Worendo Cottages: A Family Guide to a Scenic Rim Farm Stay

1. At a Glance
2. Getting There
3. Checking In
4. The Cottage
5. Feeding Time & First Evening
6. Day Two & Bird Feeding
7. Practical Tips & Packing
8. Our Verdict
9. FAQs

We took the M1 south through Logan and were in Beaudesert in about an hour. Beaudesert is your last stop to stock up, so do your shopping there. Worendo is another 30 minutes down the road, and there are no shops in between.

We stopped for lunch at VK Everydays, a cafe across from the Scenic Rim Regional Council building. The coffee was good, and the burger set us up nicely for the last leg of the drive.

Then the shopping. I love cooking when we stay somewhere with a kitchen, so we headed to the Scenic Rim Farmers Market. Despite the name, it’s a family-owned fruit and veg shop inside the Beaudesert Fair shopping centre, stocking local produce. We picked up potatoes, capsicum, smoked garlic, ginger, onions, free range eggs, avocados and seasonal fruit, everything for a Filipino chicken curry, roast veggies and two breakfasts. The bread was noticeably cheaper than in Brisbane too.

The butcher in the same centre, Beauy Quality Meats, covered the rest: chicken breast, smoked bacon and a lamb steak.

Kerry Road is where the scenery takes over. We play a spotting game on every road trip, a yellow car, a white horse, a windmill, a point each and a lolly at the end. Our daughter spotted everything except a yellow car. She still got the lolly.

We geocache when we travel, and one was hidden beside St John’s, an old timber church at 1823 Kerry Road. Murray and our little one went straight for it by the cemetery, then got curious reading the headstones. I was busy with the view, the valley opening up below the hill.

Bushman Bernard O’Reilly, who found the 1937 Stinson crash survivors, is buried here. A small stop with a big piece of Scenic Rim history.

From there it was creeks, acreage, horse stables and the Darlington and Burgess Parks Camping Grounds, until the Lost World Valley appeared around the bend and took our breath away. Paddocks rolling right up to the mountains, scenery you don’t expect to find just 90 minutes from Brisbane. And right there, the sign for Worendo: turn right onto Cedar Glen Road.

We arrived around 2pm. Nathan, the owner, met us, ran through what was nearby and when the animals get fed, and handed us a hand-drawn map of the Lost World Valley, like something out of an old explorer’s journal. Keep it. We used it to explore the valley, and it came home with us as a keepsake.

Keys in hand, we drove through the gate and down to Widgee.

Widgee has two bedrooms, a queen in the main room and two single beds in the second, plus a sofa bed in the living area. Inside, it’s open and roomy, with plenty of floor space for a busy little one to play and spread out.

The kitchen was my favourite part. It’s fully equipped with a stove, oven and microwave, everything I needed to cook a storm for two nights. The bathroom has a big spa bath as well as a shower, a lovely way to unwind at the end of a busy farm day.

We stepped out onto the verandah.

You see a place in photos for weeks, and standing in it is even better. Murray and I sat on the bench for a while, just smiling, while our daughter stormed straight into her bedroom to unpack.

She has her own little travel bag for her essentials, and unpacking it is always a surprise. This time: a Care Bear night light, a hairbrush, her unicorn, her vanilla bear, a Hairy Maclary book, and the Count von Count from a QAGOMA exhibition.

By about 4:30pm we heard the call. Feeding time.

This was our daughter’s first time up close with sheep and cows, feeding them and giving them a pat. She already knows chickens from her grandparents’ place, so she started there with Murray. The late afternoon light was soft and golden, and I spent most of it capturing the moment.

She was dancing and laughing, telling one cow “you had too much” before turning to feed the next one.

By the second afternoon, she knew the routine without being told. The cows lick the hay straight off your palm, and it tickles. She giggled every time, and when I tried it, so did I. Nathan joined us for a chat both afternoons, which is how we got to know the people behind Worendo.

After feeding we walked up the hill behind the cottages. At the top there is a picnic table with benches and a full 360 degree view, the rolling paddocks, the pines, and the mountains of Lamington National Park behind it all. We watched the last light hit the ranges while Fredo the cow ate dinner nearby.

Back at Widgee, Murray lit the outdoor fire pit while I cooked the lamb steak from Beaudesert with roasted vegetables. After dinner, we gathered around the fire to toast marshmallows, with plenty of giggles, stories and sticky fingers.

Moments like this are what we drove out here for.

Our daughter was very excited about having her own bedroom. Right up until it was actually bedtime, when she asked to sleep next to us.

So we made her a bed from the sofa cushions beside ours, and it was comfy enough to last both nights. With a preschooler, plan for that. Her own room feels different at bedtime than it did at check-in, so it’s worth asking Worendo before you arrive whether they can arrange an extra mattress or bedding in your room.

Nights in the valley got down to about 6 degrees in mid September. The blankets were warm, and the air conditioner in the bedroom has a heating setting, so we all slept well.

I had planned an early walk around the property. I slept in.

