Introducing Mavis Bank

Mavis Bank, around a one-hour drive from Kingston, is a tidy little village in the midst of coffee country.

In the village center you’ll find the police station (977-8004), a post office, a public telephone and the People’s Cooperative Bank (977-8010; 9am-3pm Mon-Fri), which represents Western Union.

The Mavis Bank Coffee Factory (977-8015; tour US$8; 9-11am & 1-3pm Mon-Fri), 1km southwest of Mavis Bank, is a working factory that has been producing Blue Mountain coffee for over a century. Ask the chief ‘cupper’ to demonstrate ‘cupping’ (tasting), the technique to identify quality coffee. You can tour the factory to see the coffee beans drying (in season) and being processed. At the end of the tour you can purchase roasted beans at bargain prices.

The Farm Hill Trail begins at Churchyard Rd and leads uphill for 8km to Penlyne Castle and on to Blue Mountain Peak.

As you enter the village, you’ll see Forres Park Guest House & Farm (www.forrespark.com; Forres Park 927-8275; Kingston 927-5957; cabin US$75, r US$75), a working coffee farm with an enviable hillside setting, amid lush gardens and tiers of coffee bushes flowing downhill like folds of green silk. It rents six rooms (with balconies) in the main lodge and three basic wooden cottages with red concrete floors and pine furniture. Meals are cooked by request. You can rent mountain bikes. Bird-watching tours are offered by appointment, as are guided hikes (US$40 to US$65) to Mavis Bank, Cinchona Gardens and Blue Mountain Peak.