Maleny: Wittacork Dairy Cottages

Accommodation features

Property description

Maleny Dairies is a popular destination for families holidaying on the Sunshine Coast. But have you considered staying on one of the farms that provides their milk?

Wittacork Dairy Cottages is a Sunshine Coast hinterland farm stay with spectacular views of Lake Baroon and the Kondalilla National Park. The 320 acre modern working dairy farm includes 100 acres of pristine rainforest which is yours to explore.

Our farm stay consists of three self-contained cottages and a larger farmhouse. The 2 bedroom cottages are set on a ridge, overlooking Lake Baroon and the national park, and surrounded by rainforest. The 3-bedroom farmhouse is set closer to the dairy, but with the same great views.

Our guests can choose from:

Marara Cottage (sleeps 4 - queen bed, 2 single)

Carabeen Cottage (sleeps 5 - queen bed, 1 single, 1 bunk)

Tamarind Cottage (sleeps 6 - queen bed, 3 single, 1 trundle)

The Farmhouse (sleeps 8 - 1 queen, I double, 3 single, 1 trundle)

All accommodation is fully-self-contained, with a cook-top, microwave and BBQ (the Farmhouse and Tamarind Cottage have ovens). The kitchens are well-stocked and include some plastic crockery for children. Apart from Tamarind Cottage, all have baths and laundry facilities are shared between the cottages.

Wittacork Dairy Cottages are comfortable and safe for children - the wood stove heaters have guards and the large cottage decks have pool fencing and lockable gates. We provide linen and towels and we also have cots, bedrails, highchairs and booster seats available for guests

There are DVDs, games and books to keep the family entertained inside - but there's plenty for your children to explore outside as well.

We currently milks about 100 cows, with another 100 dry cows, heifers and calves on the property. The herd is mainly Jersey/Friesian cross cows, but we also have some Guernsey.

Milking time is 4-5.30pm and our guests are welcome to watch the cows being milked and help feed calves. You can also feed our growing herd of Boer goats, Pumba the pig and feed and collect chicken eggs. The animals are also fed about 7am after morning milking, and you are welcome to this feeding and get a feel for early mornings on the farm!

And in what is a special experience for children, after seeing the cows milked, the milk taken away by tanker (collection days are Monday, Wednesday and Friday), you can then take them to Maleny Dairies to see how it is processed into bottled milk.

Back on the farm, you can enjoy the rainforest walk. The walk is marked and is about 2km (about 80 minutes at an easy pace). There are also shorter walks of 500m & 1km. The track is fairly level with some steeper sections and there are seats at various spots along the way to rest.

We can also provide you with information on other family friendly activities in the local area.

Family Friendly Accommodation likes: The mix of a working farm combined with rainforest to explore offers exciting outdoor opportunities for a family holiday.

Not what you were looking for? Check out more family friendly accommodation on the Sunshine Coast.

Reviews

Wittacork Dairy Cottages, Maleny review:

My kids, like most, love animals and the freedom to run in wide open spaces. So a weekend at Wittacork Dairy Cottages (1 1/2 hours drive from Brisbane) was somewhere we were all excited about visiting. And we were not disappointed!

What we loved most is that Wittacork is an operating dairy farm, so the kids learnt a few things about how milk gets from the cow to the shops!

They got to milk a cow and then see how the milk travelled to large vats which were then collected by milk trucks.

Other highlights:

■ Feeding Rosie the Pig – one of the biggest yet friendliest pigs we have ever seen! The kids even got to sit on her back!

■ Bottle feeding the very new calves

■ Tractor rides – Rob takes the kids on a great little tractor ride over the hill and through the tunnels

■ Collecting eggs from the chickens (which we then ate for breakfast)

During our weekend, we spent time in Montville which is about 20 minutes drive. It is a really pretty town with lots of nice little gift shops and a very yummy fudge/confectionery shop. Maleny is only about a 10 minute drive and has a good selection of local shops and restaurants/cafes.

One of our favourite family restaurants is Maudys Restaurant and Bar at Witta – very child friendly!

The accommodation at Wittacork was perfect for a family weekend away. There are 4 cottages which sleep between 4-8 people (different per cottage). All have a beautiful outlook as they sit on a ridge overlooking Lake Baroon and the Kondalilla National Park.

Apart from one 3 bedroom, the rest have 2 bedrooms and are well fitted out with a full kitchen, BBQ, lounge, dining and outdoor areas. We took all of our food and mainly had BBQ's on the porch area overlooking the lake. You can also get breakfast provisions for an extra fee.

There are some nice walks around the property too, through the rainforest and down to Lake Baroon.

We had a fantastic weekend! It gave all of us some good fresh country air, was a lot of fun interacting with the animals and farmers and there was loads of space for the kids to run!