It’s easy when busy to take things for granted but this year has been a year of fantasy. I have no idea what the next few years will hold so I want to remember this feeling of excitement and anticipation of things to come. I do appreciate every lesson that I’ve learnt and everyone that has taken the time to leave me a comment, to write me an email or sit down with me. Christmas is a good time to contemplate such things in the absence of Thanksgiving traditions.

Every year I learn things. Take for example last year when I went to Austria I discovered stollen. Now my experience with stollen up until them had been unremarkable. Stollen was something that sat on a supermarket shelf and tasted like stale fruit bread with icing. Then I visited Austria where stollen were made fresh and it was a revelation. I was then served stollen in Dubai at the Burj Al Arab’s 7 star afternoon tea and was blown away. Now that is stollen I thought to myself. Freshly baked fruit bread with a delicious icing top, surprise marzipan filling and served in thin slices.

The delicious marzipan centre

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With Christmas hurtling towards us like a speeding train, you may be just like me, facing the queues at the registers with a grim determination trying to buy things that you hope that your friends and family want. I’m a pretty good present buyer (at least I hope so!) but there are some people that are hard to buy for. And these people usually get a book with a returns receipt so that they can swap it if they want to

But Serge Dansereau’s new book French Kitchen is perfect for any francophile friends you may have (and let’s face it, we all have at least one friend that pines for Paris). There are 230 classic French recipes in this hard cover book (and some Canadian as he is French Canadian after all) but very importantly they’re recipes tailored for the Australian produce market. There are no obscure ingredients that will send you on a wild goose chase! I have made a couple of dishes already from it including the spiral sandwiches and a beetroot and walnut tarte tatin.

The styling and photography is gorgeous reminding me a bit of Donna Hay location shoots and the recipes range from ratatouille with crispy fried egg  which involves crumbing and deep frying a poached egg, country style pork and walnut terrine to rhubarb charlotte, figs with champagne sabayon and croquembouche gateaux.

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“The best time to see the rainforest is…when it is raining” our guide tells us as we take a walk around Daintree Eco Lodge and spa. This particular lodge has an amazing setting – right in a 100 million year old World Heritage listed Daintree Rainforest no less! The Daintree Rainforest in tropical North Queensland is 65 million years older than the Amazon rainforest and it’s quite mindblowing to think that you can stay at accommodation inside the rainforest. And to think that by the end of the three days, I’d be pampered, fed, enlightened and shot at! And be warned, this is a long story so settle in with a cup of coffee or tea.

There’s the chirp of birds (135 varieties are found here at the lodge) and the noise of frogs, a light gentle rain patters down and the lush greenery, humid but not overwhelmingly warm 27C/80F weather. The Daintree receives an astounding 4-6 metres of rainfall a year and unlike other country areas which have drought the greenery is abundant and lush. Daintree village has a mere 90 residents. And the news has been confirmed that Daintree Eco Lodge is playing host to some of Oprah’s guests! I wonder if Lady O will make it to the forest herself and try some native bushfoods?

Can you see the stick insect?

We arrived here after a three hour flight to Cairns from Sydney and we take the 90 minute scenic drive to the Daintree Rainforest with our guide Juan Walker, who despite his name is not South American, he is an indigenous Australian. And he happens to be able to answer every single question that we throw him (and being with a group of journalists, we are a curious lot!). Stalks of green leaf topped sugar cane whizz past and this is one of the biggest industries in the area. Did you know that it takes 10 tonnes of sugar cane to make 10 kilos of sugar?

We arrive at the Daintree Eco Lodge and Spa which was built 15 years ago on 30 acres of virgin rainforest adjacent to the Daintree River. The point of difference for the Daintree Eco Lodge is the way they integrate into the community and the indigenous community in particular and the local Kuku Yalanji people from this region. We meet Terry and Cathy Maloney who own the lodge and they work there along with their three daughters.

The bayans

It is really a family business and one of their daughters is married to an indigenous Australian and another is dating Juan. There are Aboriginal guided rainforest walks, a cultural workshop and half and full day walkabout tours. The revenue generated from the indigenous activities is reinvested into the indigenous programs. The Maloneys consulted with the Aboriginal elders in many elements from the spa to the design of the lodge and also hire indigenous people from the local community as part of the Champions program-one of whom just joined NIDA as an actor and Juan himself was a part of the Champions program.

Another key element to this lodge is the women’s only area near the waterfall and the creek down stream to one of the bayans (rooms) where women bathed and cleansed and men weren’t permitted. The women’s and men’s separation is a key distinction in indigenous culture and at times Juan tells us that there are things that only women can speak about and vice versa for the men. In fact women do not play the digeridoo as it related to birth and fertility and it is believed that if a woman plays one then she will not bear children.

The waterfall where only women can bathe

The bayan or room

We check into our bayans (which means home in aboriginal language). The bayan are free standing buildings on stilts designed to minimise the environmental impact. Outside on the balcony is a spa bath where you can sit at night-there are screens all around so no mosquitoes or flies get in and there is a gentle running creek below. In each room there are basic features like air conditioning, television (four channels) and a mini bar. The bayans are clean and low key but not lavish or luxurious. There are the signature Daintree Essentials organic products that you can use which are kind and mild on the skin. In fact the water used at the lodge is spring water from the waterfall!

Outdoor spa bath

There are aboriginal paintings and an example of a balji or a dilly bag which is a basket that Aboriginal women weave. There is air conditioning too but the weather is a pleasant 28 degrees. Things do get wet here though-obviously it is a rainforest so you do get wet looking hair quite quickly (let’s call it Soul Glow!). In fact when I put a piece of paper on the balcony, within less than half an hour it was damp. So forget your heels and your hair straightener and succumb to nature.

Linda Burchill holding a bulji or dilly bag

After checking in we take a seat at the table where Linda Burchill, mother to the young NIDA actor Leon Burchill (the first indigenous Australian to have attended and completed the course) teaches us about Aborignal painting. We’re all given a coloured canvas each and choose from a set of paintbrushes. She shows us how to make the dots from the famous Aborignal dot paintings-you simply use a skewer! Larger dots are made using the flat end and smaller dots are made using the sharp, pointy end.

My painting!

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