Page 87 - Port Douglas Magazine 40

A STATE

OF BLISS...

WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY by Lisa Keller

othing. That’s all that was going through my beautiful place and appreciative of its important role in
mind. Not nothing in a daunting way but nothing our ecosystem.
Nin the sense of ultimate relaxation. My mind was

still, I was at peace. I guess floating down a river under Gliding into the water on my floaty, the cold water hitting
my exposed feet made me gasp. I suddenly understood
the canopy of the Daintree Rainforest will do that to you.
why, despite being in the tropics with air at 30 degrees
It’s a feeling we so rarely experience in our modern-day Celsius and 90% humidity, I was given a wetsuit. But the
lives and it’s just one of the many factors that make a river moment was fleeting and I quickly adjusted my mask,

float with Back Country Bliss such a unique experience. rolled (elegantly) into the river and began to explore

the underwater world of the Mossman River. Who knew
I had a pretty good idea of what to expect on the tour. the Great Barrier Reef wasn’t the only place you could
I’d done my research, read the reviews and watched snorkel in Far North Queensland?
enough videos on Instagram to almost make me believe
that I’d already done the darn thing. But what I wasn’t Then, it was time to float. First down some rapids, then

prepared for was the things you don’t see in a video. The through some slower corners and fi nally through what

knowledge and genuine passion of the staff and again, is affectionately known as “The Cathedral”. This is the
that sense of serenity. It’s almost humbling. No one can part I’d seen on Instagram. This is the part where my
make you feel so small yet so alive quite like Mother mind stopped and I suddenly became so aware of my
Nature. surroundings, so present. It’s almost as though this is the
part where you embed everything that you’ve just seen
If you’ve seen or heard about a river float with Back and heard. All the stories, the knowledge, the beauty.

Country Bliss, you, like me, probably assumed you’d This is where you process it. This is where you truly begin
spend the whole time floating down the river. If this is to appreciate it.

the case then you, like me, will be pleasantly surprised
to know that there is so much more. I smiled to myself as I lay on my back looking up at the

canopy of green above me. I was floating down a river
After being given our floating devices and stylish in the Daintree rainforest! A place the great Sir David

wetsuits with snorkels to match, we made our way along Attenborough himself dubbed “the most extraordinary

the winding path into the rainforest towards the flowing place on earth.” Bucket list? Tick. And all this before 12pm.
water of the Mossman River. Eager to arrive, I was at fi rst That’s the best thing about half-day tours, particularly
a little disheartened when our guide stopped us to talk this one. I felt like I’d been on three separate adventures
about some spiky plant that would cause months of and still back in time for lunch.
excruciating pain if I touched it. But as he spoke, I began
to appreciate the immense knowledge he was imparting
to our group and with each stop (next at a giant Oak
who’s exposed roots and giant trunk made it seem
like a fi ctional character from a fantasy movie and then
onto a giant mound of dirt and leaves which happened BOOK THIS
to be a bird’s nest), I felt a deeper connection with this EXPERIENCE