Reaching a decade is a significant achievement

We will share our unique journey with you in mere moments ~ with how life has been created around us, roots established, and connections fostered and developed. This is a testament to the dedication that Steve and Jaide have to Nightfall.

From the dream of establishing a luxury-tented – camp in South East Queensland 90 minutes from Brisbane and the Gold Coast, on a stunning property at the wild edge of Lamington National Park. Reflecting on the years it took to achieve all necessary development approvals, how life was created around us. With long hold-ups during construction – with 50 days of continuous rain the only way to continue building Nightfall was with good old-fashioned people power. Our tight-knit, ever-supportive community and W.W.O.O.F volunteers – (willing workers on organic farms) stepped up to help keep things moving forward.

Then the sun came out a fresh milestone was reached that filled our hearts with joy, the Nightfall building team was back on track. Then more rain – making things very difficult to make progress on the ground to finally opening our first safari tent in March 2014, the second in July of that year, then the third safari tent in February 2015 – Roots are established.

We also love to watch the stresses of daily life lift, faces visibly relax as our guests take a deep breath in of fresh, clean air soaking up the Nightfall vibes. Perhaps it’s due to the lush forest that surrounds the camp and with more than a kilometre of crystal clear tumbling fresh waters, swimming in natural pools and spas or be it exploring in the wilds of Lamington National Park, with the majority of guests regardless of good intention for exploring and hiking often remain at Nightfall to lounge, read a book “Green Mountains” which we highly recommend, with a copy of the book in each of our safari tents, or to simply be lost daydreaming while watching nature.

Our Queensland luxury tented camp “NIGHTFALL” today – continues to inspire us, as we are often dreaming up ways to add or improve the Nightfall experience — even though our guests love Nightfall ‘just as it is’ … Steve and I have learned the value in taking a few days for ourselves to have a chance to recharge, doing the jobs and the little things that fill our cups. We enjoy exploring the 257 acres of the Nightfall site to discover the magic hidden in the forest, habitat and wildlife thriving. Spend a morning weeding the permaculture garden and checking the food forest for any edibles or jumping on our mountain bikes for a ride to the end of the road, finished with a deep dive into our private natural pool. Life at Nightfall truly is a wonderful adventure.

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Nightfall sets the bar for rainforest Glamping say’s Lonely Planet.

Nightfall Wilderness camp is located in the Scenic Rim on the southern end of Lamington National Park at the wild edge of Gondwana rainforests. With emphasis on best sustainable travel experiences Lonely Planet placed Scenic Rim 8th in the top 10 regions to visit in 2022. With people seeking authentic, real experiences and a personalised touch the Scenic Rim community had the Lonely Planet judges impressed…so impressed that we made the top 10.

The Scenic Rim is located only an hour from Gold Coast, Brisbane Queensland and just under a few hours from Northern Rivers in New South Wales. The region boasts 6 National parks with volcanic ridges and mountains, World heritage listed Lamington National Park with its treasured Gondwana rainforests. The region is also well known for its quality eco accomodation, farm stay agri-tourism experiences and Nightfall was said to “set the bar for rainforest Glamping experience”. We were very happy to read this.

Must do experiences in the Scenic Rim

Another highlight of the Scenic Rim experience is the wining and dining with the farm to plate philosophy popular and sustainably supporting local agriculture. You can indulge at many of the wineries, breweries, restaurants and farm gate stalls. A worthwhile mark on the calendar for 2022 is Scenic Rims Eat Local festival which runs during the first week of the June-July school holidays in Queensland the hosted long table lunch with credited Queensland chefs a highlight.

If you are an adventurous type then the Scenic Rim Adventure festival should be marked on the calendar for the May long weekend. The festival includes epic expeditions, adventure film night, rock climbing, abseiling, guided mountain walks, nature play and so much more.

Now if this hasn’t got you excited about making a booking and taking a drive to explore the stunning Scenic Rim this year … then lucky we will still be fabulous in 2023 … which is when our next availability is … that’s right folks Nightfall Wilderness Camp is fully booked for all of 2022. So if you don’t already have a booking with us we look forward to welcoming you to our unique nature immersion with a slower pace, personalised service an elemental experience like no other … soaring cliffs, lush forests, crystal clear tumbling waters, camp fire and a night sky filled with millions of stars in 2023.

To read more visit the Lonely Planet website: www.lonelyplanet.com/best-in-travel/regions

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Thank you to Scott for the identification of remains found. He noted the collection of bones are biased towards larger animals whose bones are more resistant to weathering. “ It’s a typical fare for a Sooty Owl” Scott said and he had never found Chestnut Mouse pellets before, a happy find. Scott waited till dark with the hope of hearing a Sooty Owl call ( which sounds like a whistling bom drop) unfortunately none was heard.

Remains found on the day.

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INGREDIENTS

750g fresh organic beetroot (peeled and grated)

1 x onion finely chopped

2 x cups balsamic vinegar

2 x cups organic raw sugar

3 x tsp yellow mustard

1 x bush lemon or an orange peal and juice

Salt and pepper ( If you can get some Tasmanian wild pepper)

Place all ingredients into a large heavy based pot.

Bring to boil for 10 minutes.

Then reduce the heat to simmer for another hour.

Place in sterile jars while it is still hot.

Allow to cool, label and store till ready to use.

Enjoy!!

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Photos by Daphnesky Studios

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• Converted kerosene lanterns to led solar (as pictured)
• 5KW onsite solar-grid connected
• Low flow water
• Organic food
• Food waste composted on-site
• Locally sourced food (Scenic Rim Accredited Locavore)
• Homegrown food
• French linen sheets and pillow slips (Moss Living)
• Organic cotton & Bio-dynamic Australian wool bedding (Blessed Earth)
• Natural, organic body products; Nightfall Nourished
• Chemical-free cleaning fibres (Enjo)
• Chemical-free cleaning using alternatives; bi-carb, vinegar, eucalyptus oil
• Chemical-free weed control
• Re-plant indigenous species on site
• Scenic Rim tree grants “for habitat regeneration”
• Recycled toilet tissue and paper towel (Who gives a crap)
• Reduce, reuse, and recycle all materials.
• Minimal single-use plastics (Seed & Sprout)
• Memberships:
  • Land for Wildlife
  • Land Care Lamington
  • Wild Mountains Earth Education Centre and Business 4 Climate Action

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Belinda Barry from Native Indulgence is a blessing to have as part of our team here at Nightfall.

An experienced and qualified therapist. Belinda’s skills include massage, clinical aromatherapy, reconnective healing, and organic skin care formulation. Belinda is passionate about providing guests with an indulgent experience that will leave you relaxed and regenerated by calming the body, mind, and spirit. Belinda uses all her own handcrafted massage oils and skin care products that will transform your skin and leave it feeling nourished and rejuvenated.

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Our first Sunday afternoon exploration took us to Mount Tamborine where we met with Hala and Cameron from Yasabel Cottage Kitchen. We tasted a selection of Hala’s cookies and cakes and Cameron’s sourdough bread. Delicious! Definitely adding these goodies to the food experience at Nightfall.

We then headed off to Greenlane Coffee Plantation where we walked through the lush healthy coffee tree’s that were abundant with fruit and flowers, emitting a beautiful aroma of jasmine. Divine! Then it was back to the coffee house where the baristas brewed up some tastings for us to try. The coffee is delicious, smooth and a treat to the palate with a rich caramel aroma. Another to add to the Nightfall food experience.

On the way home, we stopped in at Witches Falls Winery. A very pleasant afternoon with passionate staff sharing knowledge of the winemaking process. Our favourite was the wild ferment- Monastrell. Along with a selection of Jambreen local made cheeses. Amazing! Especially the black ash triple cream Brie. The ash is made from the stalks of the grapes grown on site at Mount Tamborine.

Steve and I are looking forward to sharing these delicious local treats with our guests. Already at Nightfall we dish up when available Tommerup’s dairy farm milk-fed veal, Christmas Creek honey, Top of the town Butcher in Boonah breakfast sausage and best of all our own homegrown goodies- jams, chutneys, dukkah, and fresh harvest bush foods. We are excited to share all of these beautiful new additions with you and know you will love them as much as we do!

PS. As we find time to explore and taste we hope to add more local goodness to your food experience. Cheers!

