Held under towering rain trees every Saturday, Mossman Markets is a real country market filled with amazing tropical fruits and plants. Find it near the Daintree River in far North Queensland and be prepared to challenge your taste buds with local produce.
What you’ll discover at Mossman Markets
Held in the gardens around St David’s Church, this market is a true local’s secret with an amazing mix of local products, plants, exotic herbs and spices, clothes and food. Bring your bags and fill them up with fruits to try at home. Talk to the stall holders, try the samples and find out how to use them when you cook.
The market day starts early, at 7 am, and everything finishes at 1 pm. It’s about a 20-minute drive from Port Douglas.
Stall holders you’ll want to meet include –
- Penny at Kefir Queen – Penny makes sauerkrauts, kimchi, jamu in a purpose-built fermentary in Port Douglas. Your digestive system will thank you for these.
- Ange at Eats Shoots and Leaves grows seasonal organic microgreens in the Mowbray Valley. Great for turning a salad into something special.
- Jess at Green Food Australia has organic fertiliser that conditions soil to grow healthier, more nutrient dense plants. This is what you need for your veggie garden.
Photo: Spencer Patrick and Kerry Heaney
Chefs love Mossman Markets
When chef Spencer Patrick talks about his weekly shop at the tropical pantry, he has been browsing the stalls at Mossman Markets for Harrisons restaurant. Spencer and Reina Patrick own and operate Harrisons by Spencer Patrick in Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort Port Douglas, which is about an hour’s drive north of Cairns. They stumbled across this little bit of heaven known as Port Douglas while travelling around Australia and put down roots. You can hear Spencer’s story and how he sources produce for his hatted restaurant Harrison’s, at the weekly Mossman Markets below.
Spencer, a nationally acclaimed ex-London chef, offers British-inspired cuisine at Harrisons. The restaurant has great ambience with antique chandeliers in the main air-conditioned dining room and a poolside terrace for lazy lunches or a relaxing drink. I can’t get enough of his bread and butter and prawn toast.
Listen to Spencer talk about how he shops at Mossman Markets here.
Where is Mossman Markets?
The Mossman Market is every Saturday from 7 am to 1 pm under the shade canopy of the Raintrees in Foxton Avenue, Mossman. It is impossible to miss the market as you drive through the town. It is filled with a wonderful array of fresh local produce straight from the farm and really is a tropical pantry. Many stalls stock beautiful local organic produce and handcrafted items. This is very much a community market, and you’ll see many locals doing their weekly shop too. Take a look at the beautiful stained glass windows in the historic St David’s Church next door.
Explore more of the area with a beach tour where you will learn how to catch mud crabs how to catch mud crabs from the traditional owners.
More things to do around Port Douglas
- Don’t miss Taste the Port Douglas festival in August
- Try this five day tour from Cairns to Cape Tribulation
- Best places to eat in Port Douglas
