Sublime is the only word that comes anywhere near capturing the vibe of Featherview Farm. Other superlatives don't even come close.
My travel partner and I were on the last leg of a huge roadtrip north from Melbourne to Noosa and found ourselves without beds, somewhere near Byron, in a rainstorm, at 6pm on a Wednesday night. Enter Angel of Airbnb and an almost unheard of vacancy at Featherview (the place is extremely highly sought -after!). After double-checking the booking with Garry over the phone, he could not have been more accommodating of our almost immediate arrival, this despite the fact he was mid-way through a spring-clean of the place. We arrived up the winding hill, in the middle of the rainforest in the dark 3 hours later. The place is a gem! There was a surfboard with a personalised welcome note, flowers, bananas in the fruit bowl and the sense of such an incredible view to wake up to, that I could hardly get to sleep. Garry popped over to greet us and check we were settled in OK.
The following morning, I sat on the breath-taking balcony, cup of green tea in hand, to watch the sunrise over the fields and ocean in the far distance. It was a magical morning, the kind that you are happy to have etched into your memory, when needing to think of a 'happy place'.
My banana-mad travel buddy, was keen to take Garry up on his offer of a tour of the banana farm. Such a treat! We learnt everything about organic banana farming - from propagation to plate - as well as the transformation Garry has made to the land over the years. It's a testament to his spirit and hard work.
The final highlight before we left was drinking our own homemade, homegrown banana smoothie in the well-equipped kitchen's blender, and sitting chewing-the-cud with Garry and his wife on the balcony. Magical maxxed! A very happy memory and all credit to the Family of Featherview for creating such an intoxicatingly sublime retreat. I can't wait to go back.