If December 25th can’t come around fast enough, then fly like Santa’s reindeer to the Granite Belt Christmas Farm, near Stanthorpe.
It’s the only Christmas Tree farm in Queensland that opens its gates to tourists.
Brad and Katrina Fraser are growing more than 10,000 radiata pine trees on their 20-acre property. Each is pruned to perfection for sale during the festive season. Families can wander through the plantation, select their favourite tree – and the Frasers will measure, tag, cut and prepare it for collection. Their first harvest starts from the 1st of December – so be quick!
But if all you want for Christmas is Christmas every day, then this is the place for you! Yuletide fun is virtually a year-round tradition at Granite Belt Christmas Farm.
Visitors are welcome to feed Santa’s menagerie of animals – including four “almost-but-not-quite reindeer” (in other words, deer); baby donkeys; chooks; ducks and goats.
And while the kids cuddle up to baby animals straight from a nativity scene, Mum and Dad can slip away to the Mistletoe Store for some sneaky Christmas shopping.
The boutique is as full as Santa’s sack with delightful, one-off decorations and gifts – all Australian-made. Even Ebenezer Scrooge would turn a little misty-eyed at the magical Christmas lanterns, candles, toys and collectibles.
Don’t leave the farm without sporting a marshmallow moustache, courtesy of Mrs Claus’ famous hot chocolate, made from pure Belgian chocolate.
And that’s just the tip of the treats iceberg. Mrs Claus (a.k.a. Katrina) hand-crafts a range of delicious chocolate slabs including Naughty but Nice (dark chocolate studded with Jaffas) … Festive Midnight Snack (salty pretzels and milk chocolate, the perfect snack for late-night present wrapping) … and Rudolph’s Magic Freckles (a holiday hit with kids of all ages).
Granite Belt Christmas Farm is open every day during December – and on selected days from April through to November, including a very popular Christmas in July picnic.
It has been known to snow in Stanthorpe in winter – so you never know: you may score a Christmas miracle!
