We ask that you give us at least 24 hours notice if you would like us to do dinner for you so we can do the shopping. We don’t have a set menu at Lagoon Pocket, we’d rather decide on a meal with you around your likes and dislikes. I would describe our cooking as good country home cooking, full of fresh, local ingredients.

Our most popular dishes are our roast dinners (your favourite meat) together with masses of roast and steamed vegetables. Pies, are also a favourite, my Cottage Pie and Chicken and Leek pie have quite a following as does our version of Lasagna with salad and James wicked garlic bread. For more exotic tastes, James is your cook. He excels at Risottos and Tagines.

One of my favourite quotes is “Life is uncertain, eat dessert first” not that I recommend starting with a pud, but if I see a pud on the menu I want I make sure I leave room for it! So yes, desserts are my favourite part of a meal and my list is vast, so I will just list the favourites all of which are home-made. Fruit Crumbles, Lemon Cheesecake (that all important lemon tree again!), sticky date pudding (James’ fav!), Pavolvas or Eton Mess, Butterscotch Pudding, Pot au Chocolat. I could go on but you get the idea.

To finish either plunger coffee or tea together with chocolates.

You can book your evening meals under “extras” when you make your booking or just let us know closer to the time.

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At Lagoon Pocket we believe in breakfasting like a king. we always start the meal with some fresh fruit (our local pineapples, citrus and mangoes feature here, when in season), fruit juice and a selection of popular cereals. For mains it varies but always features the favourites of bacon, eggs and tomato amongst other goodies. James makes either a loaf of his scrumptious bread or a batch of breakfast rolls. To accompany these we have the usual suspects of jam and marmalade (not home-made as I have finally come to admit I cannot make marmalade!) and one of my home-made fruit butters. I am very proud to say I have won prizes at the Gympie Show for both my Lemon Butter and my Passion Fruit Butter, again these are seasonal because only our lemon tree will do for the main ingredient! Along with the glorious bread I whip up a batch of muffins (after the floods of 2011 my repertoire of flavours increased greatly!) To wash all these delights down we have either a pot of English Breakfast tea (or Earl Grey or selection of Herbal Tea) or a plunger of organic freshly ground Bundaburg coffee.Lagoon Pocket breakfast

Breakfast, most of the year, is served on the back verandah of the main farmhouse overlooking the garden and further a field to our pet cattle, who often come up to say “Hello” or call out for me to feed them! In Winter we move breakfast into the Dining Room next door, as it is more comfortable and we want you to enjoy your breakfast without suffering frost bite (a mild exaggeration).

Our breakfast is included in our B&B rate, but if you are on Room Only rate you can opt to have breakfast for an extra $15pp.

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A favourite place of ours for a bush walk is the walk in to Poona Lake, down near Rainbow Beach in the aptly named Great Sandy National Park.

The turning into Freshwater Road

Just before you get to Rainbow Beach itself (4kms from the township to be precise or 34kms from when you turn on to Rainbow Beach Road from the Tin Can Bay Road). There is a turning on the right to Freshwater Road, the Bymein Picnic Area and Poona Lake, it is a well maintained gravel/sand road which is suitable for cars as well as 4WDs. It is a very pretty drive to the Bymein Picnic area where there are several picnic tables sheltered under the tall rain forest trees. There are toilets near the car park but no where else on the walk, so best to take advantage of them!

From Bymein Picnic area you follow the signs to Poona Lake, this is a 2.1kms walk each way (takes us 40 mins one way) it starts off gently through a glorious rainforest with loads of strangler figs and soaring rainforest trees. Then the gradient becomes gradually steeper, nothing onerous but you feel you really are on a bush walk! once you reach the top it is a pretty walk through more rainforest and then a lovely slope down to the lake.

Poona Lake

The water in Poona Lake is a reddy brown colour because of the native tea trees staining the water. There is nothing wrong with it and it is fine to swim in, you just can’t see the bottom very well and I wouldn’t like to drink it! We love to stop and have a swim and a picnic at Poona Lake, there are no facilities but a lot of trees if you get my meaning! If you are feeling energetic it is another 7kms onto Freshwater Lake  and the Freshwater day campsite (where there are toilets). We have done this walk when we were training for a walking holiday and we enjoyed but it was quite strenuous and you do want to carry plenty of water.  Before embarking on this or any walk it is essential to wear good shoes, take enough water (even in winter) and wear insect repellent for the mozzies and please take your rubbish with you.

The beautiful Tea Tree coloured water at Seary’s Creek

If you just want a little stretch of the legs and to experience swimming in the unique reddy brown tea tree tainted water there is a shorter walk at Seary’s Creek, which is about 2 kms along the Rainbow Beach Road from the Poona Lake turnoff heading back towards Gympie it is on the right and well signposted. The car park is just off the road so no gravel road and again there are toilets near the car park. There is a lovely and well maintained boardwalk around the area which is suitable for wheelchairs and strollers. You can swim in the creek but absolutely no diving as the water is shallow and there are submerged logs. When we were there despite the colour of the water we could easily see little fish and yabbies in the water, so if you feel something nibbling your toes….. This is a really pretty spot and very peaceful despite being just off the road.

