Lathams News: DAY 3 - GIRL'S WEEK - WE'RE OFF TO THE GINGER FACTORY AT YANDINA...

The weather predictions for the week aren't the best with rain and storms predicted for the end of the week, so we decided that we should head out and do the bulk of our activities earlier in the week, and keep things like going to the movies etc for later in the week when the weather is not so promising.

Neither Jenny or I had been to the Ginger Factory for about 20 years and it would have been a good few years since Jannett had been also, so we decided that we would head here this morning for morning tea. It was a lovely drive to Yandina once we got of the main highway. They have obviously had rain around here because the countryside was very green and picturesque...

The Ginger Factory is one of the Sunshine Coast's most popular attractions. and has been delighting families for more than 40 years at it's current sight. The whole enterprise started from small beginnings back in Buderim when the first ginger was planted after a parcel of ginger plants was given to Mr. A. J. Burnett just after World War 1. He planted them in his mandarin orchard at Greenmount. The plants flourished and became the root stock for an entire industy.

The original ginger factory was situated in a disused blacksmith's shop across from the school oval in Buderim and then it was later moved to the site where the current Woolworths supermarket is now situated...

Then in 1978 the Ginger Factory at Buderim was relocated to Yandina. The Ginger Factory produces world class products from the new factory at Yandina which is just 15 minutes north along the Bruce Highway.

The iconic Ginger Factory also boasts some unique boutique shopping and has some of the nicest Aussie themed gifts or anywhere we have ever visited or seen. In fact they were so impressive that before we head overseas next, we will be stopping by here to pick up some gifts from our overseas families... It would be so easy to get carried away in these little boutique gift shops and as it was we all bought some truly Australia gifts. I chose a couple of beautiful mugs and I am no kicking myself that I didn't get a couple of extra mugs to go with the ones that I did buy.

I ended up buying one of these beautiful coffee mugs and coaster...

We all fell in love with some of these absolutely beautiful Aboriginal artwork pieces. I especially loved these mugs which had in scripted on the inside of the mug the dream-time story that the mug represented. They would make such beautiful gifts for overseas friends and family as the Aboriginal art is truly unique and very beautiful..

There truly was so much gorgeous stuff that it was hard to know what to chose... I also really loved all the bright mugs with the Australian anirmals and birds. I know my grandchildren would love these... They are just so colourful.

These little heart plates with matching serviettes were super cute also. It would have been easy to get a bit carried away with all the lovely stuff. Good thing we are relocating and moving into a smaller house otherwise I really might have got a lot more than I needed...

Don't you just love them...

I really fell in love with the black and white range of plates and mugs also with the Australian native animals printed on them and in the end I ended up getting a lovely mug for Steve with kangaroos.

Love this plate with the koalas..

After checking out all the beautiful gifts in the first little boutique we walked out into the cafe area. Jannet had played up their beautiful ginger scones so they were going to be on our order for morning tea.

Whilst the girls found a table for us, I wander down to the beautiful lagoon which is the central feature of the property. The Ginger Factory is situated on a beautiful nine-hectare property and is home of the famous Buderim Ginger which is the World's finest Ginger. I took several photos of this beautiful area as well some photos of the iconic steam train that transports folk around the property

Lovely lagoon..

The historic train Moreton is over 100 years old and was a sugar can train working at the Moreton Sugar Mill in Nambour. He has been beautifully restored and now spends his days taking people on a tour of the lush sub-tropical Ginger Factory grounds.

By the time I had taken these photos the girls had found a table and we were ready to order some of those famous ginger scones for morning tea.... The Ginger Factory also house a large cafe which supplies lovely meals as well as morning and afternoon teas and there is also a great ice creamery and we had already decided that we would sample some of it's famous ice cream before we would leave...

There is a children's playground attached to the cafe..

The famous ginger scones with ginger marmalade...

After our morning tea we decided to wander around and check out the other little boutique shops before going for a walk through the sub-tropical rainforest.

This second little boutique store was every bit as beautiful as the first one we had ventured into. There were a lot more home decor ideas and gifts in this store, not necessarily Australian themed but they were still equally as impressive and again we each could have spent more money here as well. We did all end up buying a couple of gifts here too though...

