Going to the Farmers’ Market in Brisbane was, for me, like going to a movie I didn‘t particularly want to see and I went only to please a friend; and then discovered I enjoyed it immensely. For anyone who lives in Asia, a Farmers’ Market may not sound like anything special but the one in Brisbane is different, totally different.
As I wrote last week, I am in Australia on an invitation by the Queensland Tourist Office, along with another journalist from Thailand and others from Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. On our second day we learned that our schedule called for us to visit the market. Mike Ladd from Greet & Meet picked us up at our hotel and an hour later we were disembarking at the market.
I should mention that Brisbane has two Farmers’ Markets with over 100 stalls at each market and about 300 marketeers selling their own goodies each week throughout the year. Mike took us to the Farmers Market at New Farm on the river.
The Farmers market doesn’t seem like a market at all. It’s more like a gathering place for friends who come to exchange merchandise—but no jewelry or clothing. Unlike markets you find in big cities around the world, this Farmers’ Market is neat and orderly and spotlessly clean. And the key word here is friendliness. When PK, our Queensland Tourist leader, said we would enjoy talking to the stall keepers I could quite understand her reasoning until I began conversation with the keepers. One thing they all like to do and that is talk. I saw one lady at a stall selling venison. “In America it’s against the law to sell venison,” I said.
“Not here in Australia, mate,” she replied, and then I got a lecture on raising deer for the market. “Here, try a piece,” she said as I was leaving. It was delicious. But I can’t say that of kangaroo that I was offered. Maybe it was due to my watching young kangaroos the day before at South Bank. Or were they wallabies? I also learned there’s a six month wait for those farmers who want a space. The Farmers’Market has become a popular outing for families on Saturdays.
At the Farmers’ Market you may not want to take back a head of cabbage or a basket of ripe tomatoes to your hotel room but you will enjoy talking to the people and getting to know them. And you might like the music, that is, if you like Irish folk music. Three musicians sat on collapsible chairs under an umbrella and played some authentic Irish music while my journalist friends and I munched on sausages on buns smothered with mustard and onions. We returned to Brisbane by river ferry giving us another view of the city. What a splendid way to relax.
We had two more sites that PK crammed into our busy day. The first was wine tasting and lunch at Sirromet Winery on the road between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Sirromet spelled backwards is T.E. Morris, the founder of the winery.
Over the years, the Australian wine industry has become immensely successful challenging even French and American wines. European immigration to Australia, among a nation of beer drinkers, has helped to shape the wine industry. We have heard about wine producing Hunter Valley, Yarra Valley and Clare Valley in South Australia and Barossa Valley east of Adelaide. Now Queensland is getting into the act through the efforts of one man with a vision—Tom Morris. A businessman with money to invest, he has entered the growing Australian wine industry that exports to 77 countries with sales that are exceeding $1 billion.
Only six years in existence, the winery has rapidly become a household name in the Queensland wine industry. The moment we entered the winery we understood why Mr. Morris chose the area. The area is beautiful with rolling hills on all sides. And, of course, the wine tasting is excellent, as my group can testify.
The bartender does more than pour wine. He gives a story with each glass poured. The main wines produced, we learned, are Chardonnays followed by the Shiraz. Others include the Pinot Noir, Grenache, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Semillon, Riesling and the Sauvignon Blanc. We were a happy, laughing group of journalist who left the winery after a delightful lunch.
But the day wasn’t over. PK had us loaded into Mike’s van and whipped us off to the Tropical Fruit World and another grand experience. It is the world’s largest selection of tropical fruit in one location. Having lived in tropical Southeast Asia most of my adult life, I thought I knew my tropical fruit. By the end of the day I had found out I knew very little about tropical fruit.
The owner of Tropical Fruit World had set out on a quest and, in the course of several years travelling the world over, he brought back fruit plants from every continent, including South America and Africa. What is so splendid about visiting Fruit World is that a visitor can sample these fruits from around the world. An attendant who knows his fruit will cut up various fruit and serve it to the visitor. You would never believe how many different tastes there are in tropical fruits.
But there is much more than sampling the fruit. Visitors can tour the plantation by tractor, boat and even a miniature toy train. We traveled all three means and got an education while doing so. We saw fruit under cultivation and stopped now and then to crush some cashew nuts and taste lichen right from the trees.
There are more gardens in Fruit World than one can imagine—South Pacific, Indian, Aztec, Chinese, Amazon, rare fruit garden, and some odd gardens like Bush Tucker Garden, Medical Garden and one called the Miracle Fruit Garden. The attendant that took us around insisted we stop at the Miracle Garden and try some of the Miracle fruit. I didn’t think much about it, some rather bitter seeds that he asked us to suck on before splitting them out. After a ten-minute drive he stopped the tractor, took out a few lemons and sliced them into quarters, and asked us to suck on them. Low and behold, the lemons were like sweet oranges. The Miracle fruit did it.
Fruit World even has a small farm with emus from the Outback, wallabies and a huge draft horse with hoofs as big as tennis rackets. Needless to say, my group took delight in feeding and petting the animals.
We had checked out of our hotel in Brisbane and, after leaving the Tropical Fruit World with its 500 varieties of tropical fruit, Mike drove us to Surfers Paradise where we checked into Legends Hotel, only 100 metres walk to the beach. My room has a large private balcony with a view of the Pacific Ocean. Time to relax before dinner, or so I thought. I barely had time to shower and change when PK whipped us off to dinner and a nightclub show at the Conrad Jupiter’s Theatre for the performance of Tempo Rouge. It was the most spectacular production I had seen in years, but more about that another time. I am running out of space.
Back at the Legends Hotel, PK had notices for us all. “Breakfast at the hotel. Please have your swimsuit, sunscreen, hat and a towel with you.” At last, we could relax on the beach. Not at all. Michael Ladd would pick us up and take us to White Water World. Another experience awaited us. |
Four women journalist and Stephens at the Farmers
Market, Brisbane
Some good old home cooking, Australian style
Fruit and vegetables at their best
A juggler to entertain
Stopping for a drink of water
Everyone loves a sausage at the Farmers Market
And now we have a bit of jazz to entertain us
Or some real Irish music
Sirrromet vineyard, the first one in Queensland
We are nine journalists, plus our guide, to go wine
tasting
Wall to ceiling wine barrels
Just a little nip, girls
Who said Asians don’t like wine
A good bar bartender explains wine as well as pour
Entrance to Tropical Fruit World, the only one of
it kind
Visitors can taste tropical fruit from around the world
The orchards are carefully watched
Each plot is marked
Lychee right from the tree to eat
Fruit World also has its own farm with domestic
animals
We are all kids at heart when it comes to trains,
as seen here
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