Don’t you worry about that

We're in Kingaroy where the Wakka Wakka people are the traditional custodians of the land.

Why? Good question, and one we've occasionally asked ourselves when we set up camp. Kingaroy's claim to fame is that was home to peanut-farmer-turned-state premier, Joh Bjelke-Peterson and his pumpkin-scone-baking missus, Flo. While we were never fans of Sir Joh's politics (quite the contrary), he was a part of Australia's rich and colourful political history so that seems good enough reason to visit Kingaroy. And besides, this trip is all about experiencing everything this land has to offer, from the croc-inhabited rivers of the Daintree to the peanut farms of Kingaroy. So here we are.

When the sun finally came out, we ticked off the town's main attractions - the Big Peanut; the Peanut Silos; the Joh Bjelke-Peterson Recreational Park; and the Peanut Van - before lunch. The Peanut Van has dozens of differently flavoured peanuts ranging from Maple Bacon to Zesty Chilli and our personal favourite, Mussaman curry. We sampled a few, donated some cash into the local economy and took a photo for good measure.

If, like us, you haven't really given much thought into how they grow, here are a few interesting facts about the humble peanut. Peanuts don't grow on trees like other nuts, they grow underground which technically makes them a legume, not a nut. Small plants grow and flower above the ground and from the blossoms a "peg" forms - a bit like a tiny vine. The peg grows downward, eventually making its way underground where pods are formed containing the seeds that we know as peanuts. They don't grow in flavours like Mussaman, those are added once they've been harvested.

The highlight of our stay in Kingaroy was our short trip out of it to the beautiful Bunya Mountains, part of the Great Dividing Range. It's National Park so a sneaky photo from a roadside lookout was about all we could manage, but it was a nice drive.

The Labs hadn't been born when Sir Joh was Premier of Queensland and they asked me what was so special about him. I couldn't think of an answer so I asked Google and found a few of his quotes that sum up the man in a peanut shell:

"Don't you worry about that" in response to questions on just about anything.

"What use is it to the man in the street?" In reference to human rights.

And my all-time favourite: "You can't sit on a fence, a barbed-wire fence at that, and have one ear to the ground".

Ah, they don't make 'em like that anymore. Go on HG, prove me wrong.