Behind the Scent: Inside a Luxury Perfume Press Trip to Cairns

That was the promise of the Silky Woods Sojourn, a new scent-inspired stay launched by Goldfield & Banks and Crystalbrook Riley, where guests can indulge in a luxurious, olfactory-focused escape (and literal oud-infused cocktails) of one of Australia’s most coveted perfumes—Silky Woods.

It’s a rare opportunity to live out your own beauty editor fantasy, complete with a signature cocktail, a luxe sea-view room, and a take-home bottle of your new favourite scent.

But before the public got a whiff,  I was invited behind the scenes—along with a coterie of editors and influencers—for a press trip that promised sensory immersion. And let me tell you: it delivered.

Welcome to the Sojourn

As I check into the Crystalbrook Riley, Cairns is serving its most cinematic self: sea breeze, palm trees, and that signature pool that looks like a slice of Santorini dropped into the tropics. In my room: a forest-green Blunt umbrella (for the rains we’ve been warned about tomorrow), a hand-written note from founder Dimitri Weber, and a gorgeous leather clad travel-sized bottle of Silky Woods. It’s a fragrance that feels like being wrapped in golden velvet . Think smooth Tahitian vanilla, spiced cinnamon, and that unmistakably hypnotic note: oud. 

But more on that in a minute.

Crystalbrook Riley, is a design-led resort perched on the Esplanade with views across the Coral Sea and one of the most Instagrammable pools in the country. Part of the design-led Crystalbrook Collection—a proudly Australian group founded in Cairns by Dubai-based billionaire Ghassan Aboud—Riley is one of three standout properties in the city, alongside the playful Flynn and artsy Bailey. The group also owns the lush, rainforest-wrapped Byron at Byron and the boutique-chic Little Albion in Sydney, with plans to conquer Canberra next. Known for its ‘responsible luxury’ ethos, Crystalbrook blends five-star flair with sustainability, and Riley is its coastal crown jewel.

After a quick dip in the pool, I change into my Aje cocktail dress and head to welcome drinks, held at a neighbouring Crystalbrook hotel. Overlooking the water, we are greeted by the ever-gracious Prestige team the lovely Jessica and Ruth.  The crew was a mix of beauty editors and influencers, including old friends of mine, Marie Claire’s Sally Hunwick and Emily Algar from Russh (who started her career as a Beauticate intern a decade ago).

Then comes the masterclass—hosted by Dimitri himself, with the Coral Sea as our backdrop.  Dimitri charms us with the origin story of Goldfield & Banks: how he came to Australia for love, how he couldn’t find a single Aussie-made fragrance at David Jones, and how that became the spark for what is now a globally celebrated fragrance house.

We sip, spritz, and sample our way through the Botanical Series: the cult-classic Pacific Rock Moss, which became a YouTube sensation for its clean, aquatic freshness; the utterly addictive Island Lush; and Purple Suede—Dimitri’s personal favourite and, now, mine too. It’s all smoked leather and sultry lavender, harvested in Tasmania from seeds originally planted by French perfumers.

And then the original Silky Woods which – as mentioned – we are here to celebrate and my second favourite: Silky Woods Elixir—a more gutsy, sensual take on the original. With fig, saffron, and a rich amber dry down, it lingers on the skin like a secret. I’m obsessed.

Dinner that evening at Rocco, the hotel’s rooftop restaurant, is as transportive as the scents. Highlights include halloumi Boreks with lemon, Baharat lamb and pine nut cigars—Middle Eastern indulgence served 42 metres above the sea.

On the Scent Trail: Our Agarwood Adventure

The next morning, while others downward-dog by the pool, I’m holed up replying to emails—because, spoiler alert: press trips might look glam on Instagram, but they don’t pause your real life. You work when you can—early mornings, late nights, and sometimes from a hotel bathroom floor if there’s a Zoom call.

Then came the adventure.

Cairns might not be the first place that springs to mind when you think of oud. Traditionally grown in Southeast Asia, oud—also known as agarwood—is now being cultivated in Far North Queensland, in a highly sustainable, secret location that’s rewriting the rulebook of perfumery.

So we pile into a bus bound for this top-secret agarwood plantation, and I sit next to Dimitri—who is a long-time industry friend and twin (we’re both Scorpios, born days apart). We giggle the whole way like school kids on excursion.

