Summerland Camels with Kids

Did you know that there is a camel farm near Brisbane?

Have you ever wanted to ride a camel? Do you wonder what camel milk is like? Or camel milk products? Maybe you even want to try camel meat.

Summerland Camels in Harrisville, Queensland, will answer all of your camel-related questions.

Summerland Camel Farm is about an hour away from Brisbane, and the closest place to Brisbane to ride and learn about camels.

There are currently more than 1 million feral camels in Australia. Farms like Summerland have figured out how to benefit from the large camel population.

Keep reading to find out about our tour of Summerland Camel Farm with kids.

Summerland Camels Day Trip from Brisbane

About an hour away from Brisbane, you can find Summerland Camels.

Summerland Camels is a large camel farm with a store, restaurant, and, of course, camel rides.

Summerland Camels offers 2 types of tours. One farm tour includes a taste of their products, and the other is a farm tour with a picnic lunch. Days vary, so check their schedule.

Book a Summerland Camel Farm Tour.

Riding Camels near Brisbane

Summerland Camels opens at 9 am, and the first available time for riding a camel is at 930 am.

There are various times to ride camels throughout the day. We chose to be in the first group, at 9:30 am, so we left Brisbane a little bit after 8 am, so we would have plenty of time to get to the camels.

They ask you to get there early to sign a waiver, and then we walked around the entrance and fed the camels. There is food available for $2 a bag.

The Camel Ride

A few minutes after 9:30, the kids were given helmets and were led to the camels.

Three camel rides are enough for me in this lifetime, and Mark has no interest in riding one, so the kids were on their own.

Every other group had every member of the family riding.

Since our kids are small, they were able to share a camel. Some camels had one person on them while others held two.

My kids got on the first camel of the caravan, the only female camel, Queenie.

There was someone to lead the camels, while someone else helped the riders on the camels. Then they both led the group around. Because we were not part of the ride, we were not able to follow along and instead waited for the kids in the shade by the entrance.

Both kids enjoyed their camel ride (and wanted to do it again). Their favorite part was getting to see the baby camels.

They said the ride was 15 minutes long, but it was a little bit longer. I chose the 930 so that we would have plenty of time before the 1030 tour.

If you are extremely interested in riding camels and want a longer ride, they offer a sunrise camel ride with breakfast.

While I am sure it would be beautiful to get out of Brisbane City and see the sunrise at the Scenic Rim, I do not need to be there on a camel. Then again, I have been on a sunset camel ride.

Summerland Camel Farm Tour

After the camel ride, we had a snack in the shade and waited for the farm tour.

The owner of Summerland Camels was our tour guide.

I was surprised at the size of the tour group. There were almost 50 people on the tour! We were one of the first families at the farm, but it quickly got crowded. Even with the large size, it was easy to hear the information and see everything.

The tour started in the shade, where we learned the history of camels in Australia.

Camels were brought to Australia in the 1800s to carry heavy objects. Now that things have changed, camels are no longer used in the same way, and many are being killed off.

Summerland Camels opened 5 years ago with 20 camels and now has about 500.

Camels are adaptable to many climates and can go for 20 days without water. They are intelligent animals, and the guide said their intelligence is comparable to that of a 7 to 8-year-old child.

The Dairy

We walked over to the dairy to learn about how camels are milked.

Honestly, I have never thought about camel milk or camel milk products before. I recently found out that people eat camels when I asked what was in a camel pie.

The dairy was similar to a cow dairy, but I was dealing with kids’ questions and did not get to hear all of the information.

I did learn that camel milk is naturally homogenized, so there is no cream on the top. There is no casein attached to the lactose, so people who have lactose intolerance can drink camel milk.

Goat milk has half as much casein as cow’s milk, which is why most people with dairy allergies can have goat milk products.

Camels usually give birth when they are 4-5 years old and then can give birth every other year after that until they are 25 years old. The life span of a camel is 40-50 years.

The camels at Summerland Camels produce milk for a little over a year.

We saw the baby camels after the dairy and then moved on to the production center. There is a room for cheese, a room for gelato, and another for vodka and skincare products.

Apparently, they take the whey from when they are making the cheese, and it is fermented and used to make vodka.

Tasting Camel Products

At the end of our tour, there were 4 items to try.

They set up a table with small glasses of camel milk and cups that held sausage and marinated feta cheese.

We were able to help ourselves to the camel food products while someone came around with a bottle of lotion made with camel milk for us to try.

We all tried the milk, though M enjoyed it the most. She went back for 2 more glasses. I shared a glass with Z, so I only got a sip, but that was enough for me. It tastes similar to cow milk, but a little bit sourer. It was not creamy like the cow milk that we tried at Maleny Dairy on my daughter’s field trip last school year.

The marinated feta was delicious, and I skipped the sausage. I don’t eat pork sausage or beef sausage, so no way I was going to try camel.

Mark was insistent that it was not camel sausage (it was), and M, my adventurous one, tried everything. She has no qualms about eating meat, unlike her mom. Z refused to help himself with anything and only tried my milk.

Book your Summerland Camel Farm Tour here!

How to Try More Camel Products

The shop sells body care products, clothes, toys, and some food products.

There is also a restaurant, the Homestead Cafe, where you can try camel burgers or a camel hotdog. You can add a variety of camel milk cheeses to your meals.

The restaurant also has coolers of camel meat and camel milk products you can purchase.

M wanted to bring home some camel milk, but not only was it expensive, but we were also not heading straight home.

We chose not to eat at the cafe, but as our tour finished around 1130, many of the people from our group walked in to order lunch.

There are plenty of tables set up outside under the trees.

Summerland Camel Farm Wrap Up

We all enjoyed our day trip from Brisbane to see the camels at Summerland Camel Farm.

It is not something that we need to do again, but I