What to Expect & FAQs
Bellevue Farmstay offers the unique experience of living on a true working farm, meeting, feeding and getting to know our beloved pets and animals. As our guests, you have exclusive use of the Farmhouse and enjoy our full focus and personal attention (ie: the property is not shared with any other guests during your stay).
I have provided some helpful information hereunder, which we share with all prospective guests so that you know what to expect on a visit to our lovely farm.
WHAT ANIMALS WILL WE MEET?
A Kissy Camel: Alana arrived at Bellevue just hours after she was born on August 4, 2014. Alana’s new family now are the baby calves and pet cows in the paddock. She has developed a loving and caring personality and eagerly awaits the guests feeding her each morning.
Gregarious Goats: We have four goats at Bellevue: two miniature boys Simon & Garfunkel (born August 2022) who tend to be the favourites with the guests, and then the elder statesman Bruce who is always jumping in and out of his paddock and stealing the Alpacas food.
Sassy Sheep: Maggie (born June, 2019) thinks she’s one of the pet dogs. Then we have “The Boys”, 3 x Border Leicester/ Southdown cross orphans, each with their own survival stories we will share with you. Also Burnsey (October 2022), is another orphan who has become very friendly with our miniature goats. We often are also bottle-feeding lambs (seasonal).
Aloof Alpacas: Banjo, Victor, Belle and Andy. All are friendly, but can be a little shy. Victor and Banjo absolutely love being hand fed carrots, Andy is inquisitive, while Belle is a little more aloof. In Nov 2024 Belle gave birth to a newborn cria called Rebel, who joins sister Sadie born inAugust 2023.
Cool Cows: At Bellevue we have mainly beef cattle - Angus, Murray Greys, Aussie Reds, Galloway Cross and Baldy’s (Hereford Cross) and Limousine. Depending on the month we may have baby calves which require feeding each morning and night.
Big Boy Bruno: Meet our pet Bruno, a huge black Aberdeen Angus steer 1,100 kg with a sweet tooth. He loves bananas, apples, peaches, bread and Tim Tam biscuits! He lets us brush him just like the horses and he does love the attention.
Dedicated Working Dogs: Arrow (Red Heeler) is a rescue dog that helps Warren with cattle work and most recently we took ownership of lovely Holly, (Blue Kelpie), a sweet-natured gal who loves pats and is learning to be a working dog on the farm.
Bright-eyed Native Birds: feed our iridescent parrots, rainbow lorikeets, rosellas, cockatoos, galahs, willy wagtails, kookaburras, magpies and more! Keen eyes will also spot a trio of wedge-tailed eagles out over the horse paddock.
Horses Who Love Their Hay: We have two retired race horses who still have their foals roaming with them until they are a little older and ready for training.
A Sweet Siamese Cat: Lilly is timid but a beautiful timid Lilac Seal Siamese who doesn’t like loud noises or big groups of guests, but you may see her slinking around the farm.
WHEN CAN WE FEED THE ANIMALS?
9.00 a.m. sharp as the baby animals are waiting on their milk. First we are greeted by the miniature goats and some sheep who love being hand fed their breakfast. Then we hand-feed Alana the Camel, along with the baby animals and the horses. Then it’s down to the Pet Paddock for the alpacas, older goats and sheep who love their carrots, apples and pats. Depending on the season, Warren feeds out hay to the cows and the children will get the opportunity to drive in the cabin of the farm tractor with Warren. They get up nice and close to the beef steers and the cows with their little calves which were born in between April to June or September to December. This feeding takes approximately three hours and we do our best to finish around noon or a bit later, depending how much time you like to spend with the different pets. Guests can walk and talk with most of the pet animals at Bellevue. They are very inquisitive with individual personalities and come up nice and close to meet you – so close in fact that you can smell their “not so nice” breath – a hazard of grazing animals. The children (and adults) if they would like to, are all asked to hand feed the pets. On subsequent feeding days you can tailor your feeding experience with your chosen animals. Please note that on your departure day, your children have the opportunity to feed one or two of their favourite animals.
A 2-night stay offers 1 Full Feeding session (3hrs) of all animals.
A 3- night stay offers 2 Full Feeding sessions.
A 4 night stay offers 3 Full Feeding sessions etc.
On your departure day we can offer a smaller custom Mini Feeding session (this must be booked in advance).
WHAT ARE OUR BEDDING OPTIONS?
The Farmhouse can comfortably accommodate up to 12 guests in the following configurations:
- Bedroom 1 (Queen bed);
- Bedroom 2 (2 x Single beds) - can be made into a queen bed - please advise;
- Bedroom 3 (2 x Single beds);
- Lounge Room (2 x sofa beds, double size with toppers);
- Two roll out single beds – they can be situated in the lounge and Bedroom 1;
- Two Porta Cots and two high chairs are available on request.
* Electric blankets on all beds
To help you visualize the house layout, here is a Floor Plan of the Farmstay.
All beds are made up ready for you with fresh laundered linen, plus personal towels, hand towels, face washers, shower / bath mats, kitchen towels, and table cloths. To help the young ones feel excited about their farm sleepover we can offer some fun “character bedding” such as Thomas the Tank and Disney characters. Please advise both the age/gender/preference of your children so we can have the appropriate character covers on their beds. Or if they are older children, let me know any preferences as we do have lots of fun options.
During our cold winter months we use fleecy flannelette linen for everyone which is lovely and warm.
WHAT DO WE NEED TO BRING?
A sense of humour! Ok, now seriously…As guests of Bellevue, you need only bring your personal belongings and food for preparing your own meals.
