It was the quickest of trips. I would be barely more than 24 hours on the Sunshine Coast where I was booked to speaking for half an hour. The rest of the time would be spent in transit or doing work and catching up with friends.

The view from the deck and the painting by Elizabeth Corfe that reflects this

And yet the view kept drawing my eyes like a hand had pulled my chin towards it. The view that I mean is the lush, green view of the hinterland and the views to Mount Coolum and Old Woman Island or Mudjimba. I was to speak at the at the Gourmet Garden International Food Bloggers Cook Off (Gourmet Garden’s factories are located on the Sunshine Coast and the farms in Biloela) and my home for the 24 hours was Escape House an enormous three bedroom house with views as far as the eye can see.

I step through the wooden double doors and the property’s caretaker David greets me and shows me around. The kitchen on the left is a feature with induction stove and European appliances. The owner of Escapes is Brisbane’s dessert king Martin Duncan from Freestyle Tout. It is photo shoot ready with Caesarstone benchtop, an island, hidden double freezer and fridge. The music system plays throughout the whole house and can be adjusted for volume in each room, reverse cycle air conditioning and light dimmers to help set the mood.

The lounge room has a comfortable modular lounge, a colourful throw artfully tossed across the end and the whole building has a luxe, natural lodge feel to it from the  hide rug to the neutral cloth textures of the lounge and bean bags to the lamps made with branches or tree trunk pillars. The telescope is set up for maximum viewing and floor to ceiling windows open out onto a sizable wooden deck with barbecue.

Taken on a Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC OS lens, focal length 28 mm, ISO 100, 1/100s

The main bedroom is all view too and has a king sized bed (which is ridiculously comfortable-I slept like a baby). There is also a large bean bag and behind the bed is an enormous closet where a sarong hangs as well as bathrobes and yoga mats. Art work features prominently in the house and David proudly shows me his wife’s painting in the lounge room which is of the view from the house.

The bathroom, always the room that I am a little obsessed with, has a large egg shaped bath with a very handy wooden paddle across it to rest things on and there are also his and hers sinks. Toiletries are really soap, shampoo and towels, you will need to bring lotion, tissues and conditioner. Mirrored on the other side of the sinks are twin shower heads. Bath salts are kept in the cupboard behind the mirror and I make a mental date with the bath after dinner.

Third bedroom

The house keeps going and from the main bedroom and the third bedroom, is access to the plunge pool and pool lounges and there are also laundry facilities. I’d love to go for a little dip but work calls and I just look longingly at the water instead. The second bedroom is a mirror image of the main bedroom on the other side of the house which makes it ideal for three couples. I make myself a cup of tea-the pantry is helpfully stocked in the way that only a chef would with provisions of goose fat, jersey milk and eggs from their garden and a proper coffee machine. You can also pre order any supplies to be stocked in the fridge for your stay.

I do some work and before I know it, night falls and the image in the painting is mirrored by the lights below. There’s a knock at the door and the lovely Martin arrives and settles in and puts on the log fire and then shortly after my friend the delightful Maureen from Orgasmic Chef and her darling husband John arrive. I feel like I know her already because we’ve read each other’s blogs for years and even though we hadn’t met before, we settle in and chat like old friends.

After some wine we set off for dinner at Wild Rocket at Misty’s in Montville, a modern Australian restaurant set in Montville’s oldest commercial building built in 1910, formerly a “fancy goods and lolly shop.” U.K. born chef Peter Brettell and his wife Belinda run the restaurant. Maureen tells us that everything is made in house from the sausages to the jams and we’re seated inside although there is a nice outdoor terrace area too. Maureen’s friend Rani is also joining us.

Steamed Pork & Prawn Wontons Spicy Green Paw Paw Salad $16

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Uncle Roy Gibson

How does the saying go? Rewards will come to those that wait? In the case of community leader Uncle Roy Gibson, his dream was having his ancestor’s land in Mossman George used as a space to create employment for indigenous people. It was an idea he first thought of twenty years ago and in 2008 the ILC (Indigenous Land Corporation) bought the eight hectare sugar farm where Roy once worked for $20 million. An additional $20 million was invested into the site to create a destination for people to connect with the indigenous people who would offer guided tours through this ancient rainforest.

Officially opened in August 2012, the fertile and flourishing tropical north Queensland climate has meant that seedlings planted now grow proud and tall dwarfing any humans. Designed by a local Cairns architect, it is environmentally sensitive to the environment as well as being as self sustaining as possible. Electric buses drive visitors from the main building to the walking tracks.

Fittingly, there’s a patter of rain followed by stronger downpours. There is a self guided walking track that is available to the public but the best way to connect with this beautiful rainforest is through the eyes of an indigenous guide. How many indigenous Australians do you meet in your everyday life? Chances are that in the city, you meet few. Yet so many of us want to make a connection with the original people that lived in Australia before white settlement. To get to know and understand them benefits everyone. Almost sixty out of the sixty six staff are indigenous and much of the construction was done by indigenous workers. And today, we’re lucky enough to have Roy himself as our guide.

