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Date: April 2006
Location: Maleny Outback Queensland Australia
The next time you enjoy a drink of refreshing milk, eat a tasty buttered
cheese sandwich, or snack on yoghurt or ice cream, consider the origin of these
products.
Robert and Anne Cork have literally made it their business to enlighten you, in
the most pleasant way imaginable. They have opened up their small dairy farm,
perched amongst the rolling green hills beyond Maleny,
to visitors. There, at Wittacork
Dairy Cottages, you can relax on the spacious deck of one of two luxurious
timber cabins that overlook spectacular Baroon Pocket Dam before strolling
down to the milking shed. Here you can watch 120 Friesian cows part with their
milk, in just two to three minutes at a time.
It's a far cry from the days of Rob's father. As a young boy, he milked four cows by hand in a hour before going to school. Now Rob merely attaches the four rubber cups of a sophisticated milking machine to the teats of each cow's udder between its back legs, as 12 cows line up together on each side of the herringbone dairy. He waits as the milk is extracted, the teat cups falling off automatically once milking is completed. The white liquid has been sucked into one of two gleaming steel refrigeration vats.
The cows are so used to these twice-daily sessions that they start to stroll up to the shed as the 4:30pm and 5:30am milking times approach. For Rob's part, he knows the personality of each cow. "I can tell straightaway if something is wrong," he says.
Each cow has a name and number and is herd recorded once a month. "The names came from a baby book and everyone in my daughter Jaime's class has a cow named after her," laughs the affable Rob. "From Krystal to Verda, each one has definite features and foibles.
"Knowing my cows is just like knowing my three children. That's the benefit of being a small farm.
"It's all pretty technical these days," says Rob, describing how the milk from each cow is regularly analysed, looking at aspects such as protein levels. If the content does not come up to scratch, the cow is sold to the meatworks - a sad occurrence for Rob. Fortunately it does not happen too often and usually only when a cow ages.
Wake early at Wittacork Dairy Cottages and you'll see the massive milk tanker that winds its way along the dirt road every two days to the property, picking up two to three thousand litres of milk. Stuart, the driver, takes a small milk sample for testing before attaching a large rubber hose to each vat to extract the milk. He leaves Rob with a computerised docket - itemising such details as milk temperature (this must be below four degrees centigrade) and amount collected - before driving to other dairy farms and finally to the state-of -the-art National Foods milk processing plant in the Brisbane suburb of Crestmead. The company is one of the three main national players, alongside Paul's and Dairy Farmers, and produces Pura milk items.
Meanwhile Rob's father and grandfather, in the days of no refrigeration, would place the cream, separated from the milk, in metal cans, heave this on the back of their ute for a journey to the butter factory in Maleny. Or else they would wait for the cream can run.
The remaining separated milk (skim milk) would be fed to pigs on the farm. For, in those days, every dairy farm kept pigs.
Rob has just a couple, for old time's sake and perhaps the occasional side of bacon or roast with crispy crackling.
This Farmstay property was inspired by Rob's visit with his family to New Zealand a few years ago. "The time we spent on a dairy farm near Hamilton was the highlight of our trip," he says.
So the couple set about designing and building accommodation. Cabin construction was assisted by a $20,000 grant from Dairy RAP (Regional Assistance Program).
Each of the two large timber cabins is luxuriously equipped for six people, with large television and music system, microwave and stove, combined bath and shower.
The furnishings are sumptuous - plush colourful couches, combustion heater for the winter, bunk beds for the children and a large double bed with a magnificent water outlook for the parents.
There are thoughtful little touches, from soaps embossed with images of native Australian animals to jars of local honey and cumquat marmalade. "We looked at what we liked when we travelled with children and furnished accordingly," says Anne.
And what a treat it is here for children. They can join Rob milking the cows, and have a go milking by hand, before feeding the two pigs, Boer goats and chooks. They can collect, and eat, fresh eggs and learn all about farming. The adults, meantime, can relax in the stillness and scenic splendour back at the cabin and later prepare a delicious meal on the large BBQ provided.
While you're welcome to join in the activities of this, the only Farmstay working
dairy farm on the Sunshine
Coast, that's just one of many options. "This is a passive experience," Rob
stresses. Perhaps you'd prefer to take a walk down to Baroon Pocket Dam
or through the 100-acre pristine rainforest in your backyard. Owned by Rob, it
features over 200 plant species, several of which are rare or endangered.
You can take a drive to the charming village of Maleny,
or travel further afield to Kenilworth through the picturesque Conondale Valley.
The region's main source of water, Baroon Pocket Dam, is a mere 15 minutes drive
away and features recreational boating and sailing.
Or just stay put in this paradise. "Visitors often tell us that they didn't have to go anywhere else once they arrived. Normally we just sleep at the place, they say in surprise. But this is
so different."
Ideal for families, it's also a perfect romantic getaway for couples.
- By Helen Chryssides
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