Lots more Australian artificial flowers in this gift shop

They also had a fetish for teapots and we saw some pretty unusual and amazing teapots on sale here. I loved them, not enough to buy but certainly to take a photo so that I could keep the photo as a souvenir..

Check this out for a teapot...

Teapot heaven...

They had some pretty awesome 3D Australian Animal place mats and this is one of those gifts that I will come back and grab for our grandsons and their cousins to take over to Denmark next time we visit...

3D placemats.... my favourite...

Jannett came across the perfect gift for many of her friends, when she came across the Wine sippie cup..

I must admit, I could think of a few friends that I could have got this for also...

Again, more beautiful stunning Aboriginal artwork...

How cute are these little biscuit trays...

This little gift shop also had a lovely selection of beautiful candles for sale, along with home made biscuits, and fudge....

From here we wandered to the next still gift shop. This shop sold toys, lots of beautifully crafted wooden toys but they also had a huge selection of golliwogs as well as rag dolls. Some of these were truly gorgeous...

I just loved these rag dolls...

There was one more gift shop to check out before heading for our bush walk...

Loved this shop and I did invest in some little cheese knives for the caravan. This shop had some amazing gifts what would be suitable for anyone who loves to travel expecially whose that tow a van. I LOVE LOVE LOVEd their caravan cheese boards and I can tell you I was very tempted to buy one...

Loved this cheese board with even a little dip bowl that served as the wheel of the van...

Absolutely beautiful gifts..

We had planned to do the whole bush walk but as it had not longed rained, the track was a little wet and muddy so in the end we decided to only stick to the concreted paths instead... We all had good shoes on which we didn't want to get wrecked by getting them wet and muddy...

Loved this plant and the pattern on the leaves...

This walk took us around to another area of the Factory which I would call the fun section as they had large gingerbread men and other interesting displays that you could go stand next to and have your photo taken. It was in one of these buildings that you could step aboard and take a trip around the world on Overboard, a water adventure with the Gingerbread Man...

One of the Sunshine Coast’s most popular attractions, The Ginger Factory has been delighting families for more than 40 years. Home of Buderim Ginger, the World’s Finest GingerTM, visitors can explore the beautiful nine-hectare property and factory on our tours and rides. It is the world’s largest operating ginger factory and produces a large range of delicious and locally made ginger drinks, sweets, spreads and foods. The iconic Ginger Factory also boasts boutique shopping, a café and ice creamery, lush sub-tropical gardens and exciting rides.

By now we had spent a good couple of hours here wandering around... We decided it was time to head back to the entrance so that we stock up on some of their world famous ginger products...

We had to walk through the chocolate room first and of course we couldn't go past it without picking up a selection of their beautiful chocolate products...

We all bought a few ginger products to sample including their famous ginger beer and then headed back to the cafe area to the ice creamy to grab some of their famous ice cream. I think in the end we all settled for the ginger and macadamia nut ice cream and it was so delicious...

We left the Ginger Factory just after lunch. The eating area was petty packed when we went back to pick up our ice cream...

Since we were so close to Nambour, Jannett was keen to head in there to catch up with a friend she hadn't seen for almost five years. She hadn't rung ahead, she just thought she would walk through the door and surprise her, and that she did...

Her friend Sue manages the King Kong Discount Store in Nambour. What a great store it is we all found things to buy in there as well. They had a lot of lovely things to decorate your home with...

She totally surprised her friend Sue....

Great store... definitely worth a visit if you are in Nambour...

After leaving Sue, we headed across the road to check out one of the Op Shops. Sue had also told us about a really good one around the corner, so before leaving Nambour we decided to check it out also. It was huge and had lots in there including a lot of furntiure.

By now it was close to 4pm and time to head back to the coast.. We also wanted to stop off at Dan's on the way home and pick up some alcoholic supplies. Dan's is situated only a couple of blocks down the road from our place so it was pretty easy to pull in there on our way home...

We had been talking the previous evening about the different wines we used to drink when we were young adults, and one that we all shared in common was a Mateus Rose, so we decided for old times sake that we should buy another one and drink to it..