Once Upon a time, in a magical tropical valley inland from Innisfail...

2008-05-25T18:59:00.000-07:00

Until mid-2004 (until we left for Thailand) this was our 45 acre property ("The Eyrie") nestling under Queensland's highest mountain Mt Bartle-Frere. The house sat on the smaller of two hills, gazing up at the peak and down to a panoramic valley with the Russell River rippling like a ribbon towards the Barrier Reef 30 kilometres away.
.... Looking down on the Russell River from the kitchen window

The longan orchard [above] with the house on the peak of the hill
...and the same orchrd [below] photographed from near the house, looking towards the big hill:
The view of Mt Bartle-Frere from the master bedroom [above]
............. .....and from the front balcony [below]:

The front gate was located near the left bank of the Russell River [above], just to the left of the exact centre of this photo.

And here [below] is the same stretch of river seen from the kitchen balcony:
The public road alongside the river [above] went past a tributary creek [below], which formed one of the property boundaries...
...and our inconspicuous front 'gate' [below].

From this point, the 600 metres of driveway climbed steeply through areas we were re-afforesting [above] with raintrees...
...and native species...
...and stands of Thai Green clumping bamboo [above background] to secure steeper slopes against erosion...

...as well as manicured mangosteen orchards, with half the trees bearing first fruits.

Then the driveway got steeper still, such that 4WD was essential on rainy days. Here's the view [above] of part of the orchards from half-way up the hill, with the 2 concrete strips just visible...

...and below is a photo looking back down after arriving at the very top...
...and the all cedar & ironbark house...
....... [Below, note the 3-foot concrete statue of Kwan Ying next to the pond
.......... ...and you ask me why I still have a bad back??]
View from the bathroom/loo [below]:
...and here [below] is the garden outside the study:
Here are 2 photos [below] of the the same view, this time seen from inside the study:

Below is the front verandah, facing the mountain:
Please come in through the front doors:
Let your eye be drawn up to the 5-metre octagonal cathedral ceiling with glimpses of towering rainforest trees through the windows:
...then wander round to another balcony, off which is the master bedroom. Superb English oak in the bedhead, which was apparently borrowed (?) from a church in Tasmania 100+ years ago:
....followed by the dining room, also strategically positioned for a river-scape panorama:
...and thence to the kitchen:
...near which are the rear steps...
...and a awfully nice spot to have afternoon tea or maybe have grapes peeled for you...
Plenty of places to walk (if you like hills, that is), including this secluded spot [below] looking down the other side of the valley. We named this bench the "Emeritus Chair of Poetry":

Here's the start of a 300-metre disguised walking track [below] winding around the gullies of the big hill to the nearest neighbour's house:
Ten minutes' walk through an adjacent banana farm's orchards gets you to Golden Hole [below], with crystal-clear cold water and rapids in the distance, flowing straight from the mountain, from wither came our water supply.
No crocodiles here, unlike the Russell River further down:
This last pic is of the two hills which constituted the property. The house was perched in the box seat on the peak of the smaller of the hills. Mt Bartle-Frere rises loftily to the left of the photo. The pic was taken about 2 kilometres from the house, looking over paddocks of sugar cane and bananas.

Octagonal house in North Queensland

Once Upon a time, in a magical tropical valley inland from Innisfail...