The rain is biblical. The forecasted downpour has arrived, and everyone clomps through the mud in gumboots—except the two Scorpios. Me who stupidly thought rubber Birkenstocks would suffice and Dimitri, ever the French aesthete, who is in pristine boat shoes. 

At the plantation, farmer Tim and his daughter Fleur welcome us with champagne and walk us through the complex—and incredibly sustainable—process of oud production. Oud is traditionally grown in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, often on heavily machine-gun guarded plantations. But here in Far North Queensland, it’s being cultivated with transparency, care, and scientific precision.

Tim shows us how they cultivate the necessary fungus in a lab, introduce it into the tree trunks through piping, then leave it to age for years. The infected wood is chipped, soaked in rainwater—seven days for Australians who prefer a softer oud, up to 40 days for the more intense, animalic profile favoured in the Middle East—and then distilled. It takes 180 kilos of agarwood to yield just 3 grams of oud oil. Now, that’s the definition of precious.

Inside the lab, we smell different oud stages—earthy, smoky, almost incense-like. Then, dripping wet and slightly dazed by the scent immersion, we drive to farmer Tim’s nearby home where a Silky Woods-inspired lunch awaits. We eat agarwood-smoked salmon, fresh tropical salads, and rainforest greens prepared by a local chef, laughing and sipping as the clouds clear and sun spills over the treetops. It’s one of those meals you know you’ll remember forever.

Back at the hotel, the experience continues with sunset drinks at Calypso Club, where the daybeds face the ocean and the Woodland Whisper cocktail (part of the new Sojourn package) delivers a smoky, vanilla twist on a pina colada. Dinner that night is our grand finale—Paper Crane, where we toast the trip with “Millionaire Oysters” topped with bug and caviar, grilled Tablelands striploin, and an array of Asian-inspired dishes that blur the line between luxury and comfort food. We are genuinely sad to be wrapping up. But for me, it isn’t quite over.

Port Douglas Detour: A Day With Dimitri

At the last minute, Dimitri invites me to record our podcast not in the hotel suite as planned, but at his holiday house in Port Douglas. The team are onto it and promptly push my flight back and organise a transfer back for me after the interview. 

Dimitri and his partner usually live in Vaucluse, but this is their northern escape—a place to entertain friends  and to find olfactory inspiration.

And I can see why.

The house is set in lush tropical gardens filled with fruit trees and wild beauty. Inside, it’s all tropical linens, French touches, and warm hospitality. 

After a full day of recording, Dimitri lovingly packs me a lunchbox with the hugest and best tasting blueberries (“you haven’t eaten!”), then as we drive out he jumps out of the car to pluck me some of his home-grown limes. The scent is outrageously fresh and  it conjures his famous “Bohemian Lime” scent. With this kind of fodder in his garden, no wonder he’s constantly inspired.

As I zoom back down to Cairns in a chauffeur-driven Mercedes, clutching my home-grown tropical limes, it strikes me: Dimitri is a man who finds inspiration everywhere—in citrus trees, in conversations, in love… 

Goldfield & Banks isn’t just a fragrance house; it’s a reflection of his exacting eye and poetic sensibility. And funnily enough, it took a Frenchman to truly see Australia—to admire her richness, her raw beauty, and bottle it with reverence. She has become his muse. And now, through this immersive stay in Cairns—or simply a spritz of Silky Woods or Purple Suede—we’re invited to experience her magic too.

How You Can Experience It Yourself

You don’t need an invite to a media trip to get a taste of this sensory journey. The Silky Woods Sojourn package at Crystalbrook Riley is now available to book and includes:

• Stylish sea-view accommodation
• A bespoke welcome cocktail inspired by Silky Woods (Woodland Whisper)
• A 10mL travel spray of Silky Woods to take home
• $100 food and beverage credit to spend at any Crystalbrook venue
• A daily gourmet breakfast for two

The package officially launches April 10, 2025, and bookings can be made at crystalbrookcollection.com/riley/offers/silky-woods-sojourn. Prices start from AU $620 per night.

You’ll also find the full Goldfield & Banks collection, including Silky Woods, Silky Woods Elixir, Purple Suede, and Pacific Rock Moss now available at David Jones.