Farm Gates OF GIPPSLAND

Visit with an empty esky. Fill it with the freshest seafood and smallgoods. Gooey cheeses. Preserves and chutneys from country kitchens, eggs from free roaming hens and crisp homegrown veggies.

Slow down, savour produce from the land you’re standing on, and give back to the small-scale farmers who make and grow here. Dotted across Gippsland’s stunning countryside are farm shops, rustic sheds and the dearest little roadside stands.

Fruit and veggies are a Gippsland specialty. Fill your bucket and your belly with scrumptious, juicy berries over the summer months.

It’s hard to resist the little old dairy at I Love Farms (Delburn), where shelves burst with seasonal freshness. Or a platter at Bassine Specialty Cheeses, surrounded by the grazing herd. Meanwhile, hens cluck happily through lush pasture on Gippsland’s free range egg farms, just try to resist a stop at Myrtlebank Roaming Farms (Myrtlebank) giant chicken on the Maffra-Sale Road.

If you love a bit of natural sweetness, be sure to head to one of Gippsland’s berry farms in the summer to pick your own sun-ripened fresh berries.

Sun-ripened strawberries from Macca’s Farm (Glen Forbes) are simply unbeatable. Or the Blue Tree Honey Farm (Dumbalk), which is abuzz with sweetest local honey.

Sometimes the farm gate is the gateway to the sea, where you’ll find fresh, locally caught seafood from Gippsland’s pristine waters. So, seek out the freshest fish, prawns and other from Off the Wharf (Lakes Entrance), or buy your plump prawns fresh from the trawlers.