DO I NEED SPECIAL CLOTHING OR FOOTWEAR?
For the winter months we supply rubber boots for children and adults, so bring long socks. This is both for the safety of our guests and ease of clean up. If a cow, sheep, calf or horse accidently stands on your exposed toes it will cause a painful injury. Plus, you'll want to avoid animal droppings and mud on your good shoes! So definitely no sandals, sneakers or flip flops when walking around the farm. Additionally, bring warm wet-weather outerwear - our winters are famously fickle and can switch in mere minutes from brisk sunny mornings to cold muddy downpours. We also advise gloves, especially for children's little fingers
WHY IS WATER LIKE ‘GOLD’?
Being on a remote farm, we capture rainwater from the roof of our house and store in water tanks on the hill. So it is like ‘gold’ to us and should be used mindfully. An efficient 3-4 minute shower is our suggestion during the summer months. If you are visiting us as a large group, please be respectful of the water. It is amazing how quickly you can shower (and turn it into a fun game) when you are timing yourself ;)
HEATING AND COOLING
During the cooler months, the house is kept lovely and warm with a robust wood-burning heater in the large Family Room, plus we also have a split system heater/air conditioner in the Lounge Room.
AMENITIES
We have two bathrooms: a large shower and toilet in the main bathroom, and a second shower and toilet in the fully equipped laundry. We provide detergent for the washing machine, the dishwasher and for those who like to wash their dishes in the sink.
WHAT ARE SOME OTHER SUGGESTIONS FOR THE KIDS (AND YOUNG AT HEART)?
On the back lawn we have a small swing and slide set, and a totem tennis set, which the younger children enjoy as their very own playground. The covered back porch at the Farmstay doubles as a rumpus room, complete with a blackboard chalk wall and a lovingly restored antique wooden student’s desk. A TV in the Family Room has a DVD player and we have a selection of DVD’s specifically for the children. PARENTS: please note that all boundary fences on the farm hare electric wires. Whilst they’ll not hurt, they will give a shock.
WHAT ABOUT COOKING AT THE FARMSTAY?
Our Farmhouse kitchen is extensively equipped to make it very easy for our guests to prepare their own meals (as a working farm we unfortunately do not have the time to prepare meals for you). We have an electric oven and hot plates, electric wok, steamer, electric fry pan and two stove top fry pans – one small and one large, electric kettle, four slice toaster, blender, juicer, medium saucepans, stock pots (two large and one medium) and two rice cookers (large + small). For cooking in true blue Aussie style, we have an outdoor gas BBQ under cover. There is a limited supply of dried herbs in the kitchen, along with plastic wrap, tin foil, baking paper and paper towels; salt, pepper, tea, coffee, milo, drinking chocolate and sugar. Our local supermarkets in Timboon & Cobden (under 15mins drive) offer plentiful grocery options.
WHAT TIME SHOULD WE ARRIVE AT BELLEVUE?
Any time after 2pm, but preferably by 6pm in winter and 9pm in summer (before dark when kangaroos can be an issue on some of our roads.)
WHAT TIME SHOULD WE DEPART?
By 10am. Leave your bedding as is and put wet towels in the shower. Please ensure the kitchen is clean and packed away, more or less the way you found it. Please place all garbage in outside bins. There is one for general rubbish and one for recyclable items.
DRIVING TIMES
From Bellevue it’s approximately ……
12 min to Timboon (our closest shopping hub with a great supermarket & butcher)
20 min to Port Campbell
20 min to Cobden
30 min to Peterborough
30 min to 12 Apostles
30 min to Camperdown
35 min to Colac
50 min to Warrnambool
1 hour 45 min to Ballarat
1 hour 45 min to Geelong
2 hours 30 min to Melbourne
5 hours to Melbourne via Great Ocean Road.
These travelling times are approximate for 100 kmph and do not allow for stops. The average speed limit on the Great Ocean Road is 80 kmph or less for most of the drive. It is very windy and at certain times of the year can be very foggy particularly from Apollo Bay to Princetown. From there, on to the Bay of Islands, it’s the beautiful Shipwreck Coast, simply the best.
DRIVING TIP: Fill up your car with petrol when you can. In the country, these services are not all open 24 hours a day like in the cities. Don’t assume with just a quarter tank left, that you will get petrol at the next stop as it could be dark and that next stop will have closed its doors. Cobden (5am-9pm), Timboon (open 24 hours), Port Campbell (open 24 hours).
WOW, THERE’S A LOT TO SEE AND DO! NOW WHAT?
We understand your time schedule may be tight, so we urge you to prioritise what you do really want to see and do. We will happily assist you to ensure you see as much of this superb coastline as you can possibly fit in your visit.
Should you decide to visit us at Bellevue, we will send you a locality map and directions to ensure you find us without any trouble at all. Whilst staying in the Farmhouse you will have the use of our local maps to ensure you see it all without doubling back on your drive or getting lost. Actually, getting lost is hard to do! Driving around is very easy and in many cases you will find yourself the only car on some of the roads - except for the Great Ocean Road as it’s always busy!
HOW TO BOOK
IMPORTANT: All bookings are made on a first-come basis and require a deposit of the first night accommodation. Your initial enquiry is not considered a reservation until you have confirmed it with us. However, should you decide you do want to confirm your visit to our farm on specific dates but need 24 hours to finalise flights, we are happy to put a 24 hour hold (or a bit longer if needed) on your dates for you.
We trust you will find this background information helpful. We’re here to help with your planning so ask us any and all questions.
Warmest Regards,
The Couch Family
Fifth Generation Owners of Bellevue