Today’s walk is the two and a half hour Dreamtime Legend Walk and there is also a Dreamtime Gorge Walk that takes one and a half hours. Our walk starts with a smoking ceremony which is a cleansing ceremony. The idea of this ceremony is to respect the people that own the land and to make the visitor part of the land and have them come back at a later date.

Roy takes a walking stick and guides us through the rainforest track that he first walked as a nine year old boy. He shows us a pencil cedar tree which is a tree in which they often find withcetty grubs. When they see sawdust in a fallen tree, they know that there is witchetty grub activity and the grubs also act as a mass tool for hollowing out the log so that when it is split, there is a ready made canoe.

Another tree is one that in September will become laden with fruit like pears. He tells us that when the pigeons come they know that the fruit is ripe and all they need to do is shake the tree where the fruit will rain down on them. He also shows us lawyer cane vine which is an excellent water source-the fatter the vine the more water is held within and there is often enough to fill a water bottle. The useful cane is also used for making bridges, huts and climbing tall trees.

He shows us yellow walnuts which are split and fed to schools of fish to knock them out for easy catching.  To test the edibility of food, they offer it to either fish or an animal like a scrub turkey. If a scrub turkey rejects it, they know that it’s not for human consumption, likewise a food that fish eat it, the food like the yellow walnuts are also not for human consumption.

Can you spot Roy’s son “Boy” in the picture?

“Boy! Where’s boy?” Roy calls and he stops and points at a lizard well camouflaged in a tree. He then stops at a large tree with a section cut out of its buttress root. They removed this part from the weakest point to make a shield and boomerangs so useful for trading but generally not needed in the rainforest. He demonstrates how they can communicate using the roots by hitting the root with a rock to signal if someone is lost or hurt (which is also done in the Amazon rainforest). He tells us that losing your voice in the rainforest is common as many of these plants contain small particles that you can breathe in or ingest without knowing.

Hitting the roots

He touches the milky sap that leaks from another tree’s trunk-this is used as a glue in place of stitches. We try some and it dries remarkably quickly and is very sticky. And we stop by a broken branch where he says was broken deliberately and is pointing in the direction of the way out of the rainforest-as you can imagine it all starts to look quite similar.

Peppervine whose leaves are crushed into pepper

We stop at a clearing which is set up as an area to hear stories. Here, we are asked to close our eyes and listen to a story told by local storyteller. Closing our eyes allows us to hear all of the rainforest noises around us more acutely than if we hadn’t.

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I really have to let you in on a little secret. My week touring Queensland with the Queensland Writer’s Centre allowed me to indulge in one of my favourite past times, one that I rarely get to do. That is, order room service! Each night, tired from presenting writing workshops and driving long distances, we each retired to our hotel rooms. As soon as I got in I ordered room service, had shower and watch The Big Bang theory while my room service meal. I realise that there is a perverse pleasure in it, after all, I eat out for a living but when presented with an option for the reverse, I can enjoy that just as much.

However, after five days of doing this, I started to look forward to the eating out dance at a restaurant. And when I landed in Brisbane I was meeting the lovely Claire, a Brisbane local. She had booked us into Tartufo at Fortitude Valley.

Tartufo is an Italian restaurant although the bones of a French brasserie still remain and although the wait staff are mostly Italian, the feel of the restaurant is still French with dark wood panelled sections and booths, large mirrors, Venus lights and intriguing paintings. The restaurant is large and busy this Friday evening even though we are dining relatively late at 9pm (their last sitting). Chef Tony Percuoco emerges from the kitchen to talk to customers throughout the evening.

Service from the maitre’d is very friendly and enthusiastic whilst our Italian waiter is sober, unamused and unsmiling (whatever happened to that Italian charm?). “Should we share?” I ask Claire and then we burst into laughter. Of course, dining with a food blogging pal, it is a given.

We start with a slender shot of pea and pancetta soup, smooth in texture and sweet from the peas with seasoning and flavour from the pancetta.

Vitello tonnato – braised gippsland (vic) veal served cold, thinly sliced, topped with a tuna mayonnaise of capers, anchovies and served with cornichons $24

Bread is offered but we decline as we have a hearty meal ahead of us. We start with the vitello tonnato and it is Claire’s first time trying this dish. It is thin slices of veal topped with a tuna mayonnaise, served cold with baby capers and cornichons. I usually like a bit more lemon in this dish and my favourite is really at Honeycomb or Cafe Sopra.

Capesante di bosco – pan seared scallops with pea puree, broad beans, chorizo and watercress $23.50

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