The foodie’s guide to Queensland’s Scenic Rim

A short, sharp cry stops me in my tracks. It reverberates through the towering trees and ferns. A walker has been caught on a whip-like vine, the tiny barbs hooking onto his T-shirt. “It’s known as wait-a-while,” says my guide, Candice Stone from ParkTours, as we stop to help. “It’s actually a palm that grabs onto anything in its way. And if it grabs you, well, you have to wait a while until you can get free.”

It may seem an inauspicious beginning, but waiting a while is exactly what I want to do. For the next three days I’m on Yugambeh country exploring the Scenic Rim, a region 90 minutes’ drive south-west of Brisbane where an ancient volcanic caldera is encircled by verdant rainforest, mountains and charming villages.

Candice points out wild finger lime trees, brush-turkey mounds the size of small cars and silk trip lines leading to funnel web nests. Our destination is Curtis Falls, where water plunges over basalt columns into a rock pool below.

Despite the short walk, I’ve worked up an appetite. Just up the road, in the heart of Tamborine Mountain is North Stores, a vibrant hub of food, art and sustainability. It’s the perfect place to while away an afternoon, dropping in for a meal at the Picnic Real Food Bar, or wandering through the Potta ceramic studio or Christine Sharp’s art studio. It’s a shame to leave, but I have a 45-minute drive to my next stop, Beechmont Estate, a retreat tethered to the edge of the world heritage-listed Lamington National Park.

Beechmont’s well-appointed cabins and pavilions curve around a striking main lodge. My luxury pavilion has uninterrupted views of the countryside. After a long soak in the deep bath, I head to dinner. “Everything we serve in Paddock [the on-site restaurant], apart from salt and oil, comes from within a 45-minute radius,” says executive chef Simon Furley. The food is sublime; particularly the rich dish of oyster mushrooms and rhubarb, and the lime parfait with finger lime syrup, wild flowers and slivers of Cyprus pine.

One of the businesses supplying the estate is Tommerup’s Dairy Farm, situated in the Scenic Rim’s picturesque “lost world” region, a 75-minute drive away. This ethical smallholding, run by fifth-generation farmer Dave Tommerup and his wife Kay, is open for farm stays and market days.

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Chickens scratch at the dirt and a litter of rowdy piglets delight in their mud bath as the couple show me around. The farm’s rich milk comes from the herd of 20 or so Jersey cows. “People call us pretend farmers because we’re such a small farm,” Kay says. “But we love our animals and our focus is on quality rather than quantity.” I leave with a parcel of hand-salted butter and some free-range eggs.