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Jaide’s earlier years were spent in Brisbane studying and working as a floral artist for 10 years before opening her own floral studio and Australian gourmet food business in Beaudesert in the year 1999. With 6 years of success she decided to sell, have a break and study Yoga Chi Gung. Whilst studying she worked part time at Wild Mountains which is an earth education center within the scenic rim, she has been an active volunteer of The Wild Mountains team since she was a teenager. In the 2008 she began working for them in their vegetarian kitchen catering for children, overseas university students and adult groups, including yoga camps. Here her love for catering and food really began. After her Yoga Chi Gung training she  taught locally in the scenic rim for 3 years while also working on local finger lime farms.

In the year 2013 she moved to New South Wales, Byron Bay Hinterland to study organic farming for 2 and a half years. Whilst in Byron Shire she worked on an organic macadamia farm and helped to set up an organic grocery store in Byron Bay. This gave Jaide exposure to authentic organic growers and suppliers. When Jaide completed her studies she decided to move home and make the most of the deep alluvial black soils of the family property on Christmas Creek. The buzz crop of this time in 2015 was turmeric especially if grown organic so Jaide decided with a fellow student to grow a test quarter acre of turmeric. During this time she also began working at Nightfall where the dream life began.

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Hello everyone,

As you may have noticed its been just over 3 years since our last blog post! Wow, how time flies! Nightfall has undergone many changes in this time period, including the completion of 5 luxury glamping tents, an upgrade of the creekside lounge and dining landscaping.

We apologise about such a space in between posts but we can assure you there will be a lot more to come!

Some of the changes over the last 3 years have also included a change in ownership with Steve and Jaide now hosting Nightfall together. Continuing to peacefully live out the passion of sustainable living in the magical wilderness setting of Lamington National Park.

We would like to pay our respects to Heidi who left Nightfall in December 2015. We are grateful for Heidi’s part in the creation of Nightfall “bringing a dream into reality.” We wish Heidi all the best in her new ventures with Zen thai shiatsu.

A fresh creative touch has been brought to nightfall through Jaide with particular influence in food, organic gardening, and delicious meals inspired by fresh produce and wild harvest.

We are so excited to be sharing the love of New beginnings and a plentitude of more magical stories and experiences to share with you all.

Warmest regards and looking forward to seeing you soon.

Jaide and Steve.

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What an honour it was for Nightfall to be named the Silver winner for New Tourism Development at last Friday night’s Queensland Tourism Awards.

The award is a benchmark for industry excellence – an accolade we’re very proud of,  especially when we still only consider ourselves in ‘guinea-pig’ testing mode.

Our thanks goes to the wonderful guests we’ve had these past few months, each of whom has contributed to helping us fine-tune Nightfall’s luxury camp experience.

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As ‘glamping‘ hosts,  Steve and I are the kind of people who want everything to be perfect straight-away.  We’re learning the reality is all new ventures require a settling-in period.  Like it or not,  we are reminded these things take time,  especially when you set the bar high.  Fortunately our ‘Guinea-Pig’ Opening Feedback Special is keeping the process exciting.   As we go about ironing out the lumps and bumps – adding detail to our luxury tents,  beautifying along the way and sourcing  forgotten elements – we’re also relishing the opportunity to include the fresh and unique perspectives, shared by guinea-pig guests.

We’re truly inspired by your ideas,  including placing two vintage tin baths on the creek bank – what better than a steaming soak beside the crystal-clear white-topped rapids (naturally contamination will be avoided by avoiding oils or bubbles);  coals to cook additional breakfast toast,  should you desire;  and a mud-map to guide guests to the secrets of Lamington National Park.  We also chuckled at the suggestion to name one tent the ‘Tent House’,  adopting the glamour of a Penthouse with extra treats and indulgences,  perhaps appropriate to honeymooners and others on special occasion retreats.

(photo L to R: each tent sits in its own private forest clearing;  enjoying the views;  generous 62m2 of living space;  looking in through the openable shower wall – and yes, the shower does have a wooden floor)

Tourism is a new for Steve and I.  That’s good and bad.  Tried and tested industry operational formulas are there for a reason,  but we’re finding it’s helpful to not know too much,  instead adopting a fresh approach.   Nightfall is not a hotel – we prefer to think of it as sharing our little patch of Australian wilderness.   We’re enjoying discovering the best and most personal ways to make our guests feel at home.

We’re also loving tailoring your experiences.   Some guests prefer the most private of private retreats with picnics in the forest,  secluded massages and romantic dinners,  tucked-away on Nightfall’s intimate creek-side beach:  yes,  we do have fun setting that one up … picture a candle-lit table beside the creek with a personal wood fire.  Carefully placed  lanterns line the water’s edge,  ensuring the flickering flames reflect in the moving stream and gently light the cliffs on the other side of the creek.  For other guests, the Nightfall experience is more social:  we enjoy the warmth of evenings by the communal fire and dinners together,  swapping life experiences and bantering over who will have the last piece of Mum’s legendary pavlova.  Steve’s fire-cooked organic fare is also proving a hit – wood-oven-roasted vegetables with rosemary lamb,  wild cress salads and steaks seared over the flames are popular,  so too is the locally-grown mango,  sprinkled with brown sugar, grilled and served with ice-cream for desert.

It’s wonderfully rewarding to finally share Nightfall with guests.  We think we have a pretty special spot and we love hearing others feel the same.   The fresh perspective of newcomers is gold.

Until next time,

Heidi

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Did you know Nightfall does gift vouchers?  They’ve been going like hotcakes for the last few weeks.

Presented as a square card, they’re impressive to receive in the mail. Try our wilderness immersion experience, our wildly romantic retreat or just a night away.  All vouchers are valid for a year from the date they’re issued.

There is still time to email a copy to put under the tree or if you contact us today, we can deliver to Brisbane on Monday December 23.

Phone Heidi on (07) 5544 8070 to order yours.

(images: top – front and back of gift voucher card; below – inside gift voucher card)

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Our thoughts are with his partner Nell and their family.  Our memories are filled with recollections of shared laughter and deep discussions over glasses of Graham’s legendary home-brew.  We’ll miss his generous hugs, his dry-humour, his passion for innovation, his ingenuity and his talent for re-purposing, not forgetting his creative use of baling-twine.

As with all in our community,  Graham had been deeply involved in bringing to life our dream of Nightfall and the on-going building of our Queensland glamping experience.

Together we problem-solved how to drag huge canvas’ through my industrial sewing machine, positioning with contact glue instead of pins.  He was on-hand to refine and test the camp’s gravity-fed water system;  he was there with a glass of cold home-made ginger-beer as I oiled the first tent floor and, if anything was ever broken or missing a piece, it was likely Graham would find something in his shed with which to fix it.  ‘Oh, you can’t throw that away’ he’d say. ‘We might need it one day’.

To Graham and a life well-lived.  We miss you already.

And so we pick ourselves up to live again with passion. With our first guest bookings from February, we’re waiting eagerly for the return of the plumber to Nightfall.  After so long in the planning and many refinements,  we can’t wait to see the last bits come together — the hand-carved rock basins;  generous showers, open to the private forest outside and king-sized beds, hand-built from chunky reclaimed bridge timbers.

In the interim there’s also other work to be done, fine-tuning of our luxury camping visitor experience, landscaping and maintenance – weeding, mulching and extending gardens, planting more trees and putting love into our organic food gardens.

(images L-R: departed wwoofers  Ben and Ellie;  Ellie trellising tomatoes with Anne; Juri clearing Glycine vine with Ben; Christian installing tent canvas’)

We’re sharing this Christmas with our three wwoofer volunteers.  Christian hails from Perth – a school teacher on long service leave.  Anne and Juri are from Germany.  She’s on her way to New Zealand to begin a conservation-related internship and he’s taking a break from riding a motorcycle around the world.  We’re looking forward to enjoying a few Christmas-morning Bloody Mary cocktails with those who share life on our ‘dirt track’, before taking a couple of days off to spend time with family and friends, soaking in Nightfall’s  creek rock-pools and savouring the good life.   Another highlight – our annual neighbourhood ‘Christmas Creek Classic Cup‘ – a private New Year’s Day golf in the wilderness event.

From all at Nightfall, we wish you a relaxing and peaceful Christmas. Enjoy the break.

(images L-R: Lillypilly – relaxed after a feed and a cuddle; ‘what’s for breakfast?)

p.s  in response to those who seek a ‘Lillypilly update ‘  – yes, Nightfall’s resident wallaby joey continues to thrive.  She’s now  1.14kg and growing up fast.  Each morning she has us in stitches of laughter as she hops our staff tent at great speed –  up, over the bed, around the couch, along the wall and back .. lap after lap.   A cushion obstacle to two adds to the fun before she presses her head against us for a cuddle.

