Brisbane residents may have missed the rural fun at this year’s Royal Show (aka ‘The Ekka’) but with the traditional show holiday now tabled for Friday October 29, they now have three days to catch up on Queensland’s country story and give tourism a shot in the arm. Here are seven incredible holidays to consider for the new October long weekend.
Book a Farm Tour in Cape Trib (Cairns and Great Barrier Reef region)
It may be a two-hour flight followed by a 90-minute drive, but Cape Tribulation is a tropical wonderland. For a delicious October escape, stay with Colin and Dawn Gray at Cape Trib Farm and tuck into more than 70 rare and exotic fruit species grown from their own orchard. The Gray’s venture began in 1970s when they purchased a disused cattle farm – littered with Guinea grass – and set out to rejuvenate it, later adding five cute timber cottages to their celebrated farmgate tasting experiences. While in region, spot crocodiles as you explore the dense rainforest around the Daintree River with Anya and Dean Clapp. The couple bought Crocodile Express in 1987, also purchasing a former cattle property and making it their life’s mission to work with environmental scientists to restore and protect the irreplaceable ecosystem.
Brisbane by Night, Scenic Rim by Day (Brisbane region)
Get some shut eye in one of Brisbane’s swanky inner-city hotels like The W or The Ovolo and then sign up for a guided foodie experience. Try a gourmet tour with The Vino Bus Tour or Tash Maree Tours and visit one of Tamborine Mountain’s 10 wineries, a distillery, craft brewery and a cheese factory. Families seeking the full farm experience will skip the city and opt to stay in the eco tents at Paradise Country Farmstay or the homestead at Tommerups Dairy Farmstay, a 200 acre farm that is home to dairy cattle, pigs, sheep.
Discover the Port Douglas Farm Story (Cairns and Great Barrier Reef region)
Thala Beach Nature Reserve, now a stunning world-class eco-retreat, was built from a degraded sugarcane plantation. Use the treetop villas as your base and join Pete Davidson from Port On a Plate to experience the rural charms of the region. This kiwi-born, Port Douglas-based trained chef is plating up his past roles as angler, chef, dive instructor and Daintree Rainforest guide to take visitors inside farm gates to collect fresh produce before tucking into a three-course lunch starring Daintree Saltwater Barramundi. Meat lovers will want to tackle horseback and an all-terrain vehicle fun at KUR-Cow Barnwell, a working cattle property in Kuranda where the whole family can learn about different cattle breeds before savouring the flavour of each at the restaurant with a beef tasting platter.
Cairns Tasting Adventures (Cairns and Great Barrier Reef region)
The newly launched 311-room Crystalbrook Flynn hotel in Cairns has a mission to entertain. But under all that chi chi chic ambience, diners will appreciate that the beef served in its restaurants is farmed from the hotel’s own Crystalbrook Station, located three hours from Cairns. Similarly, more than 80 percent of the hotel’s fresh produce is sourced from within a three-hour drive from Cairns. Curious folks can sign up for a day trip with Brett’s Outback Tasting Adventures to discover local produce and visit wineries, a distillery, a coffee and tea plantation and a local ice creamery.
Meat at Brisbane’s newest rural retreat (Brisbane region)
When Hazelwood Estate opens its doors on September 1 this year, the rural retreat will also offer a wagyu cellar door complete with wagyu tasting. The team works with local farmers to produce an authentic on-farm paddock-to-plate experience to complement the property’s traditional roots.
Take the Mission Beach Farm Mission (Cairns and Great Barrier Reef region)
Trial life in a typical tropical Queenslander and spend your October holiday at Licuala Lodge, a pretty B&B surrounded by 2.28 acres of rainforest and just minutes’ walk from Mission Beach. Five guest suites offer views over the rainforest canopy to help stressed out city slickers connect with nature. Nearby is Charley’s Chocolate Tour, Australia’s only cocoa tree to chocolate bar experience that also has chocolate making on the menu. Healthier types will want to set the compass for Fruit Forest Farm, an all-weather tractor and trailer experience to meet the farmers who have developed an innovative way of growing exotic fruit trees to withstand the region’s cyclone prone weather.
Brew up a Whitsunday Gold holiday (Whitsundays)
Get your heart and holiday started with a daily tour of the Whitsunday Gold Coffee Plantation and understand how the humble bean is transferred into full-bodied coffee before heading off to Freedom Shores Resort north of Airlie Beach. This resort has nothing to do with farming, but the nautical styled cabins (including one made from the hull of an old ship), is a sure crowd pleaser.
