You could sign up for the daylong Mareeba Food Trail Tour in the hinterlands behind Cairns. It tours banana, macadamia and coffee plantations, before taking in a gourmet lunch of fresh barramundi and local produce. The tour finishes with a winery visit and later homemade tropical ice creams. Or you might prefer to organize your own day closer to base.
Feeding time at the Cairns Tropical Zoo includes breakfast at the Koala Caf and an informative talk by the wildlife keeper. You’ll meet pandas, snakes, koalas, and wombats and, finally, it’s the frenzied feeding time for the huge saltwater crocodiles.
Showcasing new Australian cuisine is Red Ochre Grill Restaurant, the spot for lunch, featuring native berries and fruits, kangaroo, emu, and crocodile, fish and seafood. Red Ochre’s chefs will cook up a meal that’ll captivate even the most world-weary palate. Ostrich fillet with riberry glaze? Or prawns and crocodile with Vietnamese pickles and lemon aspen sambal? Never smile at a crocodile?
Aboriginal people have inhabited the Australian continent for at least 40,000 years. Witness Dreamtime storytelling and performance with the Flames of the Forest Dining Experience in a secret forest clearing as dusk settles and the stars come out. A full three-course meal comprising high-end cuisine, bush ingredients, and superb boutique wines accompanies an Aboriginal dance-and-music show.
This is just a sample of the oodles of things to see and do in this traveler’s paradise.
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