We want to create a hip camp farm trail map travelling North from Rare Dragon Fruit Agnes water to Cairns, Far North Queensland
We have noticed a lot of hip campers coming through looking for working farm stay camps.
This is a girls trip with myself (Yana) and Monique my sister in-law. We will be adding more info as we travel as well as photos.
This is also a great way to show your support for our primary produces and meet them face to face.
This would be an easy trip to do starting from the Gold Coast, Brisbane or the Sunshine Coast.
You could have your 1st stay with us at Rare Dragon Fruit Farm stay Agnes Water.
I have added in things to do along the way, we may not get to do them all and if we don't its a great excuse to come back:
What to take:
We are traveling pretty light with only the basics. The more room we have in the car the more plants and Opp shop bargains we can find!!!
Car awning and Hiking tents, mattress and pillow.
We have an Engel fridge and battery box.
Hiking stove.
Bottled water
Portable toilet and pop up toilet tent
How to book-
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On HipCamps you can use a farm filter to narrow down working farms.
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Then you create a trip list with places that interest you.
- Go onto wiki camps to look at distance to drive. We like to give ourselves time to explore as we go:) creeks, opp shops, gardens and what ever pops up along the way :)
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From there book your dates.
Our Itinerary-
Starting from our farm and hip camps site Rare Dragon Fruit, Agnes Water / 1770 you can click on the farms name and it will take you straight to the farms Hipcamp page.
Day #1Milfarrago Farm Stay - Bungundarra, Queensland (Rockhampton)
Travel time - 2 hr 29 min (225.1 km) via Bruce Hwy/A1
Date : 30 / 31 November
- Tanby Dragon Fruit Farm
- Kevin from the dragon fruit experiment
- Beach walk at Claireveiw and WAGS opportunity shop and café was open with some delicious home made passion fruit cheese cake.
Day#2 Ballantyne's Strawberry Farm- Mount Charlton, Queensland (Mackay)
Travel time - 3 hr 42 min (336.0 km) via Bruce Hwy/A1
Date : 31 Oct -1 November
The Strawberries were not in season but the farm did have the most beautiful sunflowers growing.
We were lucky enough to have the whole camp to ourselves. It was a very quite and peaceful night sleep listening to the sound of the crystal clear creek behind us.
We had a big drive so we woke up early and had a swim in the National park swimming hole just down the road from the strawberry farm, the water was not freezing it was cool and refreshing. I think if we were not so excited and noisy we would have maybe sited a platypus.
Next time I'm taking a dive mask and allowing more than a couple more nights at this amazing spot.
Breakfast on the road today, I have been to Healthy Haven Proserpine before, its 1 min off the A1 and offers healthy meals at a reasonable price. Their Moto is Nourish your body with the finest that nature has to offer.
We had a long drive and we stopped a few times along the way.
*Big Mango- Great for a photo, the tourist shop is very ' touristy' and the toilets are clean.
*Fruit stop- Just before Townsville on the right hand side going north is a road side stall selling Mangos, unfortunately for the lady selling the mangos, her eyes were red and very irritated due to a Mango allergy. Poor thing!
You will be able to spot this stall by the Giant Pumpkin and Watermelon.
We got the most beautiful sweet pineapple from this stall, a bit pricy but the quality was there.
*The frost Mango - North of Townsville on the right hand side going north. This was a surprisingly nice stop where you can explore the tropical fruit tree orchard behind the café. They also have seasonal fresh produce for sale.
Nice clean toilets too.
Day #3 FNQ Blooms - Bartle Frere, Queensland - South of Cairns
Travel time - 7 hr 55 min (669.4 km) via A1 and Bruce Hwy/A1
Date : 1- 2 November
Cairns Botanical gardens and Café.
We skipped on breakfast and were starving by the time we got to Cairns botanical gardens, we went to the café inside the gardens. I probably wouldn't eat there again it was a bit pricy $53.00 for 2 average burgers no chips or salad on the side.
It did fuel us for our 3 hrs walk around the spectacular gardens though.
We were surprised to find the water tank galleries inside the gardens.
The old water tanks make a cool rustic space for an art gallery.