After one or both of these walks/swims you will deserve a break and a bite to eat at Rainbow Beach!

Enjoy you visit to Poona Lake and Seary’s Creek

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April is a big month for us at Lagoon Pocket, we have 3 birthdays and a wedding anniversary so we thought it would be a fun to let you in on the celebrations with a very special offer!

I wanted to call it “Stay 3 nights and get the 3rd half price” but after several hours my beloved (soon to be birthday boy) tells me that the booking engine won’t let us say anything that catchy! So the offer is called Stay 3 nights and get $75 off, dull or what but I can’t complain to Mr April Birthday  Boy too much as I am not a computer whizz and next Saturday is his Birthday. So come and stay with us for 3 nights and enjoy the third night at half price, our super breakfasts are included each morning of course and if you want to bring the family or the pooch they are very welcome.

So whose birthdays? firstly my wonderful Mother on 3rd , James 6th, Sophie (daughter) 25th and our Wedding Anniversary 18th. My purse hurts just typing them! When I first heard Sophie’s birthday was on ANZAC day I told her in Australia (we were in the UK back then) that it was a public holiday, she was most put out that she couldn’t have the day off school because her step-mum was an Aussie! Yup, I was really popular!

One more offer for you before I sign off, if you should be lucky enough to be enjoying a birthday in April or a Wedding Anniversary we will throw in a bottle of house wine to help you celebrate!

We hope you can come and celebrate with us in April with this very special offer!

Stay 3 nights and save $75

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Welcome to our Gympie Events Calendar for April/May 2013. There are lots of fun things coming up. So have a look through and start filling in your diary. As always we must say a big “thank you” to Tanya Easterby who does all the hard work of bringing all this together. If you would like to contact her about an event. call her on 0438 850 109.

We have chosen some of our favourite Gympie events below but you can download Tanya’s full calendar here Events April-May 2013 

March Gympie Events

30 March       Kenilworth Wine, Cheese and Food Fest www.kenilworthfoodfest.org.au

April Gympie Events

9th  April          Italian Jazz Quartet Luca Ciarla is back and is touring with Fiddler in the Loope, a music and visual animation programme made in collaboration with Italian visual artist Keziat. Heritage Theatre, Civic Centre Mellor St, 7.30pm, A$35, CAG Adult $25, Con $30, Stud $15 tickets on line at www.whatsoningympie.com.au or phone 5408 2556

13th April          Mothar Mountain Speedway V8 Late Models, Jnr St Sedans, Jnr Sedans, 4 Cyl, & Modified & Production Sedans Old Noosa Rd, Gympie, Pits Open 1pm, Gates Open – 3pm, Racing 4pm www.gympiespeedway.com.au

17-20th April       Australian Campdraft Assoc National – Finals Kilkivan Showgrounds, 88 Mudlo Road, Kilkivan, Four days of action packed campdrafting will showcase the nation’s most successful riders and horses currently on the circuit. ACA has 7,500 members and 10,000 registered horses, competitors travel from all states to compete. Ph: 5484 1252

20th April                Soundcheck profile of local musicians, Nelson Reserve. 11am – 3pm. Free day out for the whole family. Musicians need to turn up and put their name down to perform on stage, backed By professional musicians and a concert sound system. 5481 0760 or Facebook www.facebook.com/soundcheckgympie

20th April              Gympie Turf Club Picnic Races 100 Club Members, Exhibition Rd, Southside, Gympie www.gympieturfclub.com.au

21st April               Bushranger Re-enactment Museum Markets, performed by Gympie Historical Re-enactment members at 9am, At the 5th Light Horse Park, Lake Alford, Brisbane Rd, Co-ordinator 07 5482 6937

30th April               125 Years On Show Exhibition, Gympie Regional Gallery till May 19th, 39 Nash Street, Gympie

May Gympie Events

4-5th May          Gympie Garden Expo Showgrounds, Exhibition Rd, Southside, Over 60 Exhibitors, Annual Orchid Show, Horticultural Display, Canteen Facilities, $5 entry, Sat 8am-5pm, Sun 8am-3pm

4-5th May           Widgee Bushman’s Carnival Widgee Showgrounds. 6.30am Saturday morning till late Sunday afternoon. A Calcutta on Saturday night for the final of the novice draft on Sunday. 5484 0249

4-5th May          Mothar Mountain Speedway Super Sedans Old Titles, Jnr St Sedans, Jnr Sedans, 4 Cyl, & Modified Sedans www.gympiespeedway.com.au

11-12th May        Australian Body Art Carnivale Eumundi www.australianbodyart.com.au

16-18th May         Gympie District Show Gympie Showgrounds, Exhibition Rd, Southside www.gympieshow.org.au

19th May              RSPCA Million Paws Walk is a fundraising event for the RSPCA. The RSPCA investigates more than 50,000 cases of Animal cruelty or neglect each year.

26th May              Goomeri Pumpkin Festival featuring the Australia’s Greatest Pumpkin Roll www.goomeripumpkinfestival.com.au.

