TABLELANDS FOOD TRAIL
- INDEX
- DESTINATIONS
- YOUR ITINERARY
- ACCOMMODATION
- THINGS TO DO
- TRANSPORT
- TOURS
- ATTRACTIONS
- WEDDING / HONEYMOON
- CAR HIRE
- DINING OUT
- BACKPACKERS
- INTERNET@CAFES
- CAMERA HIRE
- MAPS and INFO
- SAFE TRAVEL
- CLASSIFIEDS
- LINKS
The rolling hills around Mareeba are covered in tropical fruit plantations, farms and wineries... it's no wonder that 'food tourism' has been such a growth industry over recent years. The area is now responsible for 90% of Australia's coffee production, and visitors can sample some of the local brews, including macadamia flavoured coffee, right on the plantation. Also, there are wineries that make wines and liqueurs from banana, coffee, mango, lychee, jaboticaba, bush cherry, mulberry, star apple and passionfruit... just to name a few.
SCROLL DOWN FOR A VERY COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF ALL THE WINERIES, FARMS AND PLANTATIONS AROUND MAREEBA AND THE ATHERTON TABLELANDS REGION.
The Atherton Tablelands, also known as the Cairns Highlands are a feast for the senses. You can visit Australia's largest mango plantation or taste the world's lowest acid, highest flavour pineapples, the 'Mareeba Gold', famous around the country. And if you fancy
something a bit more substantial than fruit and coffee, you can sample the famous local freshwater crayfish or lobsters, known locally as 'red claw'.You will need a car to really get the best out of this food trail. If you don't have your own vehicle, please visit our CAR HIRE page and have the freedom a car gives for much less than you probably think.
KURANDA HOMEMADE TROPICAL FRUIT ICECREAM
7 Therwine Street, Kuranda Markets, Kuranda (MAP)
Phone (07) 4093 8981 / Mobile 0419 644 933
www.kuranda-icecream.com.au
The RED ICECREAM VAN next to Kuranda Markets Arcade!
Open 7 Days 9am - 4pm
Delicious homemade ice creams, with all natural ingredients, no preservatives or chemicals, artificial food colouring or additives. Try flavours such as custard apple, pumpkin and nutmeg, avocado, ginger, and jaboticaba, as well as the old favourites... chocolate, strawberry, coconut, pineapple and many, many more. Now available in soya milk!
MUNGALLI CREEK BIO-DYNAMIC DAIRY
256 Brooks Road, Mungalli Creek (MAP)
(off Palmerston Highway)
Phone (07) 4097 2232 / Fax (07) 4097 2248
www.mungallicreekdairy.com.au
Follow the signs between Malanda and Millaa Millaa!
Nestled in the green rolling hills of the Atherton Tablelands, surrounded by World Heritage Rainforest you will find Mungalli Creek Dairy, North Queensland's only Biodynamic Farmhouse Cheesery. A sample of their extensive range of cheeses and yoghurts is a free treat available from 10am-4pm daily. Their fresh scones served with Rainforest Jam and Mungalli Double Cream and their famous Quark Cheesecakes are definitely worth the stop as is their wonderful Cheeseplatter for two or Ploughmans Lunch served with home-made mango chutney. So take a little drive out of the 'whey' and visit Mungalli Creek Teahouse today just turn off the Palmerston Highway onto Brooks Road, Millaa Millaa.
Their Cheesery and Teahouse 'Out of the Whey' is located in what was the original family homestead and is open daily for visitors to enjoy a relaxing snack, morning or afternoon tea or lunch on the verandah which has spectacular views to the North Johnstone River Gorge and Mt Bartle Frere.
SHAYLEE STRAWBERRY FARM
Corner Gillies Highway and Marks Lane
(between Atherton and Yungaburra) (MAP)
Phone (07) 4091 2962 / Fax (07) 4091 4060
shaylee.htm
Simply irresistible!
