MR ENTSCH: (Leichhardt) (16:23): I rise today to pay tribute to a much-loved and respected member of the North Daintree community, Betty Hinton.
I’m proud to call Betty my friend.
Betty is the owner of Floravilla Ice Cream Factory and Art Gallery at Cow Bay, a business she has operated for more than 35 years.
You’ll often find her perched on a chair in front of her ice-cream machine making culinary delights for tourists and locals.
Betty creates ice creams that capture the essence of local ingredients and produces a unique range of flavours.
I’m sure that there are many people scattered around the world who have fond memories of tasting Betty’s homemade, organic ice cream.
In fact, only last week, during a visit to the region, I sampled her signature ice cream.
It was a green ice cream called Daintree Rainforest.
I have to confess that maybe I had two.
I would urge anybody who is planning a trip to the Daintree to make sure that they stop at the Floravilla ice creamery.
You should make sure you have that on your agenda; you certainly won’t be disappointed.
Another thing that not many people know about Betty is that she’s recognised by the Smithsonian Institute as one of the best flora artists in the world.
She has started a project of painting every single ancient flowering tree in the Daintree Rainforest.
It will be a magnificent collection when it’s completed.
For an artist with Betty’s talents, there is no better place to be than in the Daintree forest in our beautiful world heritage area.