Happiness is ... the tea shops in Tweed Valley

Mt Waring is the dominating feature of the Tweed Valley. Photo / Supplied

The name Tweed Valley sounds a little, well, dowdy, and I guess that if you didn't appreciate tea shops and galleries it probably would seem so.

But as I am somewhat of a tea-drinking, tweed-wearing, antique-loving type, I have circled it as a place to return to for the op shop and craft store knick-knacks.

Conveniently, as Coolangatta Airport's runway stretches across Queensland and New South Wales, it is possible to do the glitzy stint in Surfer's and the Devonshire-tea-and-butterfly-cake in Tweed, with a couple of bushwalks, all in the space of a long weekend.

The larger town, Murwillumbah, has embraced the shabby chic fashion of doilies and lace and the lure of op shops. And further along the tea-trail, Tyalgum is an encouraging example of how the arrival of one visionary cafe - Flutterbies - can breathe life into a dead town.

Like she has stepped out of a fairytale, the waitress Phoenecia, who wears a pioneer-style dress pinched tight with pinny, pours tea, real hot chocolate and serves perfect wee cakes in the shabby chic tea-party surrounds of the cafe and cottage garden. She tells us she moved to the valley a few years ago because she heard it was the "drought-proof" region in Australia and the Tweed Valley is certainly as green as the Outback is red.

Tropical Fruit World claims to grow the largest range of rare, tropical fruit in the world: its 500 varieties include chocolate fruit, custard apples, lemon meringue pie fruit and the icecream bean.

Dominating the Tweed Valley is its oddly shaped volcano Mt Warning - now a Unesco World Heritage site - named by Captain James Cook in 1770 to warn other seamen of the treacherous reefs along its coast.

The Aboriginal name is Wollumbin, or "cloud catcher", and it is the first place in Australia to see the sun, though people are advised against climbing to the top to preserve its natural state.

Instead, visitors can enjoy the serenity of the lowlands at Mavis's Kitchen, a cosy homestead that has been converted into an organic restaurant named after chef Charlie's mother's legendary home-style cooking. Bookings are advised, especially at weekends.

Near to surfing hot spot Tweed Heads, the Kingscliff Seaside Guesthouse offers plush French farmhouse-style accommodation and elaborate breakfasts prepared by owners Julie and Ian Mackintosh. They are newcomers to the Tweed but, like Flutterbies, blend tastefully into the quaint surrounds.