Shaylee Strawberries is located between Atherton and Yungaburra, sitting at 700 metres above sea level. Shaylee's rich, red volcanic soil and temperate weather conditions are just right for the cultivation of large, succulent strawberries. These are at their best during tourist season, July to November.
So grab some delicious fresh strawberries and cool off with a refreshing natural Gelato or Sorbet, made from all natural products from the Atherton Tablelands.
FOOD TRAIL TOURS
Phone (07) 4032 0322 / Fax (07) 4032 0422
www.foodtrailtours.com.au
Pickup/drop off from Cairns and Northern Beaches!
A tour from Cairns, to the Atherton Tablelands. Meet local people, tour plantations with experienced guides and taste excellent food and wine. Includes sightseeing, wet tropics rainforest, dry tropical savannah, Lake Barrine, the Cathedral Fig, all admissions, farm tours and tastings.
* Wine tastings, at two tropical fruit wineries
* Coffee and macadamia plantation tours and tasting
* Cheese making talk and tastings at a local dairy
* Tropical seafood lunch
* Afternoon tea on the veranda, overlooking Lake Barrine
* 1000 year old Kauri Pine trees and 500 year old Cathedral Fig tree
* Mareeba, Tolga, Atherton and Yungaburra
MY TOWN TOURS - Wetland Wildlife Wine tour!
Phone (07) 4033 2095 / Fax (07) 4033 2960
www.mytown.net.au
Pickup / dropoff Cairns and Northern Beaches!
You will travel in air-conditioned comfort up the Great Dividing Range through World Heritage rainforest. Learn about the history, industry and people from your local tour guide.
* Safari Tour and morning tea at Jaques Coffee Plantation
* Feed the wild Rock Wallabies at Granite Gorge
* Historic Mareeba Heritage Museum
* Lunch at a delightful Australian country hotel in Mareeba
* Discover a birdwatcher's paradise at the Mareeba Tropical Savanna and Wetland Reserve
* Take an electric boat trip on the lagoon
* Tropical fruit wine tasting and afternoon tea at Golden Pride Winery and Mango Plantation
THE HONEY HOUSE
7 Therwine Street, Kuranda (MAP)
Phone (07) 4093 7261
www.honeyhousekuranda.com
Celebrating 50 years in 2009!
Established in 1959 to showcase and promote the many distinctive honeys from North Queensland, Honey House Kuranda continues the tradition working with 5 major apiarists in the region (and many smaller ones) to bring you the best range of honeys North Queensland has to offer!
Only the highest quality, raw honeys are chosen - no heat treatment, no blending, no over filtering - so you receive the freshest product straight from the hive!! Open 7 days 9am - 3pm
NUTWORLD (formerly The Humpy)
1 Kennedy Highway, Tolga (MAP)
Phone (07) 4095 4102
www.nutworld.com.au
Fresh local produce and nuts, nuts, nuts!
Nutworld is the place to go for freshly harvested Atherton Tablelands produce, from vegetables to tropical fruits. And don't forget their nuts! Nutworld has hundreds of different varieties of nuts, as well as dried fruits, locally produced jams and sauces. You'll even find organic produce, including gluten free and wheat free bread.
Drop in and say "G'day" to Peter and Giovanna at Nutworld, just near the lush green archway of Mabi rainforest known as the 'Tolga Scrub', opposite the free overnight parking area.
THE PEANUT PLACE
Kennedy Highway, Tolga (MAP)
Phone (07) 4095 5333 / Fax (07) 4095 5444
www.thepeanutplace.com.au
100% Australian Jumbo Hi Oleic Peanuts!
In the center of Australia's second largest Hi Oleic Peanut growing region, The Peanut Place is a compulsory stop. With free taste testing, you can experience all of their scrumptious flavoured peanuts including Honey and Ginger, Sweet and Salty, Chilli and Lime, spicy Cajun or Curry, or Salt and Vinegar. Sweet tooths are spoilt for choice with butterscotch and caramel or honey flavoured peanuts and peanuts coated in sugar or chocolate, as well as peanuts in shell, raw, boiled and hot nuts. Fresh peanut butter is also available either unsalted or salted and made fresh on the premises without preservatives. If you like it hot you must try their new WASABI flavoured peanut! Only available from The Peanut Place.
