Duration: Full day or part day
Difficulty: Gentle to moderate/tough
This can be adjusted to suit each guest. Most of the walking is down hill, and the duration of the walk can range from 1.5 hours to 3 hours, with the level of difficulty from moderate to tough, depending on the route one takes. Guests may also drive the entire route, stopping along the way for short walks at various points of interest.
The tour begins with an audio-visual presentation on the history of Glenburn, and a brief overview of how tea is grown, manufactured and tasted
We then move to the Tea Factory where you will be taken for a guided tour on how the leaf is brought in from the fields, weighed, and then taken through the processes of withering, rolling, fermenting, drying and sorting.
The factory tour ends with a tea tasting session with our range of black, green, oolong and white teas, where one can discover the differences in aroma, flavour and appearance of tea manufactured in different ways and at during different times of the year.
Walk or drive through the tea fields with one of our guides, who will give you an insight into how the tea bush is grown and looked after. Interact with the Glenburn tea picker ladies and learn how to pluck the "two leaves and a bud" that is later manufactured into the tea that ends up in your teacup. During the winter season, learn about the different types of pruning that is undertaken to increase the yield of the coming season. Interact with the estate workers as you move from one part of the estate to another. Enjoy the variety of bird life, butterflies and flora that add to the diverse landscape that makes up a tea estate. Catch a crab, or pick some watercress from the numerous springs that filter through the fields. Refreshments will be provided at a suitable mid-way point.
Break for lunch at No. 10 Bamboo Grove, on the sandy banks of the River Rung Dung, which is accessed through a thick bamboo forest. Relax on the riverfront and paddle in the rock pools, while you enjoy your meal. An alternative picnic venue is the Coffee Bari, half way down the hillside, which has great views of the two Glenburn valleys on all sides. Or return to the bungalow for lunch.
The tour of the tea fields can also be incorporated into other walks, for example the walk to The Glenburn Campsite, which goes through the Simbong Tea Division. The Tea Factory and tasting tour is normally done in the morning when the factory processes are taking place, but the tea fields can be visited at any time on the same day or another day depending on each guest's itinerary.
