I’ve wanted to visit the Strawberry Fields Farm at Palmview on the Sunshine Coast for ages, and the perfect opportunity arose on our drive up to the Sunshine Coast Hinterland this past weekend. David & I were taking a long weekend in the mountain townships of Montville & Maleny and the fields are only a half-hour detour.

I acknowledge the Kabi Kabi and Jinibara peoples as the First Nations owners of the lands now recognised as the Sunshine Coast. I pay respect to their Elders, lores, customs and creation spirits. I recognise that these lands have always been places of great natural beauty, culture and community.

As it turned out, Friday was a great day to go – there were only a handful of other visitors. When we returned again on Sunday, it was packed with families – we were the only visitors without children and we almost didn’t get a park!

Strawberry picking is heaps of fun and not nearly as dirty as I thought it would be. It’s also very, very addictive. Foraging for the biggest, brightest strawberries, we each filled up a 1kg pallet. The going price was $12 per kilogram, which is more expensive than from a market, but I didn’t find one sour or less-than-delicious strawberry in our entire haul! Plus, I assume they’d have to factor in unpaid for strawberries – you’re not allowed to eat in the patch, but I’m sure some probably do.

Don’t like the idea of picking your own food? Still go if you have a sweet tooth. The strawberries ‘n cream ice cream is the best either of us have EVER tasted – and David lived in Italy for two  years! This is why we had to return on our way home – it is that good!

There’s a small store and cafe, from the store you can buy chocolate dipping sauce, chocolate covered strawberries, jams, soaps and more. We bought both the 60 cent small tub of sauce and a larger $5 tub of Belgian chocolate and strawberry liqueur sauce. We used the small one straight away, on the back patio. It was okay, but next time I’d  just purchase the bigger tub of sauce, which is thick, rich and goes a long way!

The chocolate covered strawberries were also too cute to resist. A delicious start and end to a food-filled weekend!

Read More: Queensland Travel Guide

Have you been to a Pick Your Own farm?