Hippie Communities in the Australian Rainforest
The Australian Rainforest is globally known for its amazing nature, peculiar wildlife, and adventures. But not many people know it also hides some little corners of Peace and Good Vibes. All about care for the nature and healthy living. Some sort of Modern Hippie Communities.
During my working holiday year in Australia, I got the chance to spend some time Working and Living in the Danitree Rainforest, the huge tropical rainforest located along the northeastern coast of the country. Other than the best known tourist attractions (jump to my post about the Daintree to know more), my local friends showed me many hidden and unexpected spots. Among with a couple of HIPPIE COMMUNITIES
It has been nicely surprising to discover the existence of such places. But what does they look like?
The Heart Space
I immediately felt in love with that place: a little corner of green paradise with lots of fresh fruits and a lake in the middle. Both for swimming and taking a shower.
It was possible to sleep there in the own tent or, when available, one of their small huts. Or just hanging your hammock anywhere. The only proper building was the house of the owner, Clint, and his beautiful family. A wooden Jungle-style home. In line with the predominant building style over there.
To join in the community, you could either exchange food and the place to stay for about 4 hours of work. Or pay a small fee to help them with their expenses. The main working duties were with gardening, cleaning the common spaces or helping with some light building maintenance. Always pretty easy work.
In tune with the perfect Daintree style, pretty much everything was outdoor. The kitchen, the common areas, the toilet. Also the shower. Located in a quiet corner of the small lake.
The food was very special, vegetarian and delicious. Completely made with local products, with the only exception of rice and oats. It wasn’t really all coming from their garden. But pretty much everything was grown in the Rainforest, and strictly organic.
Pemstock Community
The other and bigger community I’ve been to is called Pemstock. It is not properly inside the Rainforset, but just at the edge of it. It is reachable driving the way to the Daintree from the town of Mossman
getting there:
Despite the apparently easier location, reaching this community is kind of and adventure itself. From the town of Mossman follow the Daintree Road to the ferry, but take the left side turn slightly before it. From there, you’ll have to follow a long unpaved road until a certain point, recognizable by an apparently closed gate, located on the right side. After making sure to have found the RIGHT GATE, you should then open it, follow the short driveway until the river and park the car. Here the fun part: jump on one of the tiny wooden boats, paddle across the Daintree River, hopefully with no crocs around! And walk for a couple of kilometres through fields and cows.
The legend says there is also a way to reach it from the other side, without crossing the river. But not many people know the path.
When we finally reached the place, I just got the time to put the tent on and join the party next to the bonfire.
In the morning I finally got the time to explore the place and the areas all around. After a nice, vegan and organic breakfast.
There the rules were slightly different from the hearth space: there were no fixed working hours, just anyone was welcome to help as possible. On the other hand, a small staying fee was required for covering the food expenses. Especially for longer stays, as some people were regularly living there.
There was a small bucket for that right close to the food table. No one was there to check, they just counted on every guest’s honesty.
Needless to say, when I firstly got there we took something like two hours to find and reach it. We were guided by a guy who had been there before. But the way is always hard to find, as you can imagine. Also the nigh time darkness didn’t really help. But we finally got there just in time for of the Full Moon Party
The Full Moon and other Forest Parties
You’ll probably be surprised, but the quiet forest is often turned into a proper party place. There are different kinds of parties held in the forest, ranging from proper music festivals to the most spontaneous ones.
The best known down under are probably the bush doofs. Homes of techno music and, in my opinion, pretty poisonous drinks and lollies. The perfect habitat for party animals. But if you’re not one of them, you will probably hate it. I’ve check one of them out, poisonous stuff excluded. It was as bad as expected, and you can find the creepy story in this post.
Pemstock’s Full Moon Party is a definitely quieter and better vibed version. With live music played with guitars, ukuleles and local instruments. Such as the Didjeridu, a long wooden tube played like a trumpet
The only proper rules inside the comuinty were about respecting people and the nature, sharing good vibes, and my favorite one: no alcohol allowed.
And after moths living in a backpacker hostel, it felt good not being the only sober one for once!
Hippie vibes around Australia
Also outside of the Daintree, Australia is full of hippie places. Ranging from the most hidden communities inside the bush to proper hippie towns. All around the country.
A good way to check the lifestyle out before deciding to move to a real community i guess
Kuranda Village
The more touristy example of this laid back jungle lifestyle up north is the Town of Kuranda. It is a small town about 25 kilometres north from Cairns, the main city of North Queensland. It is reachable by car, driving along the highway until the Smithfield Shopping Centre. And taking the long uphill driveway going inland from there. Or with an hour long bus journey from Cairns city centre, for about 6 $.
Another more touristy options is the Scenic Railway. Driving you from Cairns to the town in about two hours of scenic views on bridges, tunnels, the forest and the Barron Gorge and its waterfalls. Just the 50$ ticket won’t make it hippies friendly.
The Village is located at the top of an hill hidden in the rainforest. It is full of eateries, chilled cafes and souvenirs shops, especially around the central market area. Pretty much everything, from food to goods, is related with the forest and the aborigenal traditions. A very nice place to check out, even if evidently tailored for tourists.
Byron Bay and Nimbin
Probably the best known hippie town, it is located along the coast of New South Wales. Back in the days, it used to be a real hippie capital. But again, today is probably one of the most touristy places of the area. Especially among backpackers and surfers. It is still a beautiful town full of colours, music, surf and good vibes. But in a definitely more crowded, fashion and expensive way.
Less touristy and probably more in line with the old Byron is the town of Nimbin, located about 1 hour inland. I haven’t been there, but I’ve heard it is like the Amsterdam of Australia. It probably is the actual hippie capital of the country, where everything is about art, music, nature and, well. Weed.
Also hippie themed music festivals are held all around Australia. Like Rabbits Eats Lettuce, to name one.
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