We woke to mist sitting on the mountains outside the verandah instead. I made avocado toast and scrambled eggs while Murray and our daughter made me a plunger coffee.

We’d planned a bushwalk, but the wind picked up, so we stayed in and enjoyed the cottage. Around the same time, one of Murray’s clients needed their website live that day. The wifi in Widgee was too slow for work, so Nathan invited Murray to use the faster connection at the property office. We passed on the feedback, and the owners are looking at upgrading the network.

The office also has a stash of toys and outdoor games for guests, and our daughter came back with a dinosaur and a monster truck. Between those, her colouring book, a little ABC Kids and the verandah, her morning was full. Murray was back by lunch.

Once the wind dropped, we drove about 10 minutes toward the Lost World Guest House end of the valley and found our second geocache by the Albert River Lost World Crossing sign. Just past the crossing, a farm gate marks private property. Visitors can drive through, but close the gate behind you, as there are farm animals inside. About 5 minutes on, a fence marks where cars stop. From there, it’s a 200-metre walk to the creek, following the surveyed road marked with arrows on the rocks and staying off the private land on either side.

The water was cold but still perfect for splashing feet. We crossed the creek, spread our picnic blanket under a big shady tree with fruit and biscuits. We stayed for almost two hours.

After a quick rest at the cottage, we drove 10 minutes to Darlington and Burgess Parks Camping Grounds for the free 4pm bird feeding. Within minutes, about five lorikeets had landed on Murray and our daughter’s heads and hands, much to her delight. One nipped her hand, so bring gloves for little ones.

We grabbed ice creams from the campground kiosk and ate them at the park’s playground down the road before heading back to Worendo by 5pm, just in time for the animals. Good to know: the kiosk at Darlington Park also sells drinks, snacks, ice, firewood and other camping basics, which is handy if you’ve forgotten something, with the nearest shops 30 minutes away in Beaudesert.

I had prepped earlier that day, potatoes and vegetables chopped, chicken sliced, so dinner was quick. Filipino chicken curry with a packet of coconut jasmine rice.

One more round of marshmallows at the fire pit, with our daughter as Murray’s official toasting assistant and taste tester. Hopefully not our last at Worendo. We’ll be back.

On the last morning I did make it out, at 7am. Mist on the mountains, cold air, soft sun across the grass. I walked down to the duck pond, and as I came close they all lifted off across the water together. The cows were busy with their green breakfast.

Back at the cottage I cooked the last of the smoked bacon with sunny side up eggs, avocado toast and rockmelon. Murray and I had our coffee on the verandah with our daughter chatting away between us.

We packed, cleaned up, and handed the keys back before the 10am check out. When we said goodbye, Nathan suggested we leave via the scenic route to Boonah, past Mount Barney. He was right. It was even prettier than the drive in.

For one family with one or two young kids, yes. These are the things that decided it for us.

Worendo has other cottages too. According to Worendo’s own site, Barcoo also sleeps 6 and is designed to be inclusive for people with disability, the Treehouse sleeps 4, and Wild Lime is their cottage for couples. We have only stayed in Widgee.

The nearest shops are 30 minutes away in Beaudesert, so stock up with everything you need on the way in. For small essentials like drinks, snacks or ice, the kiosk at Darlington and Burgess Parks Camping Grounds, 10 minutes from Worendo, is a handy backup.

Connectivity varies across the cottages. Telstra is the only mobile network with full coverage here, according to Worendo’s own site. Widgee has newly installed NBN, but it was too slow for laptop work during our stay, while one of Worendo’s other cottages has Starlink. If you need to stay connected, message Worendo before you arrive and ask for the cottage with the best connection.

A work-free getaway is the dream, but plenty of families work remotely like us. And sometimes a place like this sparks new ideas, so it’s nice to have a connection when inspiration strikes.

The weather sets the plan. Wind cancelled our bushwalk, and the nights are cold even in spring. With a cottage this comfortable that was no hardship, but go in with a loose plan.

One thing that caught our eye in the booking terms: it’s a working farm, so if you’ve been on another farm or overseas recently, Worendo asks you to let them know first for biosecurity reasons. It’s also worth checking the cancellation policy before you book, as late changes are charged in full.

Here is where you’ll find Worendo Cottages and the surrounding spots in the Lost World Valley:

Without question. Worendo Cottages gave our 4-year-old her first experience feeding and patting sheep and cows, marshmallows by the fire every night and a picnic by the river. And it gave us a verandah for slow mornings and quiet evenings, just 90 minutes from Brisbane.

Burleigh Heads & Currumbin (Gold Coast) Guide
If you are planning to extend your trip down to the coast, explore our family guide to Burleigh Heads and Currumbin, stop by stop.

🏆 Key to South Bank Award Winner

Jomana, co-founder of Really Traveling. I write first-hand guides with Murray for Brisbane families with children under five. When I’m not at my desk working to publish an article or building a website, you’ll find me cooking, taking photos, and exploring every corner of Brisbane with my 4-year-old!