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Welcome ‘Lilly Pilly’ (named after the trees so common in this region).  The baby red-necked wallaby joey captured our hearts the instant we scooped her quivering body off Christmas Creek road.  Her mother was nowhere to be seen.  Judging by the grazes on the youngster’s legs, we assume both were hit by a car – an unfortunately common occurrence on Australia’s roads.

At first glance the young macropod is a comical combination of  carton-mouse head,  over-size ears,  the body of a rat and  disproportionately large T-Rex rear limbs.   With kangaroos, echidnas, koalas and platypus,  it’s easy to see why Australia’s unusual mammals baffled early naturalists.  On first reports,  the platypus –  an egg-laying,  rubber-billed mammal with fur and the webbed feet of a duck – was even considered an elaborate fraud.

Fortunately Lilly Pilly is an easy charge – relaxed, comfortable and curious about her surrounds.  She’s also intriguing.  She washes herself like a cat,  licks in affection and dips her head to say please tickle my neck a little more.

As her adopted ‘mum’,  my favourite time of day is when she emerges from her pouch to nibble on grass roots and cavort around her play-pen.  She stumbles like a drunk when she forgets she doesn’t  always have the co-ordination to scratch and stand at the same time.  As her confidence grows, it’s time for laps.  She bounces here and there before making a quick run for the pouch, tumbling in classic joey style into foetal position to catch her breath and regroup.  On rare moments she’s more grown-up, sticking only her head into the pouch to collect herself.

(L to R: New Wwoof volunteers Ben and Ellie meet Lilly Pilly; day 1 – getting used to a cloth pouch;  day 4- checking out the playpen;  sleeping like a baby…)

Lilly Pilly’s arrival has helped put perspective into the intensity of this final push to complete the building of Nightfall wilderness camp’s Queensland glamping experience.  Feeding the young joey every  four-and-a-half-hours, day and night, enforces moments of quiet contemplation, deepening my connection with our Australian wildlife, Nightfall’s surrounds and my sense of wonderment at the cleverness of nature.

We’re now into the nitty-gritty of construction, adding layers of detail to our permanent tent accommodation.  It’s slow considered work, where attention to the creative and innovative is paramount.  Consider the bathroom fit-out: it would have been easy to walk into a major franchise to pick off-the-rack taps, but that’s not Nightfall.  Even when you have great ideas,  there are stumbling blocks in the plumbing and building regulations. Taps alone must have hot and cold symbols and WELS certification. Rejecting the mainstream chrome took us along a bumpy journey, eventually culminating with the discovery of  New Zealand’s Heritage Bathware company. Their aged copper and brass tapware was exactly what we’d been looking for.  Heritage Bathware owner Michael Brown lovingly handcrafts rain-head showers and adds his distinctive touch to vintage taps. He also has great vision, easily grasping styles which differ from the norm. We now wait excitedly to put the look together when the plumber returns.

COMING SOON: ANNOUNCING NIGHTFALL’S OPENING DATE AND LIMITED OPENING-CELEBRATION OFFER.
BOOK NOW OR ENTER YOUR EMAIL BELOW TO JOIN OUR MAILING LIST AND HEAR THE NEWS FIRST [magicactionbox]

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It’s been another busy few weeks, building Nightfall.  All of our luxury tent roofs are now up, thanks to neighbours and a band of friends who actively seek out adrenalin-fueled challenges.  In spectacular fashion, the ‘high ropes’ boys recently dropped into our Lamington gorge.  Laughter and banter flowed as they quickly got to work on the tent frame, somersaulting  and gliding like acrobats to first put in place the insulation and then the tent fly-sheet. Those of us who prefer to stay on the ground could only marvel at their agility and confidence. No dragging ladders around for these boys.  Then last weekend we had cause for real celebrations as our final tent roof was hoisted into place with the help of Nightfall’s neighbours and Wwoofer volunteers.  It takes about eight people to do the job, so we’re very grateful to  those who’ve come to help with the raising of each tent.

Nightfall’s organic permaculture food garden has also moved into a new phase with Steve’s parents Neil and Margaret instigating construction of  a solid fence to keep out the bandicoots.  The friendly nocturnal marsupial critters love to dig for worms and other insects, but they’re also very efficient at uprooting anything in their path, including our precious new seedlings.  Now there’s only a few  final touches to go and the garden will be fully enclosed.  A mesh barrier below the ground should stop even the most determined bandicoot.  Our remaining challenges: grasshoppers, snails and slugs.  Molasses spray and beer traps go some way to protecting the plants.  A pond encourages birds and frogs who’re happy to gobble up the slugs and other ‘pest’ bugs.  Such is the life of organic permaculture gardeners.

Wildlife features highly in camp life at the moment.  We saw our first koala, crossing Nightfall’s carpark a few weeks ago and each day we’re entertained by the antics of a growing band of brightly-coloured king parrots.  What really took our breath away however was Monty, the python, shedding his skin as we watched in awe.

About a week ago we noticed the tell-tale glazed look across his eyes, as the scale covering them came away.  Then the other night we saw him rubbing his head along the timber to release the old skin.  Sure enough he began to peel it back, wedging his body and contracting his muscles to ease out of the skin.  “Like a giant poo’ was the expression which best summed up the process!

So what’s next in this final stage of building Nightfall?  Lots!  After several delays we’re hoping the builder will return this week to finish the tent platform floors.; the under-floor stainless-steel showers trays are finally ready (after glitch the first-time round) signaling a return for the plumber;  I’m madly sewing walls again; we’re planting trees along the creek as part of a catchment restoration program and watering madly to keep them all alive;   and  Steve is laying pipe to get water up to the top tanks and back down to each tent.  We’re also keeping a close eye on a bushfire burning on the other side of our back ridge in the Widgee section of Lamington National Park.  There’s no threat at this point, but it’s important not to be complacent.

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The weather gods are smiling on Nightfall.  As the days fly by we’re making great headway, completing the last critical jobs before the coming summer storm season again brings rain to the site of Australia’s newest luxury camping experience.

Last week we breathed a sigh of relief as the plumbing/drainage pipes were approved by the council inspector and safely ensconced in the ground.  The frame for the last tent is up and as I write Steve is putting the finishing touches to rock retaining walls and drainage behind the tent deck platforms.

The kitchen gardens are coming along nicely too, now thickly spread with organic sugarcane mulch to help suppress weeds and retain soil moisture (a little ironic after the months of mud).  We’ve also sown oodles of wonderful seeds to make sure Nightfall‘s diners have on hand the best possible choice of just-picked local organic produce.  Heirloom varieties are another of our passions, so look out for some interesting tomatoes and capsicum over the next few months.

Occasionally we are asked why it’s taking so long to build Nightfall’s luxury tent accommodation and camp infrastructure.  Aside from the rain which plagued the first eight months of construction, the reason is that Nightfall is a labour of love.  A cliche perhaps, but it’s also true.

You can buy off-the-rack kit tents on the internet and throw them up in a couple of days.  Beautiful tables, chairs, couches, light fittings taps and more abound.  But all of those quick ready-made items just didn’t  fit with our vision for Nightfall.  So, yes it’s personal – a truly bespoke concept, which takes time to shape and evolve in its own unique way.

Our retreat and tent design are a blend ideas from some of the world’s best tented safari camps, coupled with input from architects, eco-tourism gurus, sustainability experts and others.  The 62m2 tents are almost 100% built by us: we bring in the builders and plumbers when it’s essential but on the whole Steve and his boys cut and weld the six-mm thick steel frames; together with our wonderful friends and neighbours we stand them; then they’re fitted with canvas walls, sewn by the girls and I.  We’re all involved in fitting-out the camp, hand-crafting the more creative furnishings and decorative ‘found-in-nature’ features.

(images – standing the last tent with the help of friends and neighbours, Etienne checking levels and making adjustments the old fashioned ‘chock’ way, Heidi concreting in the footings)

This arrangement comes in part because it’s difficult to secure tradesmen in regional Australia and because of the cost of labour for such delicate and detailed hand-built work.  Long ago Steve and I made a life-style decision not to max ourselves out with a huge mortgage.  At times I curse the resulting tight budget.  More often than not I realise it is what makes us all the more resourceful, creative and true to our desire to truly live the Simple Life.  I also appreciate how lucky I am to be married to a man who can do almost anything.

