Treehouse in the Daintree

Hey all,

I am currently staying with an incredible older couple, Mike and Sigang. They live in a beautiful house on a hill that overlooks the coast and is surrounded by the amazing Daintree National Park Rainforest, and their only access in and out is by boat! Mike was born in the States and joined the peace core where he met Sigang in Malaysia, they are really great people and are totally into living sustainably and off the land. They drink rainwater, which pools from their roof and streams, solar panels to for power with reserve batteries, and a wide variety of exotic fruits and veggies that they grow in their garden. They also eat plenty of seafood and even the occasional wild boar that they can hunt right from the borders of their property. John and I are staying in a side shed/house that they used to live in when they were building their current one. It has now walls and the only thing keeping the creepy crawlies off us at night is the mosquito netting around our beds. The place is equipped with all the essentials for modern living, we have a hose for when we want to shower, our flashlights and battery lamps for night, and whenever we need to use the restroom there is a great hole in the ground tank made from an old truck that we can squat over. The place is paradise. So far we have removed a bunch of “rubbish” out to the beach, taken down a large tree overhanging our house, carried a bunch of wood up the hill, harvested bamboo to make scaffolding, and collected and shucked some delicious oysters. We have also gone on a rainforest hike lead by Mike who guided us up a river across a dry precipice, through thick underbrush filled with the annoying wait-a-while thorny palm vines, up and down different ridges all the while barefoot wielding a pair of scissors and a machete, he is totally hardcore. Even though we got a little lost and didn’t arrive at the viewpoint we were searching for, we did come across a giant fig tree, which was pretty amazing. During our stay I don’t think I have ever eaten so well and so healthily in my life. For my typical breakfast I would have oats with apples, oranges, coconuts, star fruit, ladyfinger bananas, raisins, all topped with some whole milk. We also eat a variety of other fruits including the delicious passion fruit, sour sop, abius, papaya, mango/paw paw, limes, and a variety of unusual apples. Soon mike is going to take us boar hunting and, if the water clears up, snorkeling too. I am really enjoying my stay here and am looking forward to the places I have yet to go.

Hope all is well in the States,

John

 

My exact gps coordinates are 15 56 27. 72 south 145 degrees 23 mins 37 sec 22