BEAUTY & THE FEAST

Everybody needs good neighbours – we’ve got some of the best and you can meet them during Eat Local Week. Choose a farm stay for a true taste of the Scenic Rim, where cutting-edge culinary talent meets country hospitality that hasn’t changed a bit

The textbook will tell you to take it slow and steady. To cool your heels until the bonfire’s blaze is a sultry shimmer, before beginning the controlled rotation that will deliver the ultimate prize: the perfectly toasted marshmallow.

I adopt the more aggressive strategy of setting fire to my target, searing fingertips and tastebuds in my rush to get through the charcoal to the gloriously gooey centre. It’s always worth it. While my epicurean efforts at Lillydale Farm Stay may not be the making of a master chef, the produce plucked from my Scenic Rim surrounds is. Along with running one of the oldest farmstays in Queensland, my hosts Doug and Pam Hardgrave and daughter Bec just happen to be responsible for the region’s finest Angus beef cattle.

They’ll be doling out pulled-beef rolls to passers-by on June 24 during Eat Local Week, but booking into their rural getaway will treat you to a true taste of life on the land.

The owner-operators are fourth, fifth and sixth generation farmers – Doug’s grandfather originally settled at nearby Mt Lindsay in 1882, building his own slab hut. Doug bought Lillydale, which was then a dairy farm, in 1969. They soon transitioned to beef cattle, adding the farm stay in 2000 in response to plummeting cattle prices and pressure from the drought.

You’ll find their homestead suites and a self-contained eco cabin around 90 minutes’ drive from the Gold Coast, in the shadow of Mt Barney. That distinctive range makes for an impressive entrance as I drive through the koala corridor (they’ve planted more than 1000 eucalypts to nurture the local population) to be warmly greeted at the family home.

The introductions aren’t done yet. While a pair of saucer-eyed city kids are turned loose to hunt for eggs in the hay bales, I meet more Lillydale residents.

Spotty deer delicately lip chaff from my cupped hands and I “help” milk a cow (pretend you’re squeezing a particularly recalcitrant tube of toothpaste).

And then there’s Whitey the sixday-old goat, already a seasoned heartbreaker.

Her mum had no milk to feed her, so Lillydale guests are stepping into the role with bottle feeds that send her tiny tail wagging.

I can’t stop cuddling her featherlight frame, accepting a flurry of gentle kid kisses in thanks.

Guests, invited to find their fun away from a screen, discover plenty of ways to get their fill of fresh air.

Wander a hedge maze made up of 1084 lillypilly trees (don’t panic if you get lost – the berries are edible), explore the dinosaur cave, cool off in the creek or row on the dam.

Back at the homestead, Pam and Bec have just popped a beef-layered lasagne in the oven for dinner.

The herb-infused olive-oil dressing tossed through the side salad is made 10 minutes down the road at Rathlogan Grove, which I visit the next day for more gourmet goodies.

Home to around 1200 of the silvery fully matured trees, with the olives picked by hand and processed on-site, the property offers free tastings at its hilltop Shed Cafe, open every weekend from 9am to 4pm.

The knockabout, knick-knackcrammed space also serves good country fare, from cream-slathered scones to an apple and rhubarb pie

“MICHELIN-STAR RESTAURANTS USE THEIR PRECIOUS PEARLS TO ADD MORE ZING TO OYSTERS OR EXTRA BUBBLE TO CHAMPAGNE.”

with a golden, sugar-dusted crust.

One of Rathdowney’s most renowned producers is more elusive … it may have something to do with the daunting driveway.

Hitching a lift in a friend’s fourwheel-drive, we bounce along the dirt road as it spears skyward, slicing through the clouds to a plateau covered in dense rainforest spliced with the prized plantings.

Ian and Margie Douglas from The Lime Caviar Company are the world’s largest growers of native Australian finger limes for the domestic and international market, and national finalists in this year’s

Delicious Produce Awards. Michelin-star restaurants use their precious pearls to add more zing to oysters, a burst of citrus flavour to desserts or extra bubble to Champagne. Not usually open to the public, I was lucky enough to visit their border-range base during an Eat Local Week prelude event.

All this appetite probably should be worked off – fortunately, this part of the Scenic Rim is laced with worthwhile trails.

There are three maintained tracks at the base of Mount Barney: the Lower Portals, Cronan Creek and Upper Portals tracks.

Some paths are for experienced hikers only, so it’s worth checking in at the Rathdowney Visitor Information Centre before you choose your adventure.

I’m all tuckered out by the time I return to backyard bliss at Lillydale, where you’ll find me fireside under a canopy of stars, with a softly spicy Picnic Red from O’Reilly’s Canungra Valley Vineyards to wash down a pink-and-white Pascall’s picnic.