If you’ve ever brought to life a big idea you’ll appreciate the complexities of progressing something this huge to finish.  Project managing the entire development ourselves and doing most of the building is akin to a wildly erratic roller coaster ride.  Our journey swings sharply from excitement and satisfaction as each task is ticked off, to days when the perceived enormity of what’s still to do remains daunting and overwhelming.  In those moments it’s hard to focus and keep track of the seemingly endless lists of things that need to be done, things that need to be ordered, things that need to be revised, and then more of the above all over again.

The saying ‘Just Do It‘ often comes to mind at the point.  And so here we are, taking baby steps into the final stages of building Nightfall.  Look out soon for an opening date!

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We’ve faced a number of challenges in the past few weeks,  the first being just how to get two 2500L galvanised water header-tanks to their position on the hill,  high above the camp’s luxury tent accommodation.  With the steep and slippery access track finally dry enough,  plan 1 was to carry each tank up with the help of Nightfall’s excavator.  Fail.  Plan 2:  make a cradle for the tank and then do what we do best at Nightfall – use people power to get the job done.  After a little welding and a couple of phone calls we were ready.  Our wonderful neighbours arrived and with four people on the front and five on the back the adrenaline kicked in.  Determination combined with brute force to place the tanks on their high platform.

Nightfall will be self-sufficient when it comes to water.  Rainfall from our creekside shed roof will be collected in a 5000G galvanised tank,  then pumped-up to the header storage tanks on the hill and gravity-fed to each tent.  UV-treatment will ensure the water is safe for drinking.

The other major challenge this week was rain,  complete with an impressive show of thunder and lightening over our Gold Coast Hinterland region.  The 41-mm which fell returned our final tent site to mud, so it’s back to doing odd jobs while we wait for the ground to dry once again.  If all goes to plan we should be able to drill the post holes next week and the camp’s plumbing trenches will go in the following week.   With the final piece of critical infrastructure in place we’ll at last feel confident enough to name an opening date.  Fingers crossed we don’t get more than a few showers before then.

If you’ve read our blog before you’ll know international Wwoofer volunteers play a big part in the building of Nightfall.  We’ve got a great crew on board at the moment.  Etienne Mclaughlin has become Steve’s right-hand-man,  helping weld tent frames,  cut fire wood,  clear the creek-crossing causeway, build rock-walls  and more.  Half French,  half Scottish,  with an Irish surname and born in Barcelona,  Spain,  Etienne is proficient in four languages.  His English is spoken with a fascinating blended accent which keeps most new visitors to Nightfall guessing about his heritage.

The UK’s Kirsty Phillips has also been at Nightfall a few weeks now.  Her marketing background and creative thinking has been refreshing,  as we dream-up an opening special and revamp the website to reflect Nightfall’s evolving identity.  She’s a whiz at weeding bindi-thorns from the grass,  so we can all walk barefoot;  a dab-hand helping to sew canvas walls for Nightfall’s luxury tents,  and to top it off she shares our passion for the natural treasures which surround us.  A  while ago we used pebbles from Nightfall’s creek to craft a prototype doormat for the entry to each tent.   Kirsty’s been hard at work collecting suitable stones for the real thing.  While fossicking on Nightfall’s Christmas Creek ‘beach’,  she also created a stunning collection of small coloured stones, shown in the photo at the top of this blog post.

The post MASTERING THE ART OF PATIENCE … appeared first on Nightfall.

Main tent footings poured, tick; water pipes laid into trenches, tick; lower trench filled, tick; insulation into the roof of guest tent one, tick; trees trimmed over solar panels, tick … yes, without mud everywhere, at the moment there’s almost a sense giddy exhilaration building Nightfall’s luxury tent accommodation.

Seven months of continuous and unseasonal  south-east Queensland weather appears to finally be over for our mountainous Gold Coast hinterland retreat. Even the forecaster on the radio last week supported our sense that something was changing: “It’s pretty questionable if we will get any significant rainfall for the month of August” he said. Needless to say, we did more than cheer.

These last few weeks of winter have been spectacular – clear blue skies, crisp cool mornings and some delicious warm day-time interludes, one of which even led Steve to dive into our deep creek swimming hole for a dip.

After living for what seems like an eternity with drizzle, rain and mud, it’s hard to put into words the full impact of this change. We can finally traverse Nightfall’s construction site without gumboots and progress jobs which have been stalled for months.  A new energy and lightness also fills our souls, as well as a happiness, which has caught me off guard. Have I been unhappy?  No, but perhaps working so hard to always stay positive and look on the bright side has somehow masked the true extent of the doldrums which come from prolonged difficult times.  The contrast now of sunshine and lightness is revealing to true extent of what has in fact been quite a challenging period.

Building without mud is so much easier and faster. With the main tent footings poured last week, all is now ready to begin assembling the four portals which make up the frame for Nightfall’s main tent. The 6mm thick steel sections each weigh hundreds of kilograms, but hopefully, with the ground now drier, we’ll once again be able to use machinery to help hoist them into place. As you might remember, Nightfall’s previous two luxury tent frames were raised with the assistance of a dozen or so friends and neighbours because it was just too muddy for machine access.

With a little luck, no more rain and some warm sunshine, in the next few weeks we might even find our hillside on the banks of Christmas Creek dry enough to lay the plumbing pipes into trenches and place the gravity-feed water header tanks up the hill.

Fingers crossed!

(images – pouring main tent footings: Lamington innovation – the concrete chute extension crafted by a neighbour; our trusty ‘dingo’ mini-loader has saved many a day – in this case carting concrete to fill the far side footing)

(If this is the first time you’ve read our building Nightfall blog diary, you might be interested in looking at other entries and the rest of our website.  As with on-the-ground construction, our website is also a veritable work in progress.  New images and information are added as we progress.)

The post SUNSHINE, HAPPINESS AND TICKING OFF JOBS appeared first on Nightfall.

In the quest to craft the ultimate authentic Australian wilderness accommodation experience,  it’s hard to go past the simple pleasure of sleeping outside,  with nothing between you and the spectacular star-filled night sky.  In fact,  in Australia,  it’s tradition.  Canvas ‘swag‘ bedrolls are as much a part of our pioneering and explorer history,  as they are of modern jackaroo life on our vast outback stations.

“Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled:
“Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me?”
– the 1895 ballad ‘Waltzing Matilda’ by Australian poet Banjo Patterson,(occasionally referred to as the unofficial national anthem of Australia)

The swagmen of Australia’s late 1800s and early 1900s were often itinerant farm-workers,  many who walked from job to job,  carrying on their backs a spare set of clothes and a ‘bluey‘ (blue bush blanket),  wrapped in a canvas tarpaulin.  Their ‘swag‘ often also contained a tucker bag,  tucker (food) and a billy (kettle) for making tea.

At Nightfall we’ve spent a much time considering how best to capture the magic of nights in a canvas swag,  with your face open to the inky sky,  watching for shooting stars, satellites,  the milky way and the Southern Cross.  Our core criteria is always comfort:  the raw-luxe which is integral to our Queensland luxury camp wilderness experience.  The result — a custom-designed,  hand-built swag;  a cocoon of canvas decked-out with high-quality mattress,  luxury linens,  feather pillows,  plumped quilts and insect-screening for those who like to know they’re protected from creepy crawlies.

Throw in a hot-water bottle for cooler nights,  slip between the sheets and you’re ready to experience a unique close-up perspective of our Queensland wilderness.  On most nights the velvety sky overhead is dotted with a million stars.  You’ll feel the gentle caress of cool breezes on your face,  smell the scents of the forest and experience the unique sound of Australia’s nocturnal wildlife as it punctuates the constant tumbling of water,  flowing down Christmas Creek.  At dawn,  a new sound-track begins,  as whip-birds call to mates,  glossy-black cockatoo’s fly overhead,  kookaburras laugh and king parrots come in for an early breakfast.

Each Nightfall wilderness accommodation experience includes this option to sleep under the stars.  We’ll happily make-up a swag on your private tent deck.  In case of light rain,  you can pull over your swag‘s canvas flap or retreat back into the comfort of the king-sized bed inside your permanent luxury tent.

Aside from designing and sewing  Nightfall‘s proto-type swag, and road-testing it,  sleeping beside our main fire (image at the top of this blog post),  it’s been a quiet week at Nightfall.  We’re still waiting patiently for our Gold Coast hinterland hillside to dry and the moisture in the air to drop enough to let us move forward with oiling floorboards and putting up canvas walls on our private luxury tent accommodation.

July 2013 capped off with 116mm of rain – more than double last year’s 52mm for July and almost four times the 30mm which fell in July 2011.  This amount of rain wouldn’t be an issue in open well-drained countryside,  but our forested site, combined with cool winter days,  are unfortunately keeping the ground sodden.

