Li-Sun Exotic Mushroom tour in the old Mittagong railway tunnel

The Mittagong railway mushroom tunnel is unlike anything you've ever seen. Cool, damp and eerily quiet, the long disused train tunnel has been used to grow mushrooms since the 1950s. The tunnel itself stretches for 650 metres, its curved archway soaring way above our heads. Since 1987 the tunnel has been home to Li-Sun Exotic Mushrooms, established by microbiologist Dr Noel Arrold.


Our tour group at the end of the disused railway tunnel in Mittagong

Today you can take tours of the mushroom tunnel, held on public holiday long weekends. Tours take place on a Sunday as the market closures on Monday mean no mushrooms are harvested the day before. That means the chance to see a good crop of mushrooms grown in the tunnel itself, including chestnut, oyster, shiitake, shimeji, Swiss brown and wood ears. Enoki, king brown and nameko require different climatic conditions and are grown in laboratories off site.


Dr Noel Arrold, found and owner of Li-Sun Exotic Mushrooms

Dr Arrold is the founder and owner of Li-Sun Exotic Mushrooms. The name Li-Sun comes from the names of his children, but he freely admits this was deliberately engineered to sound Asian to appeal to the Asian market. A microbiologist with a PhD in mushroom cultivation from the University of Sydney, Dr Arrold is an expert in genetic breeding.


Chestnut mushrooms

The single track railway tunnel was built in 1886 to connect Bowral to Mittagong as part of the Main South Railway Line. It runs directly beneath Mount Gibraltar, a mini mountain that stands 868 metres high and is thought to be the rim of an ancient volcano. Construction took three years to complete.

When rail traffic increased, a new double track railway tunnel was built alongside it in 1918. The abandoned railway was briefly used to store explosives during World War II but these were removed when it was realised that the tunnel was prone to flooding during periods of heavy sustained rainfall.

Enoki mushrooms in front of a photo of Jamie Oliver in the mushroom tunnel

Constant 16C temperature and high humidity levels in the tunnel mimic the same conditions as the forests where these mushrooms varieties naturally grow. It's blissfully cool in the tunnel, especially on a 40C day like the day we visit. Dr Arrold says the consistent and sheltered environment offers ideal condition for mushroom cultivation. Only in winter do they occasionally hose down the paths to increase humidity levels.

Initially starting with shiitake mushrooms, Li-Sun now grows and supplies a wide variety of mushrooms for both restaurant and domestic use. Only a few are grown outside the tunnel, including enokis that are grown in a coolroom at 6C and king browns that prefer a warmer 18C-20C.


Garbage bags filled with sterilised eucalyptus sawdust and used to grow oyster mushrooms

The mushrooms are not grown on compost but sterilised eucalyptus sawdust that is then innoculated with mushroom spores. The black garbage bags are a clever innovation by Dr Arrold, slashed with small holes so the mushrooms emerge from these openings for easy harvesting.


Oyster mushrooms


Today Li-Sun grow 1500 kilos of mushrooms per week. That's only a modest amount compared to most other mushroom farmers who harvest an average of 20 tonnes each week.

About 70 per cent of their crop used to be bought by restaurants but Dr Arrold says this is changing significantly with individuals buying more and more of his supply through supermarkets and farmers markets. His credits this mostly to the rise of cooking shows and growing confidence by the public. While he used to export mushrooms to Japan, now all his stock is sold locally in order to keep up with demand. 

Fun fact: Australians consume the second highest amount of mushrooms per capita in the world after France. On average we eat seven kilos of funghi per year. 

Shiitake mushrooms

Seeing these mushrooms up close and in various stages of growth was quite a magical experience. I couldn't stop taking photos. Enjoy them in peace and quiet like I did.

Shiitake mushrooms

Pink oyster mushrooms


Golden oyster mushrooms


King oyster mushrooms


Chestnut mushrooms


Shiitake mushrooms


Chestnut mushrooms


Walking through the Li-Sun Exotic Mushrooms railway tunnel, Mittagong


Chestnut mushrooms


Chestnut mushrooms


Wood ear mushrooms (also known as black fungus or cloud ear mushrooms)


Shiitake mushrooms


Shiitake mushrooms


Shiitake mushrooms


Shiitake mushrooms


Shiitake mushrooms


Shiitake mushrooms


Shiitake mushrooms


Shiitake mushrooms


Shiitake mushrooms


Golden oyster mushrooms


Pink oyster mushrooms


Shimeji mushrooms


Shiitake mushrooms


Shiitake mushrooms


Shiitake mushrooms


Shiitake mushrooms


Baby shiitake mushrooms


Shiitake mushrooms


Chestnut mushrooms


Chestnut mushrooms





The Li-Sun Exotic Mushroom tunnel tour costs $35 per person and includes a guided tour with Dr Noel Arrold, coach transfer to the tunnel from a nearby carpark (not Dr Arrold's laboratory) and a punnet of exotic mushrooms. The tour takes about 60-70 minutes.

Remaining tour dates for 2015 are
Sunday 5 April
Sunday 7 June
Sunday 4 October

To book a tour, contact the Highlands Foodie Group
Tel: +61 (02) 4871 2524
Email: info@highlandsfoodiegroup.com.au


Grab Your Fork attended this tour anonymously as a paying attendee.


Related Grab Your Fork posts:
Bowral - Biota Dining
Moss Vale - Bernie's Diner