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 in an actual milking setting (ie in a sunken area so they were underneath the cow) and then see how the milk travelled to large vats which were then collected by milk trucks.

Other highlights of Wittacork were:

• 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)
• Feeding the goats

The animal feeding was around 8am and 5pm each day, so there was still plenty of time to relax and visit the surrounding towns.

During our weekend at Wittacork we spent some time in Montville which is about 20 minutes drive. It is a really pretty town with lots of nice little gift shops, a very yummy fudge/confectionery shop and lots of cosy B & B’s which would be perfect to go to on a ‘no children’ weekend away. Maleny too is very close, only about 10 minutes 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 also perfect for a family weekend away. There are 4 cottages which sleep between 4-8 people (different per cottage). All of the cottages have a beautiful outlook as they sit on a ridge overlooking Lake Baroon and the Obi Obi Gorge National Park and are surrounded by rainforest.

They all have 2 bedrooms (1 has 3 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 will definitely be heading back to Wittacork soon, as we all 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!

See their website for further details.