Yandina is one of those places that appears on a map but isn’t a
throughfare of traffic and so despite being on the edge of the
tourist Mecca, the sunshine coast of queensland, many tourists
are unaware of the range of things you can do there.
The Buderim Ginger Factory(Buderim is 20km away so don’t
be confused by the name) runs a thriving ginger goods production
and distribution business as well as a tourist driven side to it’s
business. It has a range of tours on foot and by a small custom
built train, of it’s factory and it’s extensive tropical gardens and
it has a range of fairy ground rides for kids. It also has a retail
shop purveying a vast selection of products that have ginger in their ingredients and it runs
seminars which teach people how to cook using Ginger, showing newbies as well as
chefs who make a living from cooking on how to amalgamate ginger into their cuisine. Only last week
the Ginger factory ran a 3 day Ginger festival marketed at the
people holidaying still local as school hols were still on, a great day was had by all.
Every weekend Yandina plays host to an open air market, a great
place to stock up on fresh fruit and vegetables if you are staying
locally in a Noosa,Coolum or Mooloolaba resort.
There are a range of other stalls but the highlight is the fruit and
vegetables which are particularly well known for the organic produce.
The Little Morgue winery has a very interesting history.
The current owner took control of the building seven years ago,until then it had
been used as a morgue, storing dead bodies. The stained glass
windows in the cellar area are a relic of the old morgue chapel
where families would pay their last respects to a loved one.
The winery uses it’s interesting history to run Murder in the
Morgue “Whodunnit” themed nights with a suitably ghoolish menu at Halloween.
Finger foods known as “Morgue munchies” are served daily along with a range of the home made wine
wednesday to sunday, tasting such morbid sounding varieties as
‘Rest in Peace, ‘Supreme After Life and ‘Dead Smooth.
Yandina has made a name for cuisine teaching because the Ginger factory’s classes are not the only local option.
The Spirit House run a very popular thai food cooking programme,
classes cost around $125 for a 5 hour class, where you will learn how
to create the old traditional but delicious fish cakes,Pork Curry Phrik King
and many other sizzling and milder dishes. You will find a class operating on
every day of the year and you will dine on what you cook during the
class washed down with complimentary wine and thai beer.
So next time you are driving on the Bruce highway and you see that
sign pointing to the one horse town you know as Yandina, you should definitely think about popping in.