Darn Good Digs Review - Editors' Choice

Cape Trib Exotic Fruit Farm, Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia
Nominated By: Bobbie Harvey, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, USA, July '08

Price Range: AUD140-160 (breakfast included) # of Rooms: 2 Kid-Friendly: 6 and over

What makes Cape Trib Exotic Fruit Farm so Darn Good? The night sounds are what I remember most from our stay at the Exotic Fruit Farm: the rain drumming on the roof, the tree frogs, and the owls. Our cottage felt like a little oasis in the middle of a rainforest.

Location: The Cape Trib Exotic Fruit Farm bed and breakfast is located in the heart of the World Heritage Daintree Rainforest at Cape Tribulation, two hours north of Cairns in Northeastern Australia. Digby and Alison, the owners of this working farm, grow more than 100 varieties of rare and exotic tropical fruits, including such delicacies as the rollinia, salak, and black sapote. Several self-guided walks through the rainforest originate at the farm, including a ten minute jaunt to the closest beach. To add to the splendor, the Great Barrier Reef is just a 45 minute boat ride away.

Rooms: The two guest cottages stand on raised platforms above a creek and have louvered windows that gently let the outside in. The lightweight timber cottages are solar powered and water is pumped in from an underground stream. Digby and Alison are committed to ecotourism and the entire bed and breakfast is ecocertified by Ecotourism Australia.

Food: Each morning we made our own plunger coffee, and drank it out on the porch while we waited for Digby to bring us his amazing breakfast. Breakfast begins with a generous plate of exotic fruits and ends with a hot entree of your choosing. Lucky guests may opt for such treats as a banana pancake with mango and ginger sauce or shredded potato pancakes with chilli tomato salsa.

Vibe: Digby and Alison are very friendly and unobtrusive, suggesting things to do in the area, and even providing one-way transport and bikes so we could ride back from a magical swimming hole where, as they told us, there were no crocs!

Things to Keep in Mind: The Exotic Fruit Farm has a two night minimum.