17 August 2012 - Yandina Caravan Park, Sunshine Coast, Queensland

We started our day in an unusually social manner, caught up in conversation with the occupants of a Winnebago motorhome parked next to us. They were packing up ready to move on and we were sitting over our breakfast, out under the awning for the first time since we were in Cairns about this time last year. Theirs was almost exactly the same as our New Zealand motorhome so we could not let them get away without sharing that gem. Mike, a long since retired policeman, turned out to be such a delight and with so much to share, it was a pity we had not caught up last night. We parted company with an exchange of names and addresses and may, or may not, catch up at some future date. 

The morning was well gone when we set off on foot up into the metropolis of Yandina. Actually I had expected this spot to be little more than a pub and a convenience store, but it is so much more. With a population of just over one thousand people and eight thousand in the outlying area, it is of rural significance. There is a post office, a couple of pubs, a news agency, an IGA, a school, and a host of other shops and service industries.

  

The town started its European life back in the 1850s, surveyed officially in 1871, the first town in the Maroochy district. It was originally planned to be the centre of the shire but as the sugar mill was built in Nambour, more people settled there than Yandina, and so Nambour has developed over the years as the regional centre.

As with most of the settlements up this east coast, the timber industry was first to be established, followed by beef and dairy cattle farming, fruit growing, sugar cane and ginger. Today it is the home to the Buderim Ginger Factory, but more of that presently.

As we reached the edge of the commercial centre, our attention was caught by a yard of 4WD vehicles under the Tata banner. We had never heard of this make and were soon arrested by an aging salesman who advised us that they are Indian made. With the price tags they bear, it is surprising that we have not seen more on the road, however it is early days.

Soon the salesman was sharing his travel history and his links with New Zealand, having recently acquired a son-in-law native to Christchurch. As you can imagine there was much much more to add to all of this and so it was nearly midday before we proceeded further along the street.

After walking right to the other end of the village, we called into the hall where there was a market sale in progress. The vendors were hawking baby knits, second hand books, old tools and all the other bric-a-brac one finds in such markets. I picked up a jar of chutney I shall try out on Chris tomorrow and spent some time chatting to its creator about the merits of chokos. She had a range of choko chutneys and was keen to share her take on what-to-do-with chokos. It has baffled me no end to find these as normal fare in the vegetable section of supermarkets here in Australia. I have cooked these in the past when they have been given to me and my long suffering children ate them well camouflaged in cheese sauces and hidden in stews, but the thought that someone actually makes a living selling these is beyond my comprehension.

We returned to camp to lunch, again out under the awning, enjoying the second day of 27 degree temperatures before setting off to see the two big tourist attractions Yandina boasts.

The Buderim Ginger Factory already alluded to is not in Buderim but here in Yandina and is a working ginger factory. One would have thought the Buderim would have been dropped by now, because after all, operations were moved from that site in 1978.

It really is a wonderful tourist destination open to the public, free through the front doors of a very extensive and well laid out shop, to the café and ice-cream kiosk, a lovely garden full of palms and the front desk selling tickets to the various activities on offer; a tour of the ginger factory, a tour all about honey, a ride on the ginger train which goes around and around the lovely garden and something else called “Overboard” all about gingerbread men and hungry chefs obviously aimed at those a lot younger than us. We wandered about the park, popping into the lovely tourist shops tucked along one side and then through the well-appointed main shop. Ice-creams were $5 each; we were not that desperate, so gave them a miss. We would recommend the Buderim Ginger Factory to those tourists who are seeking gifts to take home and to well-heeled grandparents wondering how to occupy their knowledge seeking grandchildren.

The history of ginger growing in this area is almost one hundred years old. Just before the First World War ginger was planted in Buderim and thrived in the excellent growing conditions. When the Second World War interrupted the supply of ginger from China, the Buderim farmers expanded their output and combined their resources to form and operate the Buderim Ginger Growers Co-operative Association. The first factory was established in 1979 and the business has grown from there.

Just across the road is Nutworks and the Chocolate Factory which we found more interesting, mainly because it has an information centre above the shop which explains the history of the macadamia industry. I do believe that I have already mentioned when we were about Lismore that this nut is an Australian native? We learned much more about macadamia nuts, one of the interesting facts being the origin of its name. This rain forest tree was named by botanist Ferdinand von Mueller after his colleague, John Macadam. It is also known as the Queensland nut, bush nut, maroochi nut, queen of nuts, to name a few.

In the shop below we were fascinated by the bags of dried fruits and nuts on offer and of course had to taste a few including honey roasted macadamias and one with wasabi. We popped out the back of the shop to the factory viewing area however the workers were clearing up after their earlier efforts. Morning would have been a better time to have called to see any action.

On our way back home we took a five kilometre drive to the Wappa Dam and the falls of the same name on the South Maroochy River. The dam, constructed in 1963, is the main water supply for the Maroochy shire. There is a lovely park area near the dam where we and one other couple walked about and enjoyed the lovely flowering azaleas. Access to the dam itself is forbidden but we were able to access the waterfall just a few metres back down the road. There is little water in the river however enough to attract a family of fishers and enough to flow under the bridge close to our camp.