Summer Land Camels Buy from the Bush Festival

 

Summer Land Camels, Buy from the Bush Qld Festival.

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The arrival of spring inspires us to break out from winter’s hibernation and embrace the fresh outdoors. A road trip naturally satisfies that spontaneous travel urge. We escaped the hustle and bustle of the city, and made the most of this weekend and explored some natural beauties hidden within our Sunshine State.  We took the 50 minute drive southwest of Brisbane to one of Queensland’s hidden gems, Ispwich. With deep provincial roots and an interesting history and a growing culinary scene, Ipswich has become home to many cool new cafes, restaurants and bars that can't afford to set up in Brisbane. Even a quick wander around the heart of Ipswich will give you a chance to discover a few places you will want to return to. We took a walk to the top of town, past the wares in vintage stores, marveled at the restored heritage buildings on Brisbane Street and stopped in at the Old Flour Mill, Rafter and Rose for breakfast.

Rafter and Rose, in the character-filled Top of Town precinct of Ipswich, is a delightful indoor café plus an open shady laneway decorated with flowering pot plants. Rafter and Rose are absolutely no secret. Actually, it happens to be one of the most popular cafes and breakfast spots in Ipswich. Head through the laneway entrance via the nineteenth century French cast iron gates and enjoy yourself. Rafter and Rose offer delicious coffee, a variety of breakfast and lunch dishes and the most amazing homemade baked treats. Baked goods are constantly changing from cheesecake to croissants to the best doughnuts ever. 

The tiny sign outside doesn't showcase just how good this place is. The breakfast menu is substantial; the coffee good and hot, and service was friendly. We loved it so much that we will be back with our pup (Shari) on the next visit. The interiors are super instagrammable, but who has time for that when the food is so lovely?

From breakfast we headed to the tiny town of Harrisville, which boasts two pretty useful pubs – The Royal Hotel and The Commercial Hotel, and a sprinkling of shops, including an art gallery called the Gardener Art Studio, housed in a private home that was formerly the Royal Bank. It's camels galore for the Summer Land Camels, Buy from the Bush Qld Festival. Many people make the drive out to Harrisville for the inaugural ‘Buy From the Bush’ Queensland Festival at Summer Land Camels. Buy from the Bush started in mid-2018 to help promote regional makers and creative’s and has since blossomed into an online community of bush businesses and side hustles. The property is picturesque and as we drove up the long driveway towards the decorative gates, we were treated to gorgeous views of mist-covered mountains off in the distance.

 

Arriving early gave you the opportunity to feed and pet the camels. People brought paper bags filled with feed and made a beeline towards the adult camels and the young ones. The friendly camels reach their heads over the top of the fence and gently take the feed from your hand.  The young camels, which aren’t yet tall enough to reach over the top, make do by sticking their heads through the large space in the railings. Taking a tour, you learn that Summer Land Camels is a chemical and GMO-free farm, see how and where the camels are milked. You check out the lab, where the wonderful products are created and learn about the health benefits of camel milk. There were camel rides all day, we visited the onsite cafe and retail store stocking camel milk cheeses, gelatos, chocolates, cakes and their famous camel-cino. We took a stroll around the boutique country markets with a great range of local stalls with beautiful handmade gifts. We ate fantastic food, visited the bar for refreshments and enjoyed the stunning views from this country property.

Shout outs

HanaDina Creations

HanaDina Creations is your one stop shop for everything pretty! Has the perfect accessory to finish off any outfit. A special gift box for every occasion.

HanaDina Creations

Scenic Rim Brewery

Scenic Rim Brewery & Cafe is a small family owned brewery located in the picturesque town of Mount Alford. We picked up a Shazza, Digga’s Pale Ale, Beauy & Blue Spiced Pumpkin Ale and a Ranga Ginger Extra Dry

Scenic Rim Brewery

With small town charm in large quantities, the Scenic Rim is rich in history, culture, art and heritage-listed buildings. From picturesque farms, classic country hotels with world-class hospitality, country festivals featuring local produce, you’ll be spoilt for a choice of things to do in this western pocket of the Scenic Rim.  Other things to consider:

Kooroomba Lavender Farm

Kooroomba Lavender Farm is rather famous, extremely photogenic and a popular tourist attraction. Walk through the six hectares of vivid purple fields before enjoying a meal or wine at the accompanying vineyard and restaurant.

Towri Sheep Cheese

A visit to the award-winning Towri Sheep Cheeses is set on 300 acres with a purpose-built dairy and homestead. Don’t just look around but get involved, by taking part in the cheese-making workshop for the day.

Indulge in a luxury stay

While touring the Scenic Rim, there’s still plenty of indulgence to be had. After a day exploring the region’s attractions, rest your head at one of its more memorable establishments, like opulent Spicers Peak Lodge, the award-winning Binna Burra Lodge, Spicers Hidden Vale, and the homesteads of Mount Barney Lodge.

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