them to withstand salty high tides. It’s intriguing to watch the dusty coloured herons as they scavenge tidal rock pools looking for crustaceans along the shoreline. Nearby Pelican Island is accessible by foot at low tide, then beyond, the landforms become hazy as they fade out into the distant sea.
Another twenty minutes hiking up island leads to a wide beach at Happy Bay. This classically curved sandy inlet has characterful palms along its edge, that reach out as weather and wind have directed them to grow. As fewer people visit this beach, we see more secretive wandering wildlife like black bush chickens and metre long black and white speckled monitor lizards.
Spiders in the tropics usually remain in their webs out of reach, awaiting small bugs for dinner, while the iguanas, monitor lizards and wallabies wander in the undergrowth. I am surprised one day while practicing yoga at a secluded location beside the sea, when I open my eyes to see a huge, speckled monitor, two metres away, examining me with its tongue forking in and out. Surprised, it scurries off as fast as I scramble to get upright.
A wildlife encounter which causes great intrigue every time is the white-lipped treefrog, who visits nightly to pursue prey from our deck’s railing. The enormous amphibian, with shiny green skin, has suction cupped toe pads, making it especially adapted for climbing in this vibrant rainforest habitat.
Every view from Palm Bay is ideal for watching the sunset, a glowing ball of life-giving light that swiftly slips below the faraway mountain skyline. Being only 20 degrees south of the equator, the intense heat drops as quickly as the sunlight fades, bringing in cooler air and marking the onset of evening sounds; croaking frogs, plus nocturnal katydids and crickets. In reflection, I’m grateful for another day on this precious island where nature’s creatures thrive in an environment of symbiotic harmony. The emerald canopy of diverse flora and wildlife at Palm Bay is captivating and enchanting. It’s the best place to fall asleep listening to night sounds of insects and treefrogs calling to one another in the darkness, and to the waves lapping gently along the beach. It all assures me that this tropical rainforest will exist as it is for a long time to come.
WILDERNESS TRAVELLER, WRITER AND PHOTOGRAPHER CYNTHIA PERCIVAL
