Mason’s Tours Founder Passes Away

Paul Mason 05/09/1937 – 18/09/05

Andrew Paul Mason (known as Paul), who had lived at Cape Tribulation nearly all his life, passed away in the ICU at Cairns Base Hospital on Sunday 18 September 2005, after a short illness.
Paul was born in 1937, not long after his parents moved there from Cow Bay. He spent a lot of his childhood in the area, and it was probably then that he started his love of fishing. He often said to his son that he remembered his brother Don taking him fishing, and later in life they were able to enjoy that again, until Don passed away in 2003.
After school Paul worked in various aspects of the family business, including timber cutting, and Mason Shipping. Mason Shipping was originally started for the benefit of the farm at Cape Tribulation, but ended up becoming much larger and took Paul all over Cape York. During the timber cutting years, Paul learned a great deal about the Rainforest, and this knowledge was used years later when he began guided walks.
His experience during the timber years also lead to his belief in the need for conservation of North Queensland’s Rainforests, and he was in later life able to share his firsthand knowledge of the damage caused by logging with many researchers who came to the area.
He had a serious fall in the rainforest when 17, he fell a long way down a series of cascades while walking on Mt Hemmant, and broke his pelvis. As a result, he reckoned he always knew when it was going to rain!
Paul traveled to the then British Solomon Islands in the early 1960s and worked as an Agricultural Advisor, and while there met and married Ann. (They celebrated there 40th wedding anniversary in March 2005.) They returned to Australia and purchased land at Cape Tribulation and ran cattle for many years, before moving into tourism.
During the 1970s Paul worked for the Douglas Shire, mostly on Cape Tribulation Road and always said it was while doing this that he got the idea of offering tours to visitors. In 1981, Paul founded what is now Mason’s Tours, doing guided day walks on his land and in Oliver and Noah Creek Valleys. Next year will see 25 years of operation by this business.
Paul Mason was a pioneer not only at cape Tribulation, but also of a style of tourism that today is the mainstay of the region. We call it eco-tourism, but Paul did not like the term, as he believed that true eco-tourism would be really different and more sympathic to the environment. When Mason’s Tours began in 1981, with Paul as the sole guide, it would have been one of only a few, if any similar businesses in the whole of North Queensland.
Paul and Ann’s refusal to sell land to agents or subdivide at any time has had a profound impact on how Cape Tribulation developed.
Paul and Ann were also founding members of The Cape Tribulation Community Council, which was instrumental in the founding of The Cape Tribulation National Park.
Paul and Ann took on The Cape Tribulation Shop in 1977, originally started by the Mann family, who rented a house off them. This business recently moved to a location closer to the road, and many people will remember Paul on his comfy stool working there.
Paul wished to be cremated privately with no fuss or fanfare, and his wishes were be carried out. His ashes will be scattered on the land, in the forest and on his favourite fishing spots.
He is survived by wife Ann, son Lawrence (manager of Mason’s Tours), and daughter Suari.