Slow day today – first day in a while we’ve got more than one night somewhere so we can sleep in (or at least try)

Couple mugs full of the good stuff, with the cafetiere in our bungalow, and a hot cross bun and a half each, of the Cadbury choc chip version, with some telly in the background doing some travel admin

Decide to get on with our day as it passes midday: shower, get dressed and out North to Yandina

There’s a free entry attraction here called The Ginger Factory – being such big fans of the ginger beer from Bundy, we thought we might as well give it a go

We have a snack first though: a chicken, bacon, cheese and pesto panini with some of the place’s own brand alcohol-free ginger beer

We have a wonder around the park which includes their own plant nursery, a couple gift shops which also have some fresh fudge for you to try, a train ride and a boat ride – it’s more of a kid thing but nice to be in the well-looked after gardens

They even have a “rainbrella” art instillation at the moment from a local artist

We’ve booked on to a ginger factory tour and tasting so head over to the meeting point for this – turns out it’s just us so a private tourGayle who gives us the rundown of history about the Buderim Ginger Factory (the brand behind this park):

Gayle takes us round and gives us the rundown of history about the Buderim Ginger Factory (the brand behind this park):

• There are 1,200 different types of ginger and you can only eat three, with Tumeric actually being a type of ginger
• Buderim is where it all started, a town not far from here: during WWII, there was a ginger shortage, which they originally imported from China, so 5 farmers got together and they decided to grow the stuff themselves and start a billion dollar enterprise
• Australia is the largest grower of confectionary ginger in the world
  
• A lot of backpackers are employed to get the stuff out of the ground as the locals won’t do it – during COVID, they tripled the wage to actually get locals to pick (the wages aren’t even bad to start with)!
• This place creates 8,000 tons of ginger and able to store 3,000 tons if not immediately used

We’re walked around getting viewpoints of the factory as well as being shown an informational video and are then guided to a tasting room

A platter of various methods of applying their ginger products are offered to use – we especially enjoyed the ginger slices and ginger cordial with soda water

After, we go through the gift shop and then head on

We drive a little to Maroochydore, a town within the Sunshine Coast region, to it’s Maroochydore Beach

This is at the end of the Maroochy River estuary so we get a look at the windy and wavey sea

They have some seawalls which they’ve made in the shape of sand bags as a form of tourist stop

We walk round to get a look at the estuary’s Cotton Tree Beach and then get hungry

A little drive back into the centre, we park up and stroll to La Canteena Alleyway Bar

They have some live music as we arrive and order some noms

A feast for us: a pair of chicken, pulled pork and barramundi tacos with a bucket of Mexican-style beer

The chicken tacos are on cheaper today so even order two more!

We’re pretty knackered after our day of slowing down (it’s so backwards, we know, but it’s just the case!) so head back and have an early night