Episode 4

Rick Stein retraces the journey he first made as a 19-year-old hitchhiker, travelling up from Sydney towards Queensland on the north coast of New South Wales.

Looking back on that adventure, Rick remembers a rushed trip through a remote, sparsely populated region, filled with long days on the highway and endless fast food. This time, however, he’s taking the opportunity to explore a region that has become a beacon for diverse communities adapting to the laid-back way of life.

Popping into Coffs Harbour, he reflects that when he was last here, the town’s only claim to fame was that it grew most of the nation’s bananas. The banana was so important to the local economy that a farmer built a shrine to it: a large concrete public statue on the highway known as the Big Banana. One of the area’s most popular tourist landmarks, the building of the Big Banana marked the beginning of a national obsession with big things. Today, communities around the country have built a number of big things as commemorative landmarks.

Curious about how banana farmers are faring today, Rick heads to the centre of local banana production, the nearby hamlet of Woolgoolga, or 'Whoopi', as it is known. He meets members of the Sikh community, descendants of the Punjabi farmers who began cultivating bananas here more than a century ago. Rick’s visit coincides with the annual celebration of the Vaisakhi harvest festival, and he joins a colourful street parade, samples traditional vegetarian feasts at the local Sikh temple and witnesses how Sikh culture has become entwined with this easy-going north-coast life.

Rick’s discovery of how the region has changed continues at the bustling Coffs Coast Growers Market, where Ethiopian cook Tigist Teressa, known to locals as Tigi, runs the most popular food stall in the area, dishing up goat and beetroot curries served with injera bread. He finishes his meal with one of Australia’s most successful food exports: a flat white coffee.

Continuing his journey north, Rick goes in search of the essential staple of any Australian road trip: a meat pie. His quest takes him to the quiet village of Glenreagh, where pastry chef Brooke Stephen, who made her mark at Claridge’s and the Ritz in London, now serves up what has been voted the best meat pie on the coast. As Rick and Brooke share pies, he concludes that her slow-cooked brisket pie is a game-changer! Brooke explains that she came here in search of a 'tree change' – and now she and the community are growing together.

Inspired by the Big Banana, Rick adapts a favourite recipe, banoffee pie, reimagined with a splash of rum – a nod to the British officers of the Rum Corps who once governed New South Wales and used rum as currency.