Tag: hinterland

Sweethearts at Eudlo

I wouldn’t blame you if you haven’t heard of Eudlo; I hadn’t until a fellow guest at Jimmy’s Catering pumpkin night – I don’t think I’ve told you about their single ingredient dinners yet, have I? – mentioned that Sweethearts at Eudlo was a great place for a weekend brekky.

Eudlo? I’d seen the signs – there’s a turn-off on Tanawha Forest Drive just past the Maroochy Botanic Gardens. You can also get there from Palmwoods – and I’d seen it from the Brisbane train (which I usually catch from Palmwoods). Surely there couldn’t be a cafe there worth driving for? But she was adamant. Absolutely it’s worth the drive, she said.

I still laugh when someone says that: worth the drive. It wasn’t that long ago that getting to the shopping centre just 5kms away in Sydney took almost 10 mins – if there was no traffic. Now we talk about whether a destination in the hinterland just 20 mins away is worth the drive.

It is.

There’s a great brekky menu plus some pretty special cakes.

I was there to do some writing but was totally distracted by all the little bits in the garden. Speaking of distractables – it’s great for kids and dogs…

While you’re in Eudlo…

While you’re there, check out the General Store – it’s an absolute treasure trove of unexpected things…even a community library bookshelf of sorts.

Maleny Show

‘Ladies and gentlemen, you’ll need to go a long way before you see jumping as good as this.’

‘And look at the condition of the ground – you don’t get it better than this.’

‘No, you don’t – you’re in Maleny now. It’s doesn’t get any better than this.’

The ground announcers weren’t wrong – it doesn’t get much better than this.

Besides, what’s not to like about a show?

There’s food, and animals, and rides, and showbags, and ring events. There are also substances masquerading as food (dagwood dogs, I’m looking at you…) but we can forgive that. There’s the CWA tent, woodchopping, singers performing both kinds of music – country and western – showjumping, and so much more. Being a country show, you can even look at agricultural supplies and tractors – if you’re that way inclined.

We wandered through the vegetable displays, the baking, the art, and the fabulous produce that the schools on the Sunshine Coast are growing. There’s really something so wonderful about seeing the numbers of entries and the efforts the entrants have put into their offerings. I was, however, concerned that there were prizes given for the best chokos…my memories of them from childhood were not good!

We watched the judging of the dairy cattle, were crowded in the poultry shed, and sat and watched the showjumping while enjoying a fabulous lunch from the Mexican Cantina – the TS Jalopeno (supporting the Navy Cadets). This burrito bowl was more than I could eat, and was great value at $8. Yes, you heard that right. They even had little tables decorated. Very pleasant indeed.

Sure, you can blow a fortune on showbags and rides and crap food, but you can also have hours of fun for not a lot of money – and some really really good food as well. I wish that we’d seen the Black Angus Burgers earlier – and the swim club was selling roast dinners piled on plates for only about $12 (or was it $15?). I was also really tempted by the bahn mi and green papaya salad on offer at the Vietnamese food truck.

Anyways, Maleny Show is in its 80th year and it’s on again tomorrow Saturday June 3, 2017. Go to the show website for more information – and details about park and ride. There were big crowds there today and with tomorrow also forecast to be a cracker (weather wise) I suspect there’ll be even more people there tomorrow.

 

Brouhaha Brewery

Brouhaha
noun

A noisy and overexcited reaction or response to something…

Synchronicity
noun
The simultaneous occurrence of events which appear significantly related but have no discernible causal connection.
It was synchronicity that led us to lunch at Brouhaha Brewery. Synchronicity and instagram. You see, it was a few days before Mother’s Day and my husband had uncharacteristically failed to organise a venue for lunch. Which translates to he realised that Mother’s Day was on Sunday, hadn’t booked anywhere, had no idea where to book, so threw his hands up in the air and said, ‘well, I don’t know where you want to go!’
As it happened, I’d been scrolling through instagram and just happened to see a post from Brouhaha. ‘Here,’ I said. ‘Let’s try here.’ Synchronicity.
So we did.
Mother’s Day is rarely a good day to try a new place out. The menu is usually cut down, the service staff are run ragged, and every last available inch of space is occupied. And yes, that was the case with Brouhaha too – but it was Mother’s Day – and we ate early enough that the roast was fresh and good (a real Sunday roast with proper yorkies, perfectly cooked veg and fresh horseradish…yes, fresh – not out of a jar).
Plus, the service was still good…and the pork scratchings with beer mustard dip worth the trip alone.
‘We’ll come back another day,’ we promised ourselves. ‘When it’s not Mother’s Day and the full menu is available.’
That someday was today. With beer loving friends in town, it was the perfect excuse to revisit Brouhaha. This time around we took our time, chose the beer for the paddle, and sat outside on the deck.
The verdict? I think we’ll need to come back again some time to make really sure that it’s worth coming back 🙂
You’ll find Brouhaha Brewery in Coral Street, Maleny. Booking is recommended and, the best bit, there’s plenty of parking. If you’re after more information, you can find it on the website. Oh, and there’s even an open fire for those cold, wintry, Sunshine Coast days…

Maleny – a walk down Maple Street

I’m not sure whether it’s the bookstores, the photo gallery, the cafe’s, the fabulous cheese range at Maleny Food Co, or the organic-y, new age-y places, but Maleny is probably my favourite town to visit in the Hinterland. Perhaps it’s just the general vibe of the place.

I’ll let the photos tell the story.