Because it is so close to Coffs, I have a few friends up there, so have a good excuse to go and visit. The boys play soccer against Orara Valley teams, so we find ourselves attending soccer matches a few times a year. I have started going to the play group up there too at the recreation oval. Mainly because my friend goes and it's a good way to catch up with her, but I do find myself enjoying the setting (almost) as much as her company.
When Evan, my sixteen year old learner driver son, suggested a driving lesson up to Coramba to visit his mate Mitch I jumped at the chance. I have often travelled the Orara Valley Way, usually with end destination in mind and so have not always had the opportunity to stop off at some attractions along the way. When I travel to Grafton for example I like to do at least one direction of the trip (either there or back) along the Orara Valley Way. I often have to head out to Glenreagh for various scouting activities and I also have friends who I occasionally visit in Nana Glen and on Dairyville road. There is also the pick your own blueberries farm on Bucca Road which I frequent at least once a year. So while my sojourns up the Orara Valley way are reasonably frequent, the opportunity to stop and enjoy its offerings are rare.
With Evan wanting to spend a few hours with his mate, I figured I would have time to kill, so I invited Steve to join me on a date out exploring the Orara Valley. As it turned out we also had our 15 month old and our 12 year old with us, but it was still all good.
We started the trip with Evan bustling us out of the door, a short time after 10.30am, complaining that we were running late and that we should already be on our way. We bundled into the four wheel drive and then realised that fuel was low, and as we were in such a hurry and could not possibly stop to refuel, we had better all squeeze into the little Mazda instead. Ellie, Harry and I squashed into the backseat, while Steve took on the supervisory responsibilities of panicking about Evan's driving prowess.
We left Coffs and followed Coramba road up over Red Hill to the Orara Valley. I'm not sure at which point Coramba Road turns into Orara Valley Way, but we followed the road all the way to Coramba and stopped at Mitch's house. The first step in this grand plan started to unravel. Mitch was not home. On contacting him Evan discovered that Mitch was actually back in Coffs at his girl friend's house. Reluctant to just turn around and head back home I suggested we continue on up to Nana Glen for morning tea and give Mitch a chance to organise himself and get home.
I had a secret reason for going to morning tea in Nana Glen. There is a gorgeous cafe there called Kafe Kookaburra and I had a memory of going there some years ago with my sister. We ordered lemon meringue pie and the slice of heaven that was delivered out to us was nothing short of spectacular. Now I am not normally a fan of photographing the food you get in restaurants. But this creation was something to behold and I do remember it being photo worthy. The meringue sitting on top of this enormous wedge was inches thick. It was a memory that had lived in my mind for years and although incredibly decadent, one I intended to revisit this weekend.
The secret couldn't last for long. I had to admit to the rest of my fellow travellers why we were going to Kafe Kookaburra. I personally didn't care what the others ordered, but I was definitely having the lemon meringue pie. We arrived at the Cafe and found that there were already quite a few people there. We got ourselves a table in the sun and perused the menu.........No lemon meringue pie. Bugger.
Determined to make the best of it I decided a cappuccino and a slice of (another sort of) cake would be good too. The setting is so lovely that it is hard not to have a good time out there. In the course of our stay at the Cafe many people arrived to enjoy it's pleasures too. It is a very popular place.
As I was deciding upon another option to eat with my coffee the blackboard menu got changed to include (yes, it's unbelievably true) lemon meringue pie! They must have picked up my vibes. So now, after all, I was going to be able to show off this legendary pie to the rest of the family. Naturally, I ordered the pie. Steve ordered orange and almond cake, Harry ordered a trio of dips with Turkish bread, and Evan ordered wedges. Ellie would just eat bits off our plates, including the cream from Steve's cake. I sat back happily to await the arrival of my order.
And how utterly disappointing my pie turned out to be. In my minds eye was an enormous wedge of luscious lemon curd topped with a mountain of meringue. I felt slightly decadent also ordering the cream and icecream to go with it. But what came out, at first glance it looked like they had stuffed up my order. Because what was sitting on the plate was two small blobs of meringue topped tartlet that looked like profiteroles. They were smaller than mini cupcakes and second glance confirmed that they were actually lemon meringue ......... tartlets, rather than pie. What a massive letdown! It was still delicious and the setting truly is marvellous. Given the popularity of the place they are definitely doing something right. Maybe they had to cease the generous portion sizes as the place was just getting too popular. I know I wont be rushing back there for the lemon meringue pie.
