DAINTREE DREAMING

AFTER A LONG NIGHT OF RESTLESS tossing and turning, I'm still drowsy as I brush my teeth, willing my eyes (and mind) to open fully.

- CHARUKESI RAMADURAI

It's not that my bed at the Treehouse Retreat at Silky Oaks Lodge hadn't been comfortable—quite the contrary. It's just that my brain refused to switch off from the excitement of being in the rainforest during the night. Not just any rainforest, but the oldest in the world.

With an estimated age of 180 million years—three times older than the Amazon—the Daintree Rainforest is ancient, revered, and supremely biodiverse. It's an essential part of the Wet Tropics UNESCO World Heritage site in Australia's Tropical North Queensland. I'm staying at the eco-friendly Silky Oaks Lodge, which offers an immersive experience by seamlessly blending indoor comforts with the lush wilderness outside. And I'm buzzed to be here.

So it's not surprising that I don't immediately register the quick movements in the bushes just outside the glass doors of my bathroom. When I finally look up toward the crackling sound of the dry leaves, I see a small, furry figure munching on its breakfast. I freeze, fascinated, not wanting to scare the animal away. It's too small to be a kangaroo—perhaps a wallaby?

As it turns out, it's an agile wallaby, one of the more common marsupials in Northern Australia. Still, it's a rare sighting at Silky Oaks Lodge, as General Manager Ben Brown tells me over breakfast soon after. It's a magical start to the day, and I hum in quiet joy as I tuck into my morning meal of avocado on toast at the open pavilion overlooking the Mossman River.

INTO THE HEART OF DAINTREE