 

 

Which ever Gympie events you choose to be part of, we hope you have a great time.

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Visit Noosa

Take a trip to Kenilworth

A beer at the Kandanga pub?

Explore Amamoor State Forest

Fresh air at Tin Can Bay

Lake Alford

Cooroy Botanical Gardens

Go horse riding

Lots of local walks

Mothar Mountain Rock Pools

Gympie Art Gallery

A drive to Kin Kin

Enjoy the metal art around Kin Kin

A trip to Kilkivan

The Prophet Gold Mine

Try your luck at gold panning

Rock climbing at Point Pure

or just enjoy the view at Point Pure

Buy a treasure at Eumundi Markets

Go back in time at the Woodworks Musium

lots of local markets and local produce

Sand and sea at Rainbow Beach

See how Gympie began at The Goldmine Museum

Get close to a whale at Hervey Bay

Visit a waterhole in the forest

Hand feed a dolphin

Explore Gympie

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The Gympie Golden Orchid Spectacular is taking place on 8th and 9th June 2013. If you like beautiful things, this is definitely a date to put in your diary. it is the Trienniel Show and Conference of the Sub Tropical Orchid Council. If you want to just admire these beautiful plants, there will be amazing displays. If you want to buy buy some, there will be lots of plants on sale. And if you want to learn more about orchids you can listen to the expert guest speakers.

The Gympie Golden Orchid Spectacular will be held at The Pavilion, Gympie Showgrounds on Saturday 8.30am-4pm and Sunday 8.30am-3pm. Entry is just $5, parking is free and the whole event is in support of Little Haven Palliative Care, Gympie.

You can find out more on their Facebook page or you can contact John Green on 07 5483 2764.

Go on put the Gympie Golden Orchid Spectacular in your diary now and look forward to a great weekend

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The Royal Hotel in  Gympie’s Mary Street, is one of the iconic sights of Gympie in flood. The beautifully restored frontage of the Royal Hotel with its elegant glass doors etched with an R, half under water has become an all too familiar sight over the last 3 years.

So a week or so after the second Gympie flood of 2013, when I spotted the Royal Hotel was up and running, we decided we would go and have lunch there with friends to support the hotel getting back on its feet.

As we walked in, it became obvious that quite a lot of locals had thought the same thing and there were several large tables of diners already. There is a menu and also a board of daily specials, both with a good selection and main courses all under $20. We all chose different dishes, a green thai curry, chicken cordon bleu, salt and pepper calamari and coral trout in a tempura batter. With the exception of the curry all came with a lovely fresh garden salad and crispy chips. You order and pay at the register and then order your drinks separately at the bar. Despite the vast number of diners the service was good and the staff delightful.

Without exception all our meals were excellent, James’ salt and pepper calamari winning the prettiest dish of the day and our curry aficionado raved about the flavours in his curry. The only evidence of the flood being that there were no cakes available for dessert and that the bar wasn’t fully stocked, but hey our figures were happy to forgive them the lack of desserts!

So what started as a Support the Flooded Locals ended with us finding a great new place for lunch right in the heart of Mary Street. There is a separate public bar and sports bar, the sports bar was not open as it had suffered the worst of the flood damage but they are keenly working on it to have it reopen very soon.

Flood notwithstanding The Royal is an excellent place to eat in Gympie, open for both lunch and dinner seven days. Seeing how popular it was on a Thursday lunchtime I would probably book a table next time, especially in the evening.

We hope you enjoy your visit to the Royal Hotel, Gympie

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We are celebrating our first 100 reviews on Trip Advisor and we would love you to be part of it. Just enter the promotion code “TRIPADVISOR” when you book on our web site and we will give you a free bottle of wine so that you can share our celebration.

So if you are thinking about a little break away in historic Gympie or enjoying the country hospitality of the Mary Valley  you have until the end of March 2013 to book with us and enjoy our celebratory offer (your stay can be anytime, just needs to be booked by the end of March to take advantage of this offer).

If you need a reason why you want to stay and be spoilt by us have a read of what there is to do in the area. We have everything from horse riding and gold panning for the active to exploring country markets, beautiful country drives and cheese tasting at Kenilworth. And if you are into music you can experience the new Choo Choo Bar at Dagun station, so new we haven’t even got there ourselves yet! It only runs on Saturday evenings (6-9pm) straight after the organic market at Dagun Station in the afternoon. This is a brain child of the locals who wanted to keep the station going whilst the Mary Valley Rattler isn’t running. There are a lot of musicians in the Valley who love to get together for a jam session so how better to do this than throw in a gorgeous little country venue, some wine and cheese and I am told light meals and spend the night making music under the stars. And if you want to sing along they are always happy for new talent to join in!

I hope that has given you a few ideas, but if you want to do nothing at all but sit on our verandahs with a glass of wine and watch the world go by, or the shetland ponies across the road go by with the odd peacock and wallaby for good measure then that is fine too (true we have all those wandering around, they distract me whilst working in the office, thank goodness I can’t see the cows from here!)

So if you have been promising yourself a break in the country now is the time to come and celebrate with us!

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