And so we continue to learn the art of patience,  looking on the bright side, and focusing on the myriad of other details which need to be completed before our new Australian wilderness accommodation can open.

The post DESIGNING AUSTRALIAN WILDERNESS ACCOMMODATION – SLEEPING UNDER THE STARS appeared first on Nightfall.

Nights under star-filled skies, roaring camp fires, beautiful wines and the distinctive flavours of flame-grilled and slow-cooked camp-oven food … ah, the simple pleasures, which we’re melding into our lives, as we craft Nightfall‘s new Australian wilderness experience.

Fire is soul-food for Steve and I.  Like moths, we’re are magically drawn to the leaping flames. We’re seduced by the gentle crackling of the burning timbers and entranced by the flavours of flame-cooked organic food.  Nightfall‘s main fire pit sits under leafy figs, not far from our private stretch of tumbling creek waters. While we continue to build the camp we spend most evenings seated on or beside the large rocks which surround the fire. It’s easy to talk, laugh and share experiences, as we watch the dancing flames, savour the unbridled warmth and often cook our meals.

As I write, the mouth-watering smell of ironbark smoke lingers on our hands. We’ve just lit Nightfall‘s new custom-built Aromatic Embers wood-fired oven and grill, in preparation for another evening exploring the alluring art of wood cookery.  Our mission — to evolve a distinctive signature flavour for the organic organic food of Nightfall‘s Queensland luxury camping wilderness experience.

In-spite of the fancy new oven, cooking with fire has a strong primal-feel. This is food which harks back to a past when life was simpler. It speaks of ancient traditions, family gatherings, comfort-giving nourishment and nostalgic memories of camping.

We’re learning to tame the leaping flames to a level which sears and caramelises when fast grilling, or imparts delicious deep smokey flavours, laced with woody aromas, when slow roasting. Do it right, in combination with high-quality freshly-picked produce, and fire is the ultimate flavour-enhancer. The wood used is not just a fuel. It also becomes the healthy additive-free seasoning. Each timber species has its own personality with unique distinctive flavours – citrus compliments fish while lighter woods, such as olive, impart delicate nuances of flavour best paired with vegetables. I can’t wait to experiment with wood from old wine barrels – I’ve  read ‘they realise a toasted smokiness with a subtle interplay of oak and wine, giving notes of vanilla and spice’.

What a delicious journey we’re on …

(If this is the first time you’ve read our building Nightfall blog diary, you might be interested in looking at other entries and the rest of our website.  As with on-the-ground construction, our website is also a veritable work in progress.  New images and information are added as we progress.)

The post EVOLVING AN AUSTRALIAN WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE WITH FIRE-COOKED ORGANIC CUISINE appeared first on Nightfall.

The  overwhelming desire to capture a moment of magical light on a landscape is something most people are familiar with.  There are many days I’ve wished I had the skills to translate, with water-colours onto paper, the delicate hues of Nightfall wilderness camp‘s Lost World wilderness. This week I’ve had a little taste, by proxy, thanks to one of our artistic guests.

Christine Urquhart is a theatre designer who, with her husband Rhys, came to Nightfall as volunteer workers. Fortunately for us, Christine had a four-week break in her schedule as Production Designer for Zen Zen Zo‘s upcoming depiction of the Greek tragedy Medea.

This week Christine set about creating a ‘mud-map’ to help guests find their way around Nightfall. She worked to capture the rich palate of blues and greens which dominate Nightfall‘s forests and the Lost World, as well as the special hideaways on our immediate frontage to Christmas Creek. Jokes about maps in the mud aside – yes, it continues to rain almost every day – we love the result. We’re also inspired to keep a set of water-colours in Nightfall‘s main lounge, allowing guests who’re overcome with artistic desires to capture their Queensland wilderness experience in a uniquely personal way.

(image – landscapes and water-colours inspire artistry;  hand-made for Nightfall’ organic food garden; a contented, muddy echidna)

While Christine has spent time painting, Rhys has unleashed a loving passion for ecological restoration.  Almost single-handedly he’s carefully marked young trees which are naturally regenerating in Nightfall wilderness camp‘s gallery rainforest and culled the weeds which hinder their growth. Aside from us, his greatest fans are Nightfall‘s echidnas. They’re loving getting muddy,  rooting around for critters in the newly disturbed soil.

(image – Rhys Williams and Christine Urquhart work in Nightfall’s rainforest  regeneration area)

The time has now come from Christine to return to the theatre, so today we farewelled the couple as they return to Brisbane. We also say goodbye to German volunteer ‘Wwoofer’ workers Julian and Kai – they’re off to become ‘Outback Packers’ … first with a course in working on a farm and then, hopefully heading into the ‘real’ Australia,  to immerse in life on an Outback cattle station.

(image – a break from volunteering at Nightfall: Julian, Kai, Rhys and Christine, wearing the obligatory construction ‘mud boots’)

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The post WALKING LAMINGTON NATIONAL PARK – INSPIRATION FROM HISTORY appeared first on Nightfall.

Yes, with each significant creek flood at Nightfall wilderness camp comes a trove of flotsam and jetsam – jewels in all shapes and form, washed down from the nooks and crannies of the Scenic Rim‘s Lamington National Park, where Christmas Creek begins.

Like beech-combers on an outgoing tide, we delight in waiting for the flood-waters to drop so we can explore Nightfall’s private creek banks for unusual gems:  driftwood with delicious twists and elegant form, moulded by the water’s force;  coloured rocks and stones which glitter or seed pods straight from nature.  Occasionally we also find signs of human-life — chairs, parts of bridges and even small pieces of a car washed down the creek in 2008.

Many of our found treasures are being incorporated  into the design our guest luxury tent accommodation,  as well as Nightfall’s creek-side guest lounge and gardens-  components of furniture, lighting or decoration,  both inside and out.

(images L to R: blue waters, three days after this week’s flood; casuarina seed in the debris; a blue rock, part of this week’s first discoveries)

It’s been another of those weeks I write about so often – yes, more rain!  We recorded over 100mm from Monday to Wednesday, dumped by an East-Coast low pressure system, the likes of which have not been seen in winter in these parts for decades.  On Tuesday morning Christmas Creek was in full flood.  Our carefully dug electrical-wiring trench’s lower section was filled to be brim with silt, and, in many parts,  the sides had also caved-in.   The electrician now joins the list of construction trades to be re-scheduled. Such is life building Nightfall‘s luxury camping experience.  I cannot wait for the day our new unique Queensland  accommodation is ready and we can move on to a new part of our lives!

It’s far from doom and gloom though. Our British Wwoofer volunteer worker,  Rhys,  has found great satisfaction liberating the trees beside the creek from an ever-encroaching canopy of glycine creeper (Neonotonia wightii).  It’s a pest originally introduced to feed cattle. Uncontrolled, the glycine threatens to overcome much of the native habitat, swallowing young trees and eventually killing all in its path, increasing the risk of erosion of  creek banks.

(images L to R – playing with rocks, a sapling scarred by a glycine creeper, the rear-view of the echidna we spotted by the creek)

Rhys’ wife Christine is a theatre set designer – what better person to come to Nightfall to help create our guest experience? Her artistic touches are beginning to appear in Nightfall’s organic kitchen food gardens and we’re loving her input into the finer styling details, including light fittings, hand-crafted from Christmas Creek’s driftwood.

Today we were all lucky enough to spend time watching an echidna on the banks of the creek beside Nightfall’s lounge. Rhys and Christine have also been looking out for Nightfall’s shy platypus, as well as taking time to explore Nightfall’s  257 acres and the rugged wilderness of Lamington National Park.

(Image – on route to Westray’s Grave, Lamington National Park historic site)

If this is the first time you’ve read our building Nightfall blog diary, you might be interested in looking at other entries and the rest of our website.  As with  on-the-ground construction, our website is also a veritable work in progress.  New images and information are added as we progress.

The post TREASURE FROM THE WILD … appeared first on Nightfall.

For over 11 years, the Department of Science researchers have surveyed fish numbers and species in our pristine Gold Coast Hinterland waterway, using a stun, count and release method called electro-fishing.  The species found were quite consistent, until the scientists last visit, when they discovered a school of Mountain Galaxias (Galaxias olidus).  We’re told this small, elongate, tubular fish only has a nine-metre home range and was previously unknown to our region. The question is which gene pool do Lamington’s Galaxias hail from and how many other species of fish remain undiscovered?

