The Place
A living rainforest environment, shaped by season, weather, and time.
The Land
Harmony Creek is one property in the Daintree lowlands of Far North Queensland: two buildings set apart, and a creek that makes a long S through the middle of it. The land immediately to the north is World Heritage national park and cassowary habitat. The forest presses right up to the buildings. There are gardens and a small orchard, but they sit inside the forest rather than holding it back.
A large part of this land was severely damaged by Cyclone Rona in 1999. I have planted around 800 seedlings since, grown from local stock. What has come back is doing the work now.
The Creek
The creek runs year-round from the Alexandra Range: shallow over rock and sand, with deeper pools for bathing, and well upstream of tidal water. Rocks are slippery and levels rise in the wet.
Each building has its own stretch of it, reached from its own ground and out of sight of the other. The creek runs on into World Heritage forest.
The creek is the place to bathe. Crocodiles live in the river and the estuaries, and marine stingers are present in coastal waters from November to May. The beaches are for walking.
Forest, Weather and Sound
Birds, insects, running water and rain are part of every day here, and every night. Light shifts with the weather, and the weather shifts constantly.
Humidity, rainfall, insects and wildlife are what a tropical rainforest is made of. They vary through the year, and none of it is curated. What you get is whatever the forest is doing that week.
The Gardens
Fan palms and black palms rise through the canopy over an understorey of king ferns, tree ferns, figs and lillypillies. Beyond them is a small tropical orchard: mangosteen, durian, jackfruit, sapotes and other seasonal fruit.
The gardens sit between cultivated ground and rainforest edge: shaded paths, layered texture, and enough enclosure to wander in. The light and the sound change through the day.
The Buildings
I have owned this land since 1989. I designed and built both buildings myself.
They were built for this site rather than dropped onto it: set apart, screened by forest, each with its own entrance, outdoor areas, parking and creek access. They share no outdoor space. The driveway is shared, so you may occasionally see the other guests arriving or leaving. Neither building overlooks the other. Sounds from neighbouring properties are audible now and then.
Inside and out they are uncluttered and open to the forest.
Both are described on the Accommodation page.
Staying Here
Harmony Creek is a self-managed stay. Both buildings are self-contained, nothing runs to a schedule, and there is no program to opt into or out of.
You decide how the time goes: slow mornings, long walks, hours at the creek, or very little at all.
Off-Grid
There is no mains power, town water or sewerage anywhere north of the Daintree River. Everything Harmony Creek uses is collected, stored and treated on site.
Power comes from a 12kW solar array with lithium battery storage, and an automated generator behind it that rarely has to start.
All water is rainwater off the roofs, into 135,000 litres of tank storage.
Wastewater is treated by vermifiltration: a bed of composting worms that does the work on site, without chemicals and without pump-out.
Clothing-Optional
Harmony Creek is clothing-optional, made possible by privacy, warmth and landscape. The privacy is structural: the buildings are sited well apart, and the forest around them does the rest. The warmth is literal: it is humid here nearly all year, and clothing stays damp.
Some of the practical considerations of staying at Harmony Creek are outlined in Before you Book