We finished our pleasant (not spectacular) morning tea and still hadn't heard whether Mitch was back home yet. Do we head back to Coffs and abandon our trip or carry on? I voted to carry on. There were two wineries here in Nana Glen that I had always wanted to visit. The one I was most interested in was Kiaora, an organic winery that produces preservative free red wine only available (allegedly) at the winery. We chose to go to Kiaora first, so travelled through Nana Glen towards Glenreagh and found the turn off to the winery. We followed the signs along the bumpy dirt roads to the winery and reception area. The reception area looked like a house with no real indication of where to go or how to approach it. We opted to head straight up to the front door and ring the bell.
The door opened a crack and a head peered out at us.
We asked if the winery was open. The lady enquired whether we wanted to taste or buy. We answered that ideally we'd like to taste and then maybe buy depending on how it tastes.
She scurried off, after shutting the door in our faces, muttering something about checking to see if her partner had any left.
The lady returned, opening the door long enough to say sorry she couldn't help us, shut it again and left us standing on the verandah wondering what that was all about. Upon looking at the state of the vines in the vineyard, it was in desperate need of a mow, I was left wondering if it was indeed still a working vineyard at all. Steve was left wondering if it was just some sort a tax dodge. Either way, we were left to make our way back to the highway with hopes that winery number two was a more promising proposition.
The second winery was back towards Kafe Kookaburra, but on the opposite side of the road. It is called Two Tails winery named after the two tailed lizards found on the property. Nana apparently is the aboriginal word for the lizard that sometimes features two tails and can be found in the area. Along the way to the second winery Steve regaled us with a description of our experience at Kiaora that reminds me of why he really should be doing a whole lot more blogging. He has a quirky way of looking at the world, a fabulous sense of humour and the articulation to make reading his blogs a pleasure. He liken our failed visit to the door of the winery to Dorothy's experience when she presented at the gates of the Emerald city in the Wizard of Oz. The woman (the gate keeper) had to go off and check with the great and powerful Oz.
Two tails winery was the real deal. It had a dedicated tasting area and the owner was truly delighted to see us and knew her wine very well. We tasted about three white and three reds, some fortified wines and flavoured wines. As it turned out Steve and I had quite different tastes. I was under the impression that we essentially liked the same kinds of wines. But at the end of the tasting we both picked totally different bottles as our favourites. I chose a rose called Blush and the Ginger wine, which was like a strong alcoholic cordial. I could imagine it tasting delicious served with soda water. I am looking forward to trying it that way. Steve chose a red and a white.
As we exited the winery Evan was on the phone to Mitch. He was headed home and we arranged to meet him in ten minutes. We jumped back into the car and headed back to Coramba. We dropped Evan off at Mitch's, informing him that instead of four hours he now only had two hours to hang out with his mate. Harry, Ellie, Steve and I headed to the Coramba Pub for lunch. I had heard the menu was impressive for a pub and the beer garden views spectacular. The reviews were right on both accounts.
Neither Steve or Harry were all that hungry. I, however was feeling pretty peckish. Must have been the huge pie I had worked myself up to eating, that now left a big hole. While Harry played with Ellie on the
It is not the first time that I have experienced this, there seems to be some subversive movement to put sweet chilli sauce on nachos. Nachos is MEXICAN, sweet chilli sauce is THAI, the two cuisines should NOT be mixed. The sweetness just does not work with nachos. The tomato sauce on nachos is meant to be hot and spicy not sweet. It has things like tomatoes, onions, chillis, capsicum, oregano, cumin and coriander. Not copious amounts of sugar. What is wrong with people? Nachos is a tried and true dish, adding sweet chilli sauce does not improve it in any way, it wrecks it.
Apart from the sweet chilli sauce the meat, cheese, sour cream, guacamole and cornchips were quite nice. The setting was beautiful and the musician, who was just getting started for the afternoon session, added to the relaxed Sunday afternoon atmosphere. But twelve year olds don't appreciate these things. So after exhausting all his attempts at prising money out of us so that he could use the sega racing game and the chocolate machine, we decided to head down to the river for a walk.
All in all it was a fun trip and great to be able to take the time to enjoy some of the wonders of the Coffs Coast Hinterland.
