Immersion therapy
Forest bathing, gourmet dining and plush accommodation are on the menu in this luxury walking holiday in the Sunshine Coast hinterland
In the green heart of a subtropical Sunshine Coast rainforest, the noise of normal life falls blissfully away. The rush of schedules and deadlines, the endless mundane of the every day. It’s all condensed into the therapeutic, repetitive footfall of trekking boots on the ground. Step safely. Navigate this creek crossing. Look up at the swaying treetops. Breathe in the scents of lemon myrtle or eucalyptus. Be soothed by birdsong. Spy a camouflaged butterfly or funnel-web spider burrow.
The Sunshine Coast Hinterland Great Walk is 58.8km through the Kondalilla, Mapleton Falls and Mapleton national parks with drawcard lookouts, waterfalls and rock pools. Walkers can complete the entire track in four to five days with bush campsites available to book or break it up into shorter half-day or full-day walks.
But there’s another option that adds more than a dash of luxury to this quest. Nestled in the secluded rainforest on the edge of Kondalilla National Park, Narrows Escape Rainforest Retreat has introduced an indulgent experience that mixes guided hiking on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland Great Walk with luxury and fine food at day’s end.
The newly offered Great Walk package includes five nights’ accommodation in a rainforest cottage, four days of guided hiking, all food and drinks including a private chef degustation dinner by former Long Apron sous chef Alan Dawes and dining with paired wines at awardwinning restaurants Long Apron and The Tamarind. Add in a king bed, log fire and double spa bath looking out to the rainforest surrounds, an add-on massage option, and the lure of a walking holiday just went next level.
Narrows owners Ali Khan and Xochi Lindholm have outdone themselves with attention to detail for their guests – a welcoming vase of roses, natural Mukti brand bathroom products, a hammock on the deck, bathrobes, as well as abundant, breakfast hamper supplies (muesli, fresh fruit, sourdough, eggs, locally made condiments, yoghurt, bacon, orange juice, coffee and tea). There are locally made biscuits, a cheese platter, and a freshly baked croissant that is delivered outside your room each morning. There is no going hungry here.
Guests appreciate the genuinely warm welcome and attention they receive. Last year, Narrows won a coveted Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Most Romantic Hotel in the World. Yes, in the world.
Ali, friendly and ever-smiling, grew up in the desert region of Jaisalmer, in the far west of Rajasthan, India, and started his working life at age seven as a camel driver, taking tourists on camel safaris. He has never had any official schooling.
Ali says he fell into the hotel business when, as a child, he met a German woman who took time out from her travels in India to school him in English, then returned to visit him for several months each year, eventually organising a job for him washing dishes in an Indian hotel. This was Ali’s introduction to the industry and he has been in the game ever since.
In 2003, he took an opportunity to move to Finland, then returned to India to open his boutique Hotel Helsinki House in 2014 in Jaisalmer. In 2018, he opened his second Indian hotel, Boutique Helsinki.
Ali met his now wife Xochi, who has Australian-swedish heritage and a postgraduate degree in psychology and criminology, in Jaisalmer just as Ali was beginning construction on Hotel Helsinki House. The couple now live onsite at Narrows with their young children.
Narrows is set on two tranquil hectares of native rainforest, not far from Baroon Pocket Dam. It boasts abundant bird life, a picturesque creek (that feeds into Obi Obi creek that in turn joins the Mary River), and prominent bunya pine trees. There are also native tamarind trees, red cedar, blue quandong and piccabeen palm.
Narrows is a short drive from the arty Montville village on the Blackall Range tourist drive that weaves through the townships of Maleny, Flaxton, Mapleton and Kenilworth.
The walking package begins with welcome drinks and canapes on the property’s rainforest deck and an enthralling acknowledgement of country, storytelling and smoking ceremony from
Being immersed in nature is undoubtedly stress-meltingly good for you
the Jinbara and Kabi Kabi people.
Our first day of walking is about 12.5km taking in spectacular views of the Gheerulla and Mary valleys. Day two is a similar-length trail that includes a visit to the gushing Gheerulla Falls. Our guide Kris Bullen, of Outdoor Adventure Australia on the Sunshine Coast, shows us an impressive knowledge of bush tucker and has an ability to find seemingly invisible and fascinating creatures along the way. At one point he encourages us to be mindful and we experience shinrinyoku, the Japanese art of “forest bathing’’. We leave a two-minute gap between each walker and soak up the breeze-brushed leaves, birdsong and footfall.
The remaining days are a leisurely 5.7km walk to Baxter Falls and a final 11.4km taking in Kondalilla Falls, finishing at Baroon Pocket Dam. All trails are a
grade 4 so a fair amount of fitness is required but the pace is slow and steady and there are plenty of breaks.
Being immersed in nature is undoubtedly stress-meltingly good for you. But perhaps being pampered with ridiculously good food and wine at the end of a long day’s walk is even better.