Tropical North Queensland
Helen

After our wet winter, the offer of 4 days eating and drinking in tropical north Queensland was too good to resist.  After ticking off the forms I very quickly find myself enroute to Cairns – it was almost Sydney but thankfully the staff member in attendance (who very loudly announced that I had taught him when he was 5 – cringe) pointed me instead to the shorts and t-shirt line up.

Arriving at Cairns airport mid morning made waking up at 4am all worthwhile – I still had  a whole day to enjoy.

A short drive into Cairns and I arrive to the comfort of the Hilton, my fire engine red ford falcon is valet parked and I find myself lingering on my balcony looking out to the boats on the marina in Trinity Inlet and then the vast expanse of the Coral Sea.  The day is a comfortable 30 degrees, the skies are blue and clear and the sea a flat pond.
My eating extravaganza starts off with lunch at Hanuman – a Jimmy Shu restaurant  based in the Hilton hotel.  The food is a mix of Thai, Indian and Nonya – the latter being South East Asia.  Our host offers to choose and as the menu looks too good for words I happily leave it to her. The stuffed trumpet mushrooms are divine as are the signature oysters served warm with flavours of lemongrass, chilli, coriander and basil.  The rich red duck curry with pineapple and lychees is a taste sensation and I eat way more than my share of the sizzling prawns.  Lastly I manage to squeeze in a vegetable dumpling stuffed with cottage cheese and served in a tandoori sauce and then I have to let out several buttons and go for a serious walk around the Cairns waterfront and town centre.

The shopping area is predominantly cafes and bikinis, although there are also souvenir shops and of course loads of places selling trips to the reef - the motive of most of Cairns visitors.

Not being in the bikini or café market I instead seek out Rusty’s produce market. Rusty’s is a Cairns institution and is an enormous array of produce stalls with a little craft as well, it is open Friday through to Sunday each week.  Stall after stall are packed with melons and piles of pineapples, oranges and bananas.  Mareeba pineapples are the pineapples to look for – they are lovely and sweet but without the mouth stripping acidity.  Being in the tropics I somehow expected that the selection would be confined to tropical but I soon caught on that this incredibly unique corner of Australia seems to be able to grow everything including strawberries, potatoes, courgettes, tomatoes and every herb imaginable.

Dinner is at Olivers – an elegant French Australian restaurant in the heart of Cairns.  I somehow find room for the duck breast prosciutto garnished with potato salad, parmesan marshmallow and Balsamic-pecan nut dressing and a second entrée of rice bubble crusted prawns with a lemon myrtle flavoured salad.  The rice bubbles work surprisingly well with the prawns and I vow to try it at home.

Breakfast at the Hilton is a gourmet experience, I get the full VIP treatment -  blood oranges are juiced just for me while I enjoy the best yoghurt I have ever eaten – Mungalli Creek from the tablelands.  Why is it I wonder that Australian yoghurt seems so much better than anything I eat at home?

Saturday is market day at the Cairns pier – the Farmgate Market is a farmers market with a good selection of local and some organic produce.  Here I get to try fresh tamarind (tart), chocolate fruit (interesting with a choclate pudding type of texture) and loads of other local produce.

Lunch is at Dundees on the Cairns inlet – I am presented with crocodile, kangaroo and barramundi but must say I am happiest with my perfectly crisp calamari and enormous prawns.

From there the fire engine and I hurtle our way down the coastline to the very elegant and near new Sea Temple resort on the fringe of Port Douglas.  The day is as perfect as a brochure and the heat is fabulous.

Late afternoon after a swim and an absorption of vitamin D, I meet Chelsea and we head to On the Inlet for a bucket of prawns , a cold glass of sav and a wait for George the 300kg groper to come in for his 5 o’clock feed.  While George does make an appearance, despite the encouraging calls of the crowd George may have finally seen the detriment of over eating as he pretty much ignores his dinner. (Any disbelievers can go and watch the video on the above website).

My dinner at Sea temple starts with a delicious tart tartin of caramelised shallots which is then followed by pan fried coral trout, asparagus and roasted kipfler potatoes.  I love the earthiness of the potatoes and they are a reminder of how good the humble spud can be.

After a wander around the Sunday Port Douglas open air markets I find myself seeking shelter under an enormous mango tree.  The fruit are formed but unfortunately ripen with the rains in December.