The researchers had a quick, but unsuccessful, look for the Galaxia in Nightfall‘s section of Christmas Creek.  It was their second visit to our Scenic Rim hideaway, where we’re currently building  luxury tent accommodation. A short survey six months ago recorded five species:  Long-finned eels (Anguilla reinhardtil),  Australian Smelt (Retropinna semoni), Freshwater Catfish, also called Dew fish (Tandanus tandanus), Firetail Gudgeon (Hypseleotris galii) and Cox’s Gudgeon (Gobromorphus roxio), the population of which at one point dropped to next to none, but numbers are once more growing strongly.  We also know of Mary River Cod in our headwaters.

Electro-fishing relies on two electrodes which deliver current into the water, momentarily stunning fish close-by and bringing them to the surface.  The fish are not killed but numbers can be counted, species recorded and fish measured along with other data gathered for analysis.

At Nightfall we’re also involved in an  SEQ Catchments water monitoring program, recording baseline data for this part of Christmas Creek.  Using a Horiba we’re able to sample ambient water in-situ, recording water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, electrical conductivity, turbidity, Total Suspended Solids, ORP and salinity on a  monthly basis. Our results are combined with data from hundreds of other Scenic Rim volunteers to form a comprehensive baseline record, essential for monitoring catchment health,  both in our headwaters and further downstream.

(Images from left: Australian Smelt, juvenile Long-finned eels, Cox’s Gudgeon)

The post NEW FISH DISCOVERIES IN SCENIC RIM’S WORLD HERITAGE LISTED LAMINGTON NATIONAL PARK appeared first on Nightfall.

A quick study of our six month local rainfall figures this week confirmed our suspicions. Yes, our mountain hideaway, beside Lamington National Park, has experienced its wettest January to June period in 14-years, with 52 days straight of rain and falls or misting precipitation on just under half of the 168 days this year. In the first half of this year we experienced double our usual monthly falls, with 12-months rain falling in under six months.

Fortunately our team isn’t adverse to mud, so on we go. In the past few weeks we’ve added two more luxury tent fly-sheet roofs and in the next few days the floors will be laid in readiness for fitting of the canvas wall panels.

The bad news is we’re still waiting for our hillside to dry enough to dig the trenches needed for plumbing and electrical wiring. A few weeks of dry weather is all we need for our hillside above Christmas Creek to go from mud to a slope safe for excavation.  You never know!

Amid all the rain and mud, it’s been quite special for us to keep receiving phone calls  and emails from people keen to be among the first guests to stay in Nightfall’s luxury tents. We love to hear your thoughts and feedback on the little details we’re still working to nut-out.

As soon as the plumbing and electrical trenches are  in we’ll be ready to make a big announcement about an opening date for Nightfall and a special pre-opening ‘road-test’ opportunity.  Join our email list to be one of the first to hear about this limited deal.

Some of this week’s action, building Nightfall’s newest Queensland luxury camping accommodation –

The post WHEN WILL YOUR QUEENSLAND LUXURY CAMPING EXPERIENCE OPEN? THE MUCH ASKED QUESTION! appeared first on Nightfall.

Time flies when you’re busy. It’s been two weeks since our last diary entry and, despite lots of rain days, we’re making slow but steady progress building Nightfall’s new luxury tent accommodation on the edge of Lamington National Park in Queensland’s Gold Coast Hinterland.

Between showers, days of drizzle and a seemingly never-ending sea of mud, Steve, Olivier and Nico – two of our much appreciated WWOOFers (Willing Workers on Organic Farms) – have worked hard to complete two more permanent tent frames.  Late last week, amid much excitement, we also successfully fitted another roof.  The next one shouldn’t be far behind.

It’s with some trepidation that we now await the return of our builder to construct the new tent’s wire-brushed floors.  After six months of unseasonably wet weather and no let-up in sight, we’re a little concerned about the likelihood of high  moisture levels in the timber boards.  If the percentage is too high, they will need to sit awhile to dry before they can be laid — a delay we hope we will not face!

It’s also been a busy time for myself and Anna – our third WWOOFer. We’ve been madly sewing tent canvas’ and sourcing materials,  including ‘raw’ un-coated brass taps,  similar shower-heads and quality mosquito netting,  suitable for dying and crafting into the canopies above each tent’s luxurious king-sized bed.

Our vintage European tin baths also arrived on Friday.  They’re a soft silver colour, spacious at the head and narrow at the foot, cleverly reducing the amount of water needed for a hot soak, without compromising comfort.  We’re now scheming about how best to road test our lightweight hot tubs beside Nightfall’s tumbling Gold Coast Hinterland creek waters – inspired of course by this image from Norway’s Canvas Hotel.

The post DREAMS OF HOT-TUBS BY THE FIRE … appeared first on Nightfall.

It’s a rare privilege to live in an off-the-beaten track Australian wilderness,  close to a capital city,  so,  in-spite of the busyness of building Nightfall’s luxury tent accommodation,  we’re always keen to be involved in activities which help protect the environment which sustains us.

Last weekend it was time to count birds – specifically the Glossy Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus lathami) which is listed as vulnerable in Queensland and a threatened species in Australia.   As part of the development of regional conservation strategies,  the annual Glossy Black Survey collates data from volunteers across the State,  recording sightings,  nesting and feeding habits of these gracious birds.  At Nightfall,  we had five sightings on survey day,  which is consistent with our experience at our luxury camp at this time of year.

At the moment, as if like clockwork,  the Glossies fly over Nightfall  at sunrise and sunset,   en-route to nearby feeding sites,  their favourite water-holes and their Eucalyptus roosts.  Next year, we hope to be able to take a group of guests into our forest to spend time observing the birds feeding in a grove of Casuarina trees of above our camp.  Glossy Black Cockatoos have large bulbous beaks, specifically designed for chewing the Casuarina cones which are their primary source of food.

(image courtesy: Gayle Wilson, Christmas Creek, Lamington)

South-east-Queensland‘s other large cockatoo – the Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo ( Calyptorhynchus funereus) – also dropped into Nightfall on several occasions this week. Their distinctive raucous calls make it easy to know when the Yellow-Tails are about.   The attraction of Nightfall: the bark of the majestic Flooded Gums (Eucalyptus Grandis), which line Christmas Creek.   It’s fascinating to watch as the birds find what appear to be the ‘good bits’,  all the while squawking away to each other and occasionally putting on a show, fanning their stunning yellow and black tails.  Now all I need is a longer zoom lens to be able to better capture their antics!

The Eucalyptus Grandis, so loved by the Yellow-Tails, are part of an endangered Queensland eco-system.  Coincidently next week, at Nightfall, we begin our part of a larger conservation program to help protect the Eucalyptus Grandis eco-system and our creek-side habitat.  The SEQ-Catchments and SEQ-Water project, in collaboration with Scenic Rim Regional Council, will build creek bank resilience in the headwaters of Christmas Creek at Lamington, contributing to improved water quality in the sub-catchment of Brisbane and the Gold Coast.  On the ground, it means lots of hard work, removing weeds, stabilising creek banks and planting trees along several kilometres of creek bank, from where Christmas Creek emerges from the main section of Lamington National Park to just below Nightfall.   The tumbling waters of this section of Christmas Creek are already crystal clear and clean enough to drink.   We’re determined to keep it that way!

(If you’re interested in learning more about Glossy Black Cockatoos and their conservation, you might like to visit the Glossy Black Conservancy Website.   To learn more about Nightfall, head to our  luxury tent accommodation homepage.)

The post GLOSSY BLACKS AND YELLOW TAILS appeared first on Nightfall.

If you’re a regular reader of our ‘building Nightfall‘ diary, you’ll appreciate the construction of Australia’s newest luxury camping experience has been long and drawn out, not helped by ongoing unseasonal wet conditions.

At times it’s hard not to feel a little overwhelmed,  as we strive to create a dream and forge a living from our Lamington National Park hideaway.  And then, as if to the rescue,  comes light and fresh inspiration.  As I write, Nightfall is abuzz with the passion and energy of new international visitors. They’re leaving their mark both on us and the construction of our luxury accommodation, in the Scenic Rim, a short drive from Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

The crew so far – two Italians, two Germans, a Frenchman and a Kiwi – are part of a growing movement of WWOOFers (pron.: ˈwoof .. like a dog’s bark), from an alliance creating World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.   They come as volunteers, seeking first-hand experience in ecologically-sound growing methods, conservation and rural-life.   A thirst to explore Australia’s off-the-beaten track wilderness also drives those who’ve made the trip to Nightfall’s secluded camp.

