A VISIT TO TINABERRIES STRAWBERRY FARM.. - BUNDABERG...

 Today I managed to catch up with another good friend I haven't seen for many years.

I have know Julie since highschool and then through youth group and she used to work not far from me when we were both working, so would often have lunch together or go shopping together....

I have never known anyone like her for smelling out a bargain, and in my pre marriage days, I certainly snapped up some bargains with her.  

We were both roughly married around the same time and she then moved up to Gove with her first husband for many years.  We moved to Rocky.  She had two boys, and we had three children.

After her marriage broke down she moved back to Bundy and some years later she met her second husband Brian through her sons.  (His son was one of her boys mates)

When Julie and Brian married they moved to Gladstone to live and whilst there we caught up with them on a pretty regular basis.

They moved back to Bundy some fifteen years ago now and although we have caught up with them numerous times in Bundy we realized today that it has been a good seven years or so since we have last seen them.

We met us today and went out for lunch together, it was great catching up on all the family news both good and bad.  They have had their fair share of struggles in the last seven years or so and I felt so sad that I hadn't been in touch during this tough time..

This afternoon we went for a visit to the Tinaberries Strawberry Farm in Bundaberg.  I had heard some rave reviews about it from other travellers and it has been on my list of places to visit when in Bundy now for some time.  It just seems that we are never really there long enough to fit all the places in that I would like to visit...

This woman is always happy... she would be one of the most positive people I know...

Tinaberries Strawberry Farm

Tinaberries is a fabulous, fun farm experience located between Bundaberg and the glorious coral coast.

Each season of the year offers different experiences at the farm.  During the summer months you can purchase amazing strawberry ice cream which is  delightfully fresh fruit ice cream actually made on the farm.  It is all natural and they use none other than their own freshly home grown strawberries.  It's an amazing mix of creamy vanilla ice cream and real fruit,  and it really is an absolute taste sensation. They also have passionfruit and mango ice-cream, with mangoes which are sourced locally, and their other stand out flavour is the dragonfruit and lime ice-cream.  I am still yet to try that one but it has had rave reviews.

Being served by staff at Tinaberries...

Their amazing single serve strawberry ice cream.... it was massive....

The farm surroundings are lovely and  they have beatuiful areas where you can enjoy your ice cream in the relaxed farmyard , lazing around on the grass under the shade of their glorious silky oaks trees…. Their setting is really a rather lovely way to spend an afternoon.

During the winter strawberry season you can purchase their sweet home grown strawberries and then at the end of this season they open the farm up to visitors during spring for you to come in and pick your own strawberries.  Tinaberries is a family run farm and guests are always warmly welcomed as we experienced today. 

The other thing about this place that really impressed me was their passion about sustainable production.  Their aim is to reduce the environmental ‘footprint’ of their farm and preserve the ecological health of this naturally beautiful region.

I am keen to go again but next time I might have to try the Dragonfruit and Lime ice cream, although it really will be hard not to have the strawberry ice cream again.  

On our way home, we dropped in to Brian and Julie's new house so that I could check it out.  

It really has been lovely spending time with her today.  She is another lovely friend where even though you may not have seen her for a while, you are able to just pick right up where you left off last time you visited....