Hosanna Farm Stay might be the most expensive camping stay we’ve had. That’s more due to our aversion of caravan parks and desire to get off grid in free or cheap camps though. Up front I will say, with kids on board, this one was worth the money.
We were travelling down the coast from Queensland, and looking for an overnight stop somewhere around the border. I spotted Hossana Farm Stay on Wikicamps and it looked interesting. Luckily, our twins being under 3 were free, otherwise I probably would have ignored this one and found another spot.
At the time of our stay, it cost about $50 for two adults and one child over 3 (the twins being free). This was for an unpowered site. On face value, that is expensive to me. I got a very pleasant surprise when we drove in to the entrance though.
Arriving at Hossana Farm Stay
We arrived around lunchtime, and pulled into what is like a valley, with well set up shop to check in on the right, and animals of all sorts on the left. It was very busy, with people and kids all over the place. Kids love playing with kids, so we were on a winner already!
I checked us in, and was given wristbands to wear (which I immediately forgot about, but no one pulled us up on it), and a map to our campsite. As we drove on, I could see kids sliding down a huge, steep slip and slide, getting massive air into a large dam. It looked incredibly fun, but our kids couldn’t swim yet, and it was also freezing cold! The slide is open at certain times of the day – it’d definitely be a hit in the warmer months.
We followed the map across a creek crossing and down another hill to the unpowered camping area. Most areas were well grassed, but our side was a bit bare due to being under the shade of a tree. We didn’t mind though as there was plenty of grassy space about for the kids to run around on. Even better, our campsite was right on the edge of a beautiful creek!
Kids Heaven
Where the value really becomes apparent, is the number of activities that are arranged for kids to do. After setting up, we walked back to the main area at the entrance and looked at the piglets, alpacas, goats, chickens and cows all nearby.
The waterslide would no doubt be super popular in the warmer months.
Our kids were able to go into the pen with the piglets and sit down with them and cuddle them. It was their favourite part of the stay and still talk about it a year later! The farm also has allocated feeding times for the animals too, where the kids were able to get feed for the goats and hand feed them.
There are also treasure hunts for bigger kids, and small play equipment for the smaller kids too. Our campsite had a mud kitchen by the creek too. I did think it was perhaps a bit too close to the creek for little kids. We kept a close eye on things, and all was well. It really is well setup for families.
Accommodation Options
Hossana offers a variety of accommodation options, including a homestead that sleeps up to 20 people. There are cabins, and A-Frame huts. But this is camping somewhere, so we were only interested in the camping areas!
I was happy to see that the campsites were generous in size (not crammed next to one another like a lot of traditional caravan parks). There were powered and non-powered sites, and the aforementioned creek side camps were awesome.
There was a rustic but functional shower / toilet block in the camping area, and another up near the main entrance, which was apparently soon to undergo renovations (2023). Apparently campers don’t have access to the kitchin / dining facilities. I am not sure what this actually means – perhaps “no camp kitchen”. We prefer to cook up around camp, so no issues for us.
A Cold Night
Late June in northern NSW gets very cold! With a forecast overnight temperature of approximately zero degrees, we took up the farms offer of a firewood package. For about $20, the workers deliver a bag of wood to your campsite. Each campsite along the creek in our area had it’s own little fire ring. We were able to warm up around the fire at night which was great. We hadn’t had many opportunities for a campfire on this trip. Getting the kids to work on tearing up paper for the fire kept them busy for a while! (One of our keeping kids busy tips). And Ayla lived out her dream of cooking a sausage on it. Sometimes, dreams are easily met!
Final Thoughts
Whilst I originally thought $50 was a bit steep – I soon realised that I wasn’t just paying for a patch of land to set up a tent on. There is definite value for kids in being able to get up close with animals, and hold the chickens, piglets etc. That value would diminish when you’re paying the premium every night, but for us, it was a perfect overnighter. I’d have even stayed a second night if we didn’t have plans to catch up with friends the next day further down the coast. My view on this would probably change having to pay for all three children though. And they’re not cheap. As of July 2024, that would cost $100 a night for an unpowered site!
Whilst not directly related to Hossana Farm Stay, I was also blown away by how beautiful the landscape is on the drive in from the Gold Coast too. A truly spectacular area.
Expensive children rates aside, we recommend this one!
Have you stayed at Hosanna Farm Stay? Let us know in the comments below!