Lunch is at Harrisons where I manage to sit in the comfort of shade with the market sounds and hymns from the church by the sea wafting our way.  Coffin Bay oysters delight and I eat way more than I should of the sweet crab, lemon, garlic and parsley linguine.  While I really should head to the postcard perfect 4 mile beach for an energetic swim, instead the fire engine and I head towards Palm Cove – about 30 minutes back towards Cairns, with a crocodile stop along the way.  The Mowbray river is renowned as a good viewing spot for crocodiles that sun themselves at certain times of the year at certain tides.  Although Reena from Harrisons insists that she sees them daily there are no crocodiles for me, just a few garfish darting about in the water and a weathered Achtung sign warning not to go near the water.
Palm Cove is a lovely village on a white sand beach, enough resorts and restaurants to be comfortable but without the hype of bigger centres.

As well as being home to many Spas it also has one of the best restaurants in the area – NuNu.  I have an hour relaxing by the pool at the Sebel Reef House before heading to meet locals John and Vicki at NuNu.  Owner Jason greets us like long lost friends and immediately suggests we enjoy their 5 course degustation menu with matched wines.  Millionaires salad of shaved palm heart and melon start the meal and course after course of perfect dishes follow ending with a divine tart of rhubarb and strawberries.  The meal is faultless and my only complaint is that I haven’t the days to return for breakfast, lunch and more dinners….
Nunu was Gourmet Traveller regional restaurant of the year 2008 – read review and also this latest award announced this week.

Day 3 is yet another brochure day and sees Mia and myself heading uphill to the food bowl of the Tablelands for my personal tropical food tour.  For those wanting a day with a friendly local expert then take a look at Warwick James’ tours on www.foodtrailtours.com.au

First stop for us is at Nerada tea (with a brief stop along the way to try and spot the rare site of a tree kangaroo that remains hidden in long grass).  Tea is grown on a bush and is part of the camellia family. The tips of the bushes are harvested regularly throughout the year.  The plant is hardy and requires little encouragement to provide tonnes of leaves for tea drinkers around the world.  Boo and her team had just made Anzac biscuits for morning tea which I politely declined – yes I do sometimes know when I have eaten enough.

From tea it is on to Gallos Dairyland , I have already sampled the cheese at the farmgate market but now buy some, deciding to take the risk with customs in NZ*.  Chocolate and ice cream are also made but with 32 degrees heat outside I didn’t think either would last long.  From cheese we are off to Mount Uncle Distillery for lunch.  Mount Uncle is an impressive operation with an obvious attention to detail, rows and rows of neat banana palms run down either side of the driveway and we are delighted to also find ripe mulberries, the ingredients to one of their award winning fruit liqueurs.

It is then time for coffee at The Coffee Works that probably has the world’s largest museum of coffee paraphernalia that our quick half hour visit could not do justice to.  There are a huge range of blends of coffee to taste along with an impressive line up of local chocolate….  It is here that I get to eat a coffee cherry – the red fruit on the coffee tree that has a sweet flavour around the blond coffee bean inside.

Our next stop is Golden Drop Mango Winery,  I am pleasantly surprised by the quality of the wine and the different styles from the bubbly through to the sweet and dry.  I imagine a glass of the sweet or bubbly accompanying a coconut pannacotta or other tropical dessert.

Lastly we head to Skybury coffee where Marion makes us a refreshing lime crush.  We sit outside on the generous verandah and survey the tablelands below.  As well as being Australia’s largest coffee producer Skybury also grow bananas and husband Ian is racing out to sort out water issues in the banana plantation.  Skybury have just been invited to set up a café at the new international airport in Cairns – a real coup and a reflection of just how good their coffee is.  A quick espresso proves the point and Mia and I are revived enough to make our way back to Palm Cove.
I enjoy my last dinner at the Sebel Reef House & Spa. The Reef House has a dignified Colonial air and a Brigadier’s Bar that is based on honesty is a really lovely touch.

My last morning, although looking forward to seeing my family, I stand on the beach promising myself that this first trip is a mere introduction and that we will be back.  The kids will love the sky rail up to the tablelands with train ride back.   In fact as I write this I am already checking out dates and flights for the whole family for next winter….

Thanks to my hosts and particularly to Tourism Tropical North Queensland.
*Australia made cheese is allowed into NZ as long as it is sealed and has a “product of Australia” label on it.

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