Day #4 Palm Royal Cairns - Hotel Cairns city.
Travel time - 55 min (70.9 km) via Bruce Hwy/A1
Date : 2-3 November
- Rusty Markets (Open Friday, Saturday and Sunday )
This is the one stop shop for the best seasonal tropical produce with multicultural food delights. The hardest thing to do at Rusty's is pick what is the best food to eat. We settled on a box of tropical fruit and aimed to eat some stuff we hadn't eaten before.
We opted to go for the sharing idea so we could sample twice as much. We had fresh crispy duck wrap, spanakopita (is a delicious savory Greek pie made of perfectly crispy layers of phyllo dough and a comforting filling of spinach and feta cheese) and a mixed bag of samosa.
For a sweet we had banana sticky rice.
- Mossman / Daintree village
Monique has developed a taste for a midday beer and convinced me that because I was feeling so rested it was the perfect time to have a schooner and try some crocodile and kangaroo skewer. There was a smell of a charcoal fire that drew us into the Daintree tavern.
Before the meal came to the table we bantered over what we think we would preferer best?
We were both sure it was going to be crocodile as we had eaten roo before and found it a bit gamey.
The Crocodile was served with a lovely satay sauce and the roo was served as a delicious savory Greek pie made of perfectly crispy layers of phyllo dough and a comforting filling of spinach and feta cheese, capers and Greek olives.
The reason we were in this area was to drop an order off to a customer at Crystal Creek just passed the Daintree village. Nicholas who is starting a food Forrest and healing farm, was fantastic. You can go and eat from the abundant food Forrest he is creating.
As you drive into Nicholas' property there is an old star fruit plantation, each star fruit tree has a dragon fruit growing up it.
When Nicholas purchased the property the owner said they imported them from overseas, either Vietnam or the Philippines.
Nicholas said these are the best tasting dragon fruit he has ever had and that they do not compare to any other red dragon fruit in the area.
He kindly gifted us a few cuttings and I can't wait to try them, I would love to go back to Nicholas's property next year and give him a hand in the food forest.
His farm is in the most spectacular green country side, driving along the road even the cows looked happy.
Day #5 #6 & #7 Atherton Tableland staying with Aunty Lindal
Travel time - 1 hr 19 min (93.4 km) via National Route 1
Date : 3/4/5 November
Aunty Lindal's in Tarzali- Atherton Tableland
Lindal's property is amazing with a fresh water creek running through it, the perfect place for a cool morning swim.
We climbed her amazing chocolate sapote tree and made delicious food with the honesty box and market finds along the way.
Rusty markets provided an amazing fruit platter for breakfast, Crunchy jackfruit, sweet star apple and creamy golden canistel.
The last day we had coconut pearl or coconut apple ( this is the heart of a sprouted coconut) with cooked plantain banana, a sprinkle of wild vanilla and some creamed honey.
We wandered Aunty Lindal's garden plotting ideas, tasting and collecting seeds and cuttings. I can't wait to make a special "Aunty Lindal's Atherton garden" in Agnes Water. It will definitely be in our microclimate at the front of the house. This Microclimate holds more moister, has a good canopy and feels 5 degrees warmer in winter.
Lindal also took us on tours of local farms.
- Leah's permaculture garden
Just down the road from Lindal .They had a really interesting array of fruit trees, herbs, nitrogen fixing plants and miniature cows. Leah uses diatomaceous earth though her garden to add nutrients to the soil she also has bees and uses everything she grows. I am really interested in experimenting more with spice trees after this visit - cinnamon and all spice are 2 new trees I am adding to my list.
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Foggy Mountains Mushroom Far North Queensland.
We had an in depth 1 on 1 tour of the mushroom farm . We were shown from grain to mushroom how these delicate mushrooms are produced.
There are many health properties to explore with these mushrooms and Foggy Mountain mushrooms produce unique liquid extracts, powdered and capsule blends to help a range of conditions.
They sell oyster, lion mane, Reishi, Turkey Tail and Shitake mushrooms as well as Mushroom pate and other ready to use delicacies .
We hope to collaborate nest year to produce a lions mane honey.
beans and vanilla products for our honey infusions.
