Daniel Scott and daughter Mia embark on an eco-adventure in Far North Queensland.
If Mila's mother could see her now, dangling upside down 80 metres above the ground in the rainforest canopy, this father-daughter bonding trip in Tropical North Queensland would probably be our last.
I couldn't be prouder of eight-year-old Mila, who, on arriving at the Jungle Surfing Canopy tour in the Daintree rainforest, had been teary with trepidation. 
"Daddy, I don't think I can do it," she said as she scanned the wires above and was strapped into a harness and helmet.
Yet, after coaxing from her dad and the jungle surfing crew at Cape Tribulation, she allowed herself to be hoisted into the tree-tops and the rest has been plain sailing, or flying, along ziplines looped across the ancient forest.
We are on a week-long adventure, during which I'm attempting to indoctrinate Mila with my love of mildly life-threatening activities.
To be fair, with stays on Fitzroy Island, a family-orientated resort 45 minutes by boat from Cairns, and at Thala Beach Nature Reserve, a luxurious eco retreat south of Port Douglas, thrill-seeking is but one part of this trip.
At Fitzroy Island, soon after arriving, we are introduced to the Barrier Reef by way of a glass-bottomed boat tour. During our stay, Mila practises her snorkelling skills in the sheltered bays that front the resort while I fin along close by. In time she is forging her own route around the rocky foreshore, chortling excitedly through her snorkel as she hones in on shoals of brightly coloured sprats. Although the 99-room resort is packed during our autumn school holiday stay, Mila and I leave the crowds behind on two national park trails. The first, a 45-minute return walk, takes us to Nudey Beach. Once an unofficial naturists hangout - public nudity is illegal in Queensland - the secluded, coral-encrusted beach is now "family-friendly", after developer John Gamble instigated a cover-up when re-opening the resort in 2010.
In the late afternoon, we find it devoid of people, with the Coral Sea lazily rasping the shore. Our second trek leads uphill to the island's summit, a challenging climb on a humid afternoon. It is rewarded by wide-ranging views across the sea to the Queensland coast and, on our way back, by a drenching from a tropical squall.
Once we dry off, we visit the island's turtle rehabilitation centre where we meet Ella and Squirt, two 12-year-old green turtles among 300 injured or sick ones rescued by the centre since its main facility opened at Cairns Aquarium in 2000.
Returning to the mainland, we take the curling coastal drive north to Thala Beach Nature Reserve, on the outskirts of Port Douglas.
Set between two beaches on a coastal headland shrouded in rainforest, the 60-hectare property has 83 beautifully crafted wooden bungalows spaced between the tropical vegetation. This ensures guests are treated to a soundtrack of birdcalls and whoops and cackles and the throaty chirrups of frogs.
On our first night we have dinner at Thala's Osprey's restaurant, delivered by head chef Luukas Trautner. It includes chicken wontons with a pumpkin and tamarind chutney for me and a homemade eclair oozing with mango mousse for Mila.
Lest our Dadventure become too lackadaisical, I now launch plans for an active exploration of some the 900,000 square kilometres of World Heritage-listed rainforest that hug this coastline.
We begin at Thala, with a guided walk around the headland, one of the free educational offerings that make the resort stand out. Thala is so enmeshed in its surroundings that we need only step a few metres from reception for the tour to begin. That wasn't always the case, this promontory being formerly given over, like so much of north-east Queensland, to sugar cane. But showing admirable prescience, Thala developer Rob Prettejohn replaced the crops with natural species, helping to create and maintain a variety of habitats including rainforest, open woodlands, mangrove swamps, grasslands, a creek system and even its own coconut plantation.
Our tour takes us down to Oak Beach, where we discover the skin of an amethystine python, around five metres long.
After lunch at the bustling Salsa bar and grill in Port Douglas we embark on another beach tour.
This time it is a Kuku Yalanji Cultural Habitat tour at Cooya Beach, north of Port Douglas, led by Lincoln Walker, one of two Aboriginal brothers who devised this walk through coastal mangroves.
We chase Lincoln along the beach as he spears fish and unearths mudcrabs.
That night, my valiant eight-year-old keeps her eyes open long enough for a stargazing tour back at Thala Beach. With a powerful telescope trained on the firmament, we zero in on the ring of Saturn.
Another day, another Dadventure, and again, I fear I'm overplaying the pushy parent role.
"Daddy, I'm scared," says Mila, bottom lip trembling, as we stand ankle deep in the Mossman River and I zip up her wetsuit.
"You'll be fine," say our River Drift Snorkelling guides as they demonstrate how to throw ourselves into the shallow current and run with it downstream.
Within minutes she is hooning down the pure river, mask down, in far more graceful fashion than her hippo-bottomed father.
Along the way we spot fish and shrimp and at one point, stop at a riverside lagoon to meet a tiny terrapin.
But we save the best for last, turning onto our backs and gliding down like Baloo the bear in The Jungle Book, as the forest canopy flashes by above.
GETTING THERE
Virgin and Qantas fly to Cairns from both Melbourne and Sydney. See Virginaustralia.com, Qantas.com.au
STAYING AND
TOURING THERE
Thala Beach Nature Reserve, Port Douglas, has 83 bungalows set in rainforest. From $254* a night, (*based on a Stay 4/Pay 3 package @ $339 a night in a Jungle Walk Bungalow). See Thalabeach.com.au
Daniel Scott and his daughter were guests of Tourism and Events Queensland.
TRIP NOTES MORE
INFORMATION
queenslandholidays.com.au