TABLELANDS FOOD TRAIL
- INDEX
- DESTINATIONS
- YOUR ITINERARY
- ACCOMMODATION
- THINGS TO DO
- TRANSPORT
- TOURS
- ATTRACTIONS
- WEDDING / HONEYMOON
- CAR HIRE
- DINING OUT
- BACKPACKERS
- INTERNET@CAFES
- EQUIPMENT HIRE
- MAPS and INFO
- SAFE TRAVEL
- 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.
THE AUSTRALIAN COFFEE CENTRE -
SKYBURY COFFEE PLANTATION
Ivicevic Road (off Dimbulah Road)
Wheelbarrow Way, Mareeba (MAP)
Phone (07) 4093 2190 / Fax (07) 4086 6145
www.skybury.com.au
Discover Australia's oldest coffee plantation at the Skybury Estate. Join a journey of coffee discovery on the Skybury Plantation Tour or relax and enjoy breathtaking views and great coffee from the stunning visitor centre.
The award winning two storey timber centre, constructed atop an impressive granite outcrop, features a fully licensed 140 seat restaurant, bar, coffee laboratory, gift shop, and Coffee Cinema where up to 54 guests will view the region's first high definition movie featuring the history of coffee and Skybury on a 6m x 3m curved screen. Discover why Skybury were voted the best new tourism development in Tropical North Queensland at the 2006 tourism awards. Day tours from Cairns, the Northern Beaches and Port Douglas are also available - please contact Skybury for more information.
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!
DE BRUEYS BOUTIQUE WINES
189 Fichera Road, Mareeba (MAP)
(only 2km from the Highway)
Phone / Fax (07) 4092 4515
www.debrueys.com.au
Email, phone/fax, and mail orders welcome!
Try... and buy mango wine at de Brueys Boutique Wines. And there's more - lychee, jaboticaba, passionfruit and native bush cherry wines. Try the brand new Flagship Coffee Elixir - it's a winner! Fruit ports include mango, mulberry and award winning Swagman Port. Be tempted by the new cream liqueurs - Tropical Temptation, Strawberry Temptation and award winning Coffee Temptation.
The winery and cellar door nestles between mango orchards and open forest bushland, so typical of the Australian bush. Winemaker Bob de Brueys and Elaine will make you welcome - self drive tourists, locals, groups and bus tours, etc.
Travelling towards Mareeba from Cairns along the Kennedy Highway, turn left at Mareeba's outskirts into Tinaroo Creek Road, then almost immediately right at Fichera Road. Opening for light refreshments by year's end.
TICHUM CREEK COFFEE FARM
3576 Kennedy Highway, Mareeba (MAP)
Opposite Davies Creek National Park turnoff
Phone (07) 4093 3092 / Fax (07) 4093 3094
www.mareebacoffee.com.au
Not your ordinary coffee break!
Mario and his wife Claudia started their project back in 1991, when they vowed to produce 'the best Australian coffee ever' to continue the tradition of drinking a truly fulfilling coffee Mario's mother used to prepare after a hard day's work in the tobacco fields.
Visitors can still see the cast iron Probat roaster, made in Germany before World War II and pride of the vintage. It is used to give the coffee an even heat and fantastic flavour and it is the roaster many of the top coffee roasters of the world choose. And this roaster is the only one in the Cairns Highlands/Atherton Tablelands district!
Tichum Creek's Cafe is surrounded by bloosoming flower gardens with abundant birdlife, and has spectacular views of the surrounding Cairns Highlands/Atherton Tablelands. It's an oasis just off the highway – perfect for a break in your journey!
MOUNT UNCLE DISTILLERY
1819 Chewko Road, Walkamin (MAP)
Phone (07) 4086 8008 / Fax (07) 4093 3716
www.mtuncle.com
Perfect. Beautiful. Natural.
Established by Mt. Uncle Grazing Co. at the turn of the 21st Century, the distillery has slowly and surely built an impeccable and incomparable reputation for crafting fine, award winning liqueurs.
Mt. Uncle Distillery prides itself on producing 100% natural, pure and preservative free liqueurs that capture the true essence and life of the fruit… just as nature intended. Standing high and above in a synthetically dominated world, the only distillery in FNQ uses a natural, tried and proven method of traditional distilling.
