Every time we’ve found ourselves on the Sunshine Coast we have made sure to visit The Ginger Factory in Yandina.
The main reason for this has always been that we love ginger – and they have the absolute best and tastiest ginger in the world! It doesn’t stop there either. If you’re a gastronomic tourist and love following food trails around Australia then The Ginger Factory is a must see – you can get your hands on hundreds of gourmet food and drink products here from local honey made in house to chocolate, nuts, freshly churned ice cream, fudges, spices, cordials, berries, balsamics, tea and coffees. Add to this their incredible range of natural beauty products, herbal products, gifts and homewares it’s an absolute shoppers’ delight. This is what we spent the last 4 or 5 visits doing – but since the addition of our 2 boys to the family we have switched from culinary tourism to child friendly tourism, so were wondering what we would find at one of our favourite place when we returned with kids in tow. We couldn’t have been more surprised and here is why….
The Ginger Train
In previous visits we had noticed a lovely looking train passing by but hadn’t given it much thought past that (no doubt we were eating something at the time). This time the train – Moreton – a 114 year old retired cane train – was the highlight of our visit for our boys. Trains are always a winner and Moreton takes you on a fabulous journey around the gardens of the factory – giving you a running commentary of some of the history and interesting things to see along the way.
Overboard
Another favourite with the kids was the Overboard ride – you hop on a boat and chase the Gingerbread man around the world as he tries to escape the hungry chefs. As your boat sails from country to country you have to spot the Gingerbread man hiding amongst the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, dancing at the Moulin Rouge or working with Santa’s elves. We ended up going round 4 times and the boys yelled GINGER everytime they spotted him – so much fun!
The Ginger Factory Tour
The Ginger Factory is home to Buderim Ginger – now in it’s 75th year and hailed as the World’s finest ginger. A tour of the factory gives you a fascinating insight into how ginger is grown, harvested and turned in to one of the many products on the shelves. You don’t just have to take their word for it either – the tour includes a seat in the Ginger Tasting room where you get to experience ginger poetry in motion!
Super Bee
Did you know that to make just 1 kilogram of honey bees will need to visit over 1,000,000 flowers and fly up to 450,000km! This is one of things we learned in the Super Bee Tour and the live bee show and it had to be my highlight of the day.
I have always been fascinated by bees and it was amazing to see them up close and doing their thing in their hives – even getting to watch them dance to let the other bees know where to find pollen. Incredible stuff. What sweetens the deal even more is getting to taste all the different types of honey after the tour.Yum!
Perfect for Kids
There is so much for kids to do you can easily spend the whole day. As well as all the attractions above there is a beautiful rainforest walk where you can discover a giant checkers board in a clearing), a kids play area with slides, tunnels and climbing frames, a dedicated toddler play area and a giant snakes and ladders board. There are frilled neck lizards at the park which had all the kids squealing with delight when they came out for a play in the playpark! The cafe serves coffee and lots of treats – including a ‘make your own gingerbread man’ kit which was a huge hit.
Free Admission to the Ginger Factory
Entry to the complex is free – including access to the shop, cafe, kid’s play area, rainforest walk and giant checkers and snakes and ladders. Extra costs apply to the Super Bee, Ginger Train, Factory Tour and Overboard experiences but you can get a super pass which includes access to everything including unlimited train and Overboard rides. If you are a Sunshine Coast local you can also get a locals VIP pass. Children aged 3 and under are free and they are open 7 days.
The Ginger Factory has made it possible to combine culinary and child friendly tourism and for that we (and our tastebuds) thank you!
If you’re on the Sunshine Coast why not have a look at the fun we had at the Maleny Dairies, Sealife Aquarium or Hand Feeding Wild Dolphins in Tin Can Bay.
See more of our day in the video below….
Leave a Reply