Our days are packed with work, laughter, the occasional swearing and lots of learning.  Nightfall’s organic food garden is freshly weeded,  mulched and planted with the new season’s crops.  The pesky hillside weeds,  strong from months of rain and limited access with the mower, are also whipper-snipped to ground level in readiness for building an extended kitchen food garden.  The firewood is cut and best of all, with the combined man-power of WWOOFers and our community, we have stood another of Nightfall‘s luxury tent frames – albeit in the rain, as appears to be the norm for building Nightfall.

But WWOOFing is about more than exchanging half a days work for food and accommodation.  It’s an immersion in Australian life,  our Lamington community, the surrounding world heritage listed wilderness and most importantly a cultural exchange.  As our guests learn English, we learn the occasional French, Italian and German words.  We swap food, jokes, stories and even politics.  It’s been both inspiring and disturbing to listen to our guests motivations for traveling and WWOOFing.  All too common is a desire to flee the gloom of the economic crisis which is deeply affecting Europe and the future job/survival prospects of these incredible young adults.  We have the same stories in Australia, but I’ve rarely heard our youngsters so-clearly and passionately articulate their prospects in the context of history,  politics and global economics.

We all treasure the evenings spent under the stars,  around a roaring fire.  23-year-old Giovanni christened the dancing flames our ‘television’.   Our ‘music’, he said, was the sound of the tumbling waters of the creek by night, and, in the morning, the chorus of rainforest birds which wakes the camp. There’s plenty of time too for exploring Nightfall’s Christmas Creek frontage, Lamington National Park and our local events -including last weekend’s Lost World Art’s in the Olives Fesitval.

The common thread between us and our twenty-something-year-old visitors is a love of nature and the ‘Good Life’.  We’re hand-crafting Nightfall in harmony with our wilderness surrounds and eliminating all that clutters the dream.  In some ways our young guests are going the same — after-all, they travel to far-flung parts of the world for months and sometimes years with nothing more than a few possessions in a bag on their backs.

(Photos: Erecting our latest luxury tent frame, in the rain, last weekend, with the assistance of our wonderful WWOOFers, neighbours and family)

The post ‘WWOOFERS’ SPUR THE BUILDING OF NIGHTFALL – LUXURY TENT ACCOMMODATION, SCENIC RIM appeared first on Nightfall.

Since January we’ve waited patiently for the rain to give us a break and the forested hillside above our bend of Christmas Creek to dry —  just enough for lifting machinery to access our newly created luxury tent sites so we can continue ‘building Nightfall’.  We even resorted to importing truckloads of gravel,  but no amount of rock was enough to give wheel traction to our accommodation forest clearings.

So what to do?  Our tight-knit, ever-supportive, community,  known locally  as the ‘dirt-trackers’ because we live just off the bitumen,  quickly gave the rallying call:  “if we can’t use the machine,  we’ll carry the buggers in”, they announced.  And so came what at first appeared to be a hair-brained idea to stand our semi-permanent tent frames by hand,  just as the Amish communities do their infamous ‘barn raisings’.

Each section of our six-mm thick steel permanent-tent frames weighs hundreds of kilograms,  so,  yes,  there were a few sticky moments as we waded through the mud with the jig and then the first of four portals.   Could we actually stand the frame was the question on all our minds.  The weight of each portal made the task seem impossible,  so the decision was made to just lift the frame up a little to see if we could hold the weight.

At that point, the prop was dislodged and the rest is history. We had no choice but to keep going and up the first portal section went.

It was an exhilarating moment to know we were not dependent on a machine to progress our exciting new form of Scenic Rim accommodation.  As each of the other portals followed,  our sense of achievement grew and so too did the bonds which tie our community together.  Raising Nightfall’s tent frame is synonymous with life in our secluded valley.   To overcome the tyranny of distance,  which limits outside support,  we often come together to accomplish tasks too big for individual residents.  There’s a deep sense of satisfaction in seeing the tangible results of one’s labour and a sense of security in knowing that we’re all committed to supporting each other,  as the need arises.  Equally valuable are the bonds of friendship and respect.  Put simply,  we’re incredibly lucky to live surrounded by wonderfully grounded people who are also firm friends.  We share a love for the simple life,  our mountain wilderness and its fragile ecology.  Our differences keep the conversation lively and challenging.

If you’re curious to see more, you might enjoy this clip, as we raise the third portal. I wonder if the grunting made it easier?

The post “WE’LL CARRY THE BUGGERS IN” – BUILDING SCENIC RIM LUXURY TENT ACCOMMODATION BY HAND appeared first on Nightfall.

Stone-carved hand basins and cast-iron rotating wood fires – just a few of the wonderful deliveries to Nightfall this week as we continue building a one-of-a-kind luxury camp, perfect for a romantic weekend getaway near Brisbane.

Steve and I had been a little apprehensive,   after ordering online and dispatching thousands of dollars into the ether.   Luckily the French-made Invicta wood fire-places are perfect – solid,  with impressive vertical glass doors and ball-bearings top and bottom to allow the firebox to rotate.   Aside from the unusual design,  we also chose the Invicta brand because of its commitment to the environment.   Their fireplaces use a triple-burn system,  ensuring the smoke contains the least possible number of particulate emissions,  meeting the maximum five-star rating for Europe’s strict fireplace laws (far more strenuous than those in Australia).

Another of this week’s fulfilling milestones was running my hands over the smooth polished surface our new carved rock hand basins.   As part of Nightfall’s planing and design stage,  we looked high and low for unusual quality,  preferably hand-made,  artisan fixtures and fittings.  We knew we’d found the basin when we saw an earthy rock bowl in the bathroom of a house called Callignee II, featured on the TV program Grand Designs.  Sourcing the sink was a little more challenging – at one point our lovely neighbour  began investigating ways to carve Nightfall’s own basalt boulders in case we could not find the basins pre-made.  Luckily we did.  We love their raw simplicity – very much in keeping with Nightfall’s raw luxe ethos and all part of the challenge to create the ultimate romantic weekend getaway near Brisbane.

What’s on the cards for the next week?

If the predicted storm on Tuesday doesn’t hit us too hard we hope to finally be able to stand our next tent portal frame.  Yes, there have been some doozies of storms this past week, with close to 100mm of rain since Easter.   But the weather is finally changing to the lovely cool of autumn.  So, fingers crossed,  the newly laid gravel will be enough to allow machine access to the wet hillside.  We’re also on track to move into Nightfall‘s new staff tent … more photos next week.

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Just before Easter we installed Nightfall’s staff tent ceiling.  As you can see from the photo, our bespoke permanent tents have a lovely open feel which comes mostly from the angled wall design, dramatic openings and 60+ metres of floor-space.  Nightfall’s guest luxury tent accommodation will be very similar, although the front panels are mesh and canvas, not clear pvc.  Instead we’ve used clear roll-up panels on the northern walls, including the shower, further blurring the line between indoors and out.

The new staff tent is where I spend my days sewing our other tents. I have to admit some days the birds and wildlife are a wonderful distraction – it’s almost as if the tent becomes a ‘hide’, from where you can spy on their antics.  Shy wallabies wander past looking for fresh new shoots; the occasional echidna shuffles by and the Brown Cuckoo Doves sit gracefully together, in contrast to the inquisitive red, green and turquoise King Parrots.  Their exploring ways are punctuated by a characteristic parrot-talk. In the last few days flocks of petite fairy-wren like birds have also moved in. Theirs is a high pitched fast chatter and the bushes around the tent come alive with plump little brown females and the occasional male with his bright blue cheek colouring. Maybe tonight I’ll get time to confirm their identity in the Australian bird books from our expanding camp library.

Easter was a time of celebration and a break from building Nightfall. Steve turned 50 and more than 100 friends and family took the opportunity to come for a delightful evening, many bringing their own tents to camp for a couple of days. It was lovely to relax and catch up with each others lives. The children and some playful adults especially enjoyed tubing down the creek rapids and rock-hopping to our ‘platypus pond’. We even had a rare break in the rain.

What’s next in the adventure to craft our little Queensland retreat? Well that depends on the rain! I’ll keep sewing tents and maybe Steve will get to finally stand the portal frames which have been ready and waiting for weeks. We’ll keep you posted.

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Our luxury camp is one of three Queensland tourism business’ selected for mentoring, as part of Tourism Australia’s Green Cauldron National Landscape Experience Development Program. It’s a unique opportunity to work with industry experts, developing a world-class experience for Nightfall guests and ultimately helping to showcase the Green Cauldron to the world.

The Scenic Rim and Lamington National Park link with northern New South Wales, Mt Warning and Bryon Bay to form the Green Cauldron — one of just 16 Australian landscapes singled out for their beauty, cultural, natural and spiritual significance.