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.
THE FALLS TEAHOUSE
Palmerston Highway, Millaa Millaa (MAP)
(at the start/end of the Waterfall Circuit)
Phone (07) 4097 2237
www.fallsteahouse.com.au
The perfect place for real coffee and home made meals. Open 10:00am to 5:00pm for Lunch, Morning Tea and Afternoon Tea 6 days a week (closed Thursdays).
The Falls Teahouse also offers charming, country-style Bed and Breakfast accommodation at reasonable rates, catering for families, doubles and singles.
FOOD TRAIL TOURS
Phone (07) 4032 0322 / Fax (07) 4032 0422
www.foodtrailtours.com.au
Pickup/drop off from Cairns and Northern Beaches!
Sit back, relax and taste your way around, while you hear all about it from your experienced guide. These tours take you to local food producers and tropical fruit wineries where the people you meet, are the ones who get their hands dirty, every day. You will not only see the dry tropics savannah country, you will be taken off the highways, down the side roads, to private farms, not visited by other coach companies.
Feed the wild wallabies * Coffee Cherries * Tropical fruit wines * Tropical Fruit Trees * Yummy Banana Bread for morning tea * Wildlife Feeding * A Macadamia Plantation * Dine on Barramundi and tropical fruits * A Coffee Plantation * Tropical Fruit Ice-cream *
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
HILLSIDE EDEN GARDENS
4th Avenue, Tarzali (MAP)
Phone (07) 4096 6196
www.users.bigpond.com/tarzfam/
A world within itself!
Visit Hillside Eden Garden, an outstanding award winning garden as featured in Better Homes & Gardens magazine, on TV and radio. Enjoy the diversity of the plant bird life. Hundreds of camellias, tropical rhododendrons and masses of azaleas in bloom follow the lines of the meandering garden over hillocks and down to one of the water features fed by the spring. Meander around the water gardens and enjoy the wonderful ambiance that is Hillside Eden Garden.
Relax with a cuppa or a superb country meal at the Camellia Tea House. Take your time to explore this garden paradise and peruse local arts, crafts and souvenirs at your leisure.
THE HONEY HOUSE
7 Therwine Street, Kuranda (MAP)
Phone (07) 4093 7261
www.honeyhousekuranda.com
Open 7 days 9am - 3pm
Established in the late 1960's 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!!
TARZALI LAKES FISHING & LEISURE PARK
Millaa Millaa-Malanda Road, Tarzali
(half way between Millaa Millaa and Malanda)(MAP)
Phone (07) 4097 2713
www.tarzalilakes.com
The best family fishing adventure ever!
Tarzali Lakes Fishing and Leisure Park is a fully operational aquaculture farm sprawling over 40 acres of lush rolling pastures and picturesque landscapes surroundings. While there is plenty to see and do, the main attractions are definitely the recreational fishing, platypus viewing and farm tours. Lessons are also available on request. Tarzali Lakes has also stocked a few ponds with Yellow Belly (Golden Perch) and Barramundi. You can either release your catch, or purchase your fish and cook it at our barbecue areas or take home.
The park also provides the ideal setting for a picnic or camping expedition.
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.
MALANDA DAIRY CENTRE
8 James Street, Malanda (MAP)
Phone (07) 4095 1234
The historic cheese warehouse... transformed!
As well as the enticing array of local produce and gourmet foods on sale at the Malanda Dairy Centre, visitors will be delighted to find a 100+ seat restaurant, open for breakfast and lunch. The restaurant a wonderful relaxed atmosphere, and a great menu specializing in locally grown Atherton Tablelands produce such as coffee, tea, fruits, nuts, vegetables, meats and cheeses.
The Malanda Dairy Centre also features a museum with traditional life displays, information boards, sound scapes and artifacts providing insight into the development of the region's dairy industry. Visitors can take the guided tour through the modern and operational dairy factory. Watch and experience the processing of milk and the making of delicious cheese.
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. There is a delicious Butterscotch and Caramel Peanut Butter with more flavours becoming available soon.
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.
