An Australian Banana Plantation

Traveling in Northeastern New South Wales (October 1997)

Bananas were a commonly grown crop in this section of northeastern New South Wales. Farmers cultivated their plants on steep hills, using narrow, rutted dirt roads to tend and harvest the crop. Plastic bags wrapped around the bunches provided protected from fruit bats and other pests.

We toured a typical plantation (map). The tour included a ride up to the higher parts of the plantation in what appeared to be an old army-surplus troop truck. From these heights we viewed rolling fields of bananas and sugarcane, and the large fires used to clear depleted sugarcane fields for replanting. The horizon stretched all the way to the sea. Down at the base of the hill we sampled fresh bananas. We were amazed at the large number of varieties available for our choosing.

The next morning we bid farewell to our friend, flew from Brisbane, through Sydney, then two thirds of the way across the Pacific Ocean, and arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii. We crossed the international date line and repeated the same day. Hawaii was twenty one hours behind Sydney but the net effect on our bodies was three hours, so we had plenty of energy to start the next set of adventures.

Articles from the 1997 Eastern Australian Tour Series

• Sydney Skyline
• Along Sydney Harbour
• Australian Brewery Coasters
• Australia’s Blue Mountains
• Jenolan Caves
• Brisbane at Sunset
• Atop Mt. Coot-tha
• Noosa National Park
• Glass House Mountains
• Tweed River & Mt. Warning
• Cape Byron Lighthouse
• An Australian Banana Plantation

Readers may also be interested in my 2018 Australasian Adventures Series.