Why Hi Oleic? Hi Oleic peanuts have different oil chemistry to regular peanuts, with the oleic acid ratio closely resembling that of olive oil, ie with more monounsaturated fatty acid. This is a naturally bred characteristic, which has been crossbred into existing peanut varieties, and offers increased health benefits as well a longer shelf life.
FOXWELL PARK
Lot 5, Foxwell Road, Malanda
Phone (07) 4096 6183 / Fax (07) 4096 6380
www.foxwellpark.com.au
Warm hospitality, impeccable service.
Foxwell Park restaurant combines the charm of a beautifully restored timber building with old world service and hospitality to create a unique dining experience.
The carefully crafted dinner menu offers a range of dishes using the finest quality produce, served with finesse. The cosy interior of Foxwell Park features polished timber floors and antique furniture lovingly restored to pristine condition, creating a warm and comfortable atmosphere. Enjoy a weekend lunch on the verandah overlooking the beautiful rolling hills and countryside of the Tablelands.
Foxwell Park restaurant is open for dinner Wednesday to Sunday and for lunch Saturday and Sunday.
GALLO DAIRYLAND
Atherton-Malanda Road, Atherton
(Halfway between Malanda and Atherton) (MAP)
Phone (07) 4095 2388 / Fax 07 40 952366
www.gallodairyland.com.au
Welcome to the newest attraction on the Tablelands!
Gallo Dairyland is a fully functional dairy farm that is now producing a range of gourmet dairy products and hand crafted chocolates. With a wholesome cafe featuring a range of fresh farm baked produce, informative displays, observations decks into the cheese factory and the surrounds of a working farm, Gallo Dairyland is an unmissable stop on your Tablelands Food Trail, and an ideal place to while away a few relaxed hours, in any weather and on any day. And it's perfectly located between Yungaburra, Atherton and Malanda.
The Gallo Family have been farming on the banks of the Barron River since 1937. Now, visitors will get to see how the age old method of cheese making has evolved over the years to be come a complex and innovative process. With European cheese makers developing new and unusual cheeses alongside the old favourites, a visit to Gallo Dairyland is fascinating, informative and tasty! Then of course there is the chocolate...
LAKE BARRINE RAINFOREST CRUISE & TEAHOUSE
Gillies Highway, Yungaburra (MAP)
Phone (07) 4095 3847 / Fax (07) 4095 3260
www.lakebarrine.com.au
Treat yourself while overlooking Lake Barrine!
Whether you take the fully guided boat tour of the lake and its creatures, a swim in the 10,000-year-old freshwater lake, or a quick snack at the lakeside teahouse amongst beautiful terraced gardens, Lake Barrine offers one of the most beautiful and relaxing environments in the tropics.
The timber tea house was originally built in the 1930's as a dance hall and has since had many uses, including an aquatic centre, guest house, school and a convalescent home during World War II. Today the tea house, nestled right on the lake's edge, provides breakfasts, lunches, and their famous prize winning Devonshire teas.
The multi-award winning Devonshire teas and tasty light lunches can be enjoyed on the balcony of the charming 80 year old teahouse while taking in the serene lake views. The teahouse/restaurant is open from 9am every day except Christmas Day and continues to support local producers.
GRANITE GORGE
11 Harrigan Road, Mareeba (MAP)
12 kilometres from Mareeba
Phone (07) 4093 2259, a/h (07) 4093 2174
www.granitegorge.com.au
Looking into the future, but holding onto the past
Visit with the resident population of endangered Mareeba Rock Wallabies. The wallabies are used to being on show, and are happy to be patted and photographed while being hand fed. There is a small fee for entry and wallaby food. Snacks, drinks and light meals are available.