Wild Vanilla is a family run vanilla farm with an environmental and organic focus on producing world class vanilla beans. They have a new patent way to dry the vanilla to create a sexy looking bean that boasts freshness.
We are so excited to be working with Bec, she is a real treasure and hope to be back next year to help with some pollination.
We left the tablelands and headed to Innisfail with extra time to stop and enjoy detours along the way.
We popped in to see Rob who is part of our dragon fruit experiment.
Rob is a landscaper and experienced cactus grafter. We learnt from him how to do micro grafts.
Robs major problem is the rainforest canopy that provides just a bit too much shade. But all of his dragon fruit looked great. He is growing his in pots so they can be easily moved.
Georgina's Biodynamic Farm.
First, we rouble shooted the European bees living in her wall and how to safely get them out.
Georgina gifted us some duck eggs, Indian and Australia game x chicken eggs that I have got in the incubator, I really hope these hatch after doing some research and talking with Georgina. These are a robust bird that are good for meat and have less health dramas than other breads.
I am so jealous of how productive Georgina's garden was, banana and choko's everywhere and at the front of her drive way she has a large raspberry diva.
Milla Milla falls and Mungalli biodynamic dairy.
We got to Milla Milla falls early and had a refreshing swim before all the tourists came, It was stunning! I would definitely recommend getting there early. FNQ waterfalls, swimming holes and pristine creeks have been a highlight! We only ended up have 3 showers in 2 weeks, swimming 2-3 times a day in fresh water gave us instant facials and soft skin. My husband even said to me when I got home you have beautiful soft creek skin.
Driving out to Milla Milla the grass was covered with dandelions. This is something we are missing in Agnes. Dandelions are a rich food source for bees and are easily grown in your lawn. They are definintley not a weed in the eyes of a bee keeper.
We stopped by the side of the road and collected these preciouses seeds to take home and spread in our lawn.
We had worked up quiet an appetite and stopped at Mungalli Biodynamic dairy for breakfast.
Mungalli Biodynamic is a family owned, Biodynamic and Organic dairy farm that produce's delicious Biodynamic dairy products free from nasties!
They do a nice toasty as well as offer lots of local boutique products.
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The hairy fellows farm
Barney is part of our dragon fruit experiment and we called in to have a chat and walk around his tropical farm.
He grows a vast array of tropical fruit trees, from coconuts and vanilla to santole and bread fruit.
He has a good collection of dragon fruit and enjoys hand pollenating at night time as the heat is more bearable at Innisfail in the evening.
We exchanged honey and freeze dried jack fruit. I would highly recomend Barney's freeze dried jack fruit, its the best yellow jack fruit I have ever tasted.
The Pocket El Arish - Café, shop and leg stretch
There are special places to stop along the way where you can buy local produce and sustainable products as well as get some quality food and coffee.
The Pocket is one of these stops. It's a good place to stop with kids and check out the duck's, chickens, turkeys, cows and even water buffalo!
All their facilities are clean and it has a very homely feel, plus the staff are always friendly and happy. This is a feel good stop!
Day #9Elysium Palms- Mission beach -
Travel time - 1 hr 52 min (143.2 km) via State Route 25
Date : 6-7 November
Elysium palms is a beautiful green campsite with a swimming creek at your feet.
The grass was such a soft base for our mattress and it was a highlight waking up and watching 2 kingfishers dance on a branch over the creek.
It was very relaxing laying on our picnic rug watching the Ulysses butterflies drift though the rainforest canopy.
Mission beach would be one of my favorite spots. It's such a special place where the rainforest meets the sea. Dunk island is just off the coast. There are nice short walks everywhere with so many uncrowded beaches and bays to explore.
This is also a great place to spot a cassowary.
We did a couple of national parks walks and had a beautiful diy breakfast at bingle bay.
The Garage Bar and Brew House
We had not gone out for dinner so far this trip, but seeing we were only a 10min drive from Mission Beaches main street we thought we would spoil ourselves and have a nice dinner.
The Garage bar and brew house was open for an early dinner after our beach walk.