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It’s been a difficult six weeks. Before Australia Day we seemed to be flying along, making rewarding progress and then bang: rain, showers and more rain!  No sewing canvas, no welding tent frames, no landscaping: no nothing, except working to stay dry, tie-up loose ends and keep our spirits intact. Perhaps focus is difficult when you can’t see much progress on the ground.  In reality, I can look back and see lots of things ticked-off from the ‘to-do’ list,  including further improvements to our www.Nightfall.com.au website, finalising our camp kitchen design and ordering the Nightfall’s custom-made wood-fired oven and grill. Fire-cooked organic organic food will be a signature experience when our luxury tent accommodation opens, so your host chef Steve is chomping at the bit as he waits for his new toy.

The past few weeks have also given us time to get our teeth into the nitty gritty of completing our Eco-tourism Australia certification. Nightfall‘s wilderness experience has been carefully designed to meet the highest ‘advanced eco-tourism’ status, but there’s a fair bit of work required to prove we’re operating at world’s best practice standard. At this top level, eco-certification is about more than running a sustainable eco-sensitive operation. It’s as much about ensuring a high-quality experience in nature, where you’ll easily be able to access and learn more about the wonders of our world-heritage setting. This ‘interpretation’ may come through knowledge shared by a local guide, a self-guided adventure, our literature and library or the comfort of your tent, as the wildlife comes to you.

Speaking of wildlife, today was also punctuated with a little rescue of sorts, as we relocated hundreds of tadpoles whose rapidly-drying puddle nurseries were about to turn to mud. Luckily we had the perfect new home — the pond in Nightfall‘s orchard vegetable garden. It’s exciting to watch these little guys evolve, especially the day you find them sitting on the pond rocks, finally looking like little frogs. At this point you can tell which species they are. The frog pond plays a vital part in our permaculture system — frogs and birds eat the bugs in the garden, avoiding the need to use chemical controls.

Such is the balance of nature which inspires us to protect this incredible wilderness which sustains us all.

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And the rain continues to fall,  as it’s done for weeks and weeks now.   The building of Nightfall‘s luxurious new tent accommodation remains at a standstill and most days it’s even too wet to spend much time in our evolving kitchen gardens.  On reflection we’ve had only a couple of hours of blue sky in the past month here at our hideaway beside Lamington National Park – long-time locals are saying they don’t remember ever experiencing such a prolonged wet.

It’s not all doom and gloom though.  The trees, which dropped their leaves to make extra mulch when it was dry,  are loving the constant precipitation.  Their canopies are once-again thick and lush.

There are also a few  critters – amphibious Queensland wildlife –  making the most of this wet spell. Each night the chorus of happy frogs is testament to a good season.   Nightfall’s orange-eyed tree frog (Litoria chloris) population certainly appears to have gone from strength to strength  –  lucky because this charming green frog, with its bright red/orange eyes,   is our personal favorite.

Excitingly, we’ve also recently had a few ‘threatened’  tusked frogs (Adelotus brevis)  around our creek-side lounge. These chunky little mottled brown frogs are  listed as ‘vulnerable’ under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act  1992, so we’re happy our Christmas Creek camp is home to a good population outside of Lamington National Park.  Conserving the riparian vegetation and leaf-litter of  their preferred habitat is  critical  –  one of a number of conservation considerations in the design and siting of Nightfall.   Tusked frogs look a little like small toads,  but their under-belly is black and white with distinctive bright red inner thighs.  The male also has small ‘tusks’ which are used in combat with other males.

(photo below from left to right: tusked frog from above, tusked frog underside (handled by zoologist), stony creek frog)

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Wow!  Nightfall wilderness camp is surrounded by waterfalls,  cascading down from Lamington National Park.

As I stand looking out of our partly built  ‘staff tent’,  the cliff-face opposite is steeped in swirling mists.  Torrents of white water  dramatically gush down the exposed rugged escarpment.  The thick tangled forests are a phenomenal blend of deep,   saturated,   green,  blue and brown hues.  The rocks glisten wet.

The mist creates an air of mystery  –  one moment all  in front of us  is wiped out by white cloud and you might be forgiven for thinking our landscape was flat.   But as the mist  parts,  it reveals our  ‘in-your-face’ gorge setting  –  the cliff opposite towers more than 600-metres above Nightfall.  At times like this it’s breathtaking and given that the rain has forced us to stop work,  I can’t help just pausing to admire the changing beauty of this raw Australian wilderness.

The wind is loud now, rumbling  high in the forests above us.

It’s reassuring to remember that Nightfall’s sturdy tents sit deep in the valley,  protected and  also well above the banks of Christmas Creek.

It’s been raining and drizzling for days  – –   a big hindrance to ‘building Nightfall’.   I can’t wait to get hold of a monocular telescope  –  imagine the hours which  could be spent ‘exploring’ the cliffs from the warm coziness of my tent.  Ah,  yes,  there won’t be any tents unless we get back to work ‘building Nightfall’!

photo: our spring-fed ‘waterfall’,  after rain  (it’s too wet to take the good camera out today).  We’ve yet to see this ‘waterfall’ dry up,  although after long periods of without rain,  it is reduced to a steady trickle,  falling 30+ metres from the top of its little south-facing gorge  —  also home to a rare sooty-owl.

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The weeks are flying by and piece by piece the Scenic Rim’s Nightfall is beginning to take shape,  albeit a touch slower than we’d like,  after some rain delays.

We now have more than half our luxury tent platform footings in the ground,  the steel for the frames is cut and stacked and welding of the next roof and wall posts underway.  Sewing of the canvas  is also coming along nicely.  The first prototype tent should be completely enclosed in the next few days  –  the perfect opportunity to update our photos.

Our roller-coaster luxury camp adventure continues to be just that:  for me,  there are challenges in learning to handle sewing large expanses of canvas (without the pins used by seamstresses) and I have a whole new respect for the makers of clear plastic blinds.   It’s a devil of a material to work with on an old industrial machine.

Steve’s days oscillate between metalwork,  welding and landscaping.  We had about 350mm of rain in the recent big event —  enough to give  Christmas Creek a good flush,  without threatening our infrastructure,  but there are still overland flows which need to be managed to avoid erosion.

Floods are always amazing:   you know you’re safe,  well-above the raging white waters,  but the sheer force of nature is breath-taking.  Then,  three days after the surge,  the creek turns almost aqua in colour.  It’s one of our favourite times to coast the rapids in inflated tyre-tubes and also to ‘beach-comb’ looking for driftwood and other treasures among the flotsam and jetsam.

Image:  ‘tubing’ down the rapids –  achievable most of summer in an average season, but best after rain.

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We’ve also had time to get a  feel for this secluded and wild mountain country:  we now know where the sun hits the jagged red cliff face on an April  afternoon,  reflecting in the rock-pools of the creek below (pictured above);  we know, in the dry-times,  we share  the shade of our giant fig trees with the wallabies as they come to nibble on the lush green lawns beside our creek.  And best of all:  we’re learning the secrets of Christmas Creek and loving our rapid-filled ‘spa’ pool.   As the mercury soars, many times each day we seek solace it the cool tumbling waters beside our Long Tin Shed gathering area,  often too at the end of a long hot day with friends and a chilled drink.

I wonder if our  soothing wilderness surrounds are what keeps us on an even keel in the madness of the roller-coaster adventure of building Nightfall?   It’s an incredibly exciting time as our concepts and dreams become reality,  but there are also many anxious moments.  The tents we carefully designed,  drew and re-drew so many times have angled walls and recycled wire-brushed hardwood floors (from Brisbane’s Big Red Shed).  We weren’t quite sure how they’d look,  so to see the first frame completed,  the first floor laid and oiled and the first ‘fly-sheet’ roof fitted has been a real ‘wow’ moment.  Needless to say,  we also sleep a little better at night knowing the custom-designed concept is now proven.  Next up  —   walls  …  that means fun times for this girl and her trusty old industrial sewing machine,  while her husband and the builders work to put up the next few tents.

Photos –
The first guest sleeping platform begins to take shape.  Each luxury tent sits in its own private forest clearing.

The first ‘fly-sheet’ roof goes on, proving the concept and framing-up the incredible views of the rugged cliffs opposite. Lamington Plateau sits at the top of the gorge cliff-face.  When it rains,  waterfalls gush from the rock-face.

In keeping with Nightfall‘s sustainable ethos,  flooring is recycled.  The wire-brush finish adds to the character.

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