Expecting to eat all the way, Tan Bee Hong is pleasantly surprised that Food Trails Tour is educational and entertaining too
AT 7.20am, a man with short, wiry hair, hurries into the lobby. “Hello, are you Bee?” he asks as he approaches. I meet the affable Warwick James, founder and operator of Food Trails Tour (www.foodtrailtours.com.au).
He helps me into the coach and tells me, apologetically, that he’s fully booked and has to pick up more passengers.
When all are accounted for, Warwick keeps the chat going as he tries to memorise our names. He regales us with stories and little snippets of information throughout the 9.5-hour tour.
The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau west of Cairns. With its fertile, volcanic soil and an altitude between 500m and 1,280m, its climate is suited for various crops and dairy farming. The Barron River flows across the plateau.
SCONES AND TEA
After an hour, we arrive at Lake Barrine, a crater lake formed after a volcanic eruption 10,000 years ago. On its banks is the 90-year-old Lake Barrine Teahouse & Cruise, owned by the Curry family since the 1920s. With a light mist blanketing the waters, it’s a cool picture of serenity.
We shake off our motor legs and climb upstairs to the teahouse for a mid-morning Devonshire tea. Cups of hot locally grown tea/coffee and open-face scones are served with raspberry plum jam and freshly whipped cream. I am surprised at how fast I scoff down three scones.
When we’re done, Warwick takes us on a short walk near the lake, pointing out a twin pair of 11,000-year-old kauri pines that are over 50m tall.
He also shows us the Tablelands’ infamous Curtain Fig. This fig strangles its host tree and when the latter topples over at an angle, the fig sends down more vertical roots. Finally, when the host tree rots away, the fig is left standing.
The Curtain Fig is home to small animals (possums, flying foxes), reptiles (lizards, frogs) and spiders.
CHEESE AND CHOCOLATE
Our next stop is Gallo Dairyland (www.gallodairyland.com.au). We watch a video on how the cows are milked and cheese processed before heading for the tearoom for a sampling of the various types of cheese, from soft to hard. My favourites are Tilsit and Macadamia.
The former is a semi-hard cheese with a brown-yellow rind and great aroma while Macadamia is made by blending the cheese with roasted nuts to get a nutty, sweet, creamy flavour.
Then it’s house-crafted chocolates. There are so many varieties to try that I regret scoffing down the scones earlier.
GOING NUTS
I adore macadamia nuts but I haven’t seen them in the original form. So you can imagine my joy to be in the middle of rows and rows of macadamia trees, picking up fallen fruit and nuts from the ground at the Wondaree Macadamia plantation (www.wondaree.com.au).
Owner Greg O’Neill grew his first trees in 1983 but most of the trees were destroyed by cyclones between 2006 and 2011. Still, he persevered and today, he is reaping the fruit from an orchard of 2,700 trees.
Traditionally, fallen macadamias had to be picked from the ground by hand but Greg shows us a roller he now uses, one that is inspired by machines designed to pick golf balls.
Wondaree offers varieties of macadamias, from natural and roasted to smoked, wasabi and sour cream.
HERITAGE HOTEL & COFFEE
At 1.20pm, it’s time for lunch. We stop at the Tolga Hotel (www.tolgahotel.com.au), owned by a young couple, Steve and Laura Heslin. Warwick had pre-ordered our lunch, breaded fish and prawns. Both are extremely fresh and juicy.
After a short break, we drive over to the Jaques Coffee Plantation (www.jaquescoffee.com.au) in Mareeba. As Warwick turns off the main road, I am shocked to see massive termite mounds that stand taller than me. There’s not just one but a whole row of them on both sides of the lane (named Termite Avenue) leading to the plantation. It’s enough to give me the creeps.
We are taken on a tour of the plantation which has 85,000 Arabica coffee trees. I try a ripe coffee bean and find it to be sweet tasting. After the tour, we head for the cafe to get a hot cuppa, sitting out on the deck to enjoy the beautiful flowering plants and citrus trees laden with golden mandarins.
WINE AND UNWIND
The last stop for the food trail is de Brueys Boutique Wine, a boutique winery producing fruity wines such as mango, passionfruit, lychee, jaboticaba (Brazilian ‘tree grape’) and bush cherry. Tastings drew oohhs and aahhs from many in the group.
Then it is time to head back to Cairns, a journey I don’t particularly remember because, with my belly full, I fall into a deep, satisfying slumber.