We had a yummy tofu poke bowl, Barra taco, calamari and chips. I had a beautiful cider that was crisp and not too sweet. I would definitely recomend a stop in. My only regret was not buying some of there beers for the way home.
30min off the Hwy heading south was Murry Falls. This was just a split second decision turn that paid off!! Amazing swimming creek and national park camping.
Day #10 - Crystal Creek Campsite- Unpowered - Townsville
Travel time - 2 hr 53 min (234.6 km) via Bruce Hwy/A1
Date : 7-8 November
This camp site was a 2 min walk to the creek for a swim, it had powered sites, fire cooking facilities and washing up taps.
There was a toilet block with showers and and area to plug in a kettle.
BYO toilet paper.
The site was shady with very few campers.
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Crystal Falls, or Upper Crystal Falls to some, is Paluma's hidden secret.
Like any good hidden secret this beautiful spot is a back packers stop off. If you just rock hop a bit you can find your own little rock pool. Even though this spot is a bit busy, it is well worth the narrow drive up the hill. I can't wait to take the kids back the pools, they are full of fresh water shrimp.
This is a must!!! So much fun sliding with speed down natural water slides!!
We went here early and had it all to ourselves. This would be an experience the kids will never forget.
If you persist and walk a little further along the track you're rewarded with spectacular slides and rock pools. There is even a stringy mango tree in the carpark for a breaky treat.
Day #11- The fruit farm- Mackay
Travel time - 30min
Date : 8-9 November
Kay and Nick have a lovely rare fruit farm with a camp site that boasts pride.
They have thought of everything, there is a camp kitchen with all the cooking facilities, fridge and table.
They have created a clean and unique bathroom using 2 Ibc tanks to create a nice shower,
Its a pleasure wandering around the gardens looking at all the fruit trees that are very conveniently labelled and referenced in nicks book that you can buy.
Nick has written an amazing book detailing all the rare fruit trees they are growing. I am looking forward to going back and having a garden tour next time we are in the area.
There are working bee hives all around the Fruit Farm Van Park , Jams and honey, and chutneys to buy to.
Day #12 Paradise by the Creek- Mackay
Nestled between a crystal clear creek and Lychee trees, this camp site has a structure with tables and fire pit. This camp is only 2 minutes from our first camp at Ballentine's strawberry farm, at first I thought id entered the wrong thing into the Hipcamp app to get GPS directions.
Travel time - approx. 6hrs
Date : 9-10 November
We had approx. a 6hr drive the next day and we had a quick dip in the creek before hitting the road and continuing south.
We found flaggy rock a very tidy little spot on the Bruce Hwy at Carmila.
This café is tidy, has some nice food and tidy toilet. Out the back were dams with lots of magpie geese. We were able to grab a coffee, stretch our legs and walk around the dam.
Day # 13 Rare Dragon Fruit - Agnes Water
This is our farm!!
We are a working dragon fruit farm.
We produce fruit from November until May.
We have over 100 different varieties of dragon fruit, with each one having different foliage characteristics and tastes, like watermelon, lime, coconut, lychee and more.
Only 3 camp sites- 2 powered and 1 unpowered.
Picking your own herbs and feed for the chickens is complementary.
We have rubbish bins, recycling and compost bins for your use.
There is an honesty box where you can buy our honey, seasonal fruit and farm fresh eggs. Even if you are not staying with us please feel free to visit.
Rare dragon fruit is only 5 mins from town, 5 mins from the beach, 10mins from 1770 and 5 mins from the paperbark walk.
When booking if you pop in the code hipcamp.com/r/yanab112d90 to support more Farm stay tours and Hipcamp farm trails
Staying on other Hipcamp farm stays made me constantly think of our own and what we liked and disliked comparing all the different properties.
If you are thinking of becoming a host, here are some things to consider.
- As campers we didn't want much, the more private the better
- Toilets and showers are great but not a essential. We were fine with a porta potti and toilet tent. If private enough just the potti in the bush was great. Don't provide facilities if you can not maintain them to a high standard.
- Chat to the campers, this gives them a sense of security and lets them know where they can explore on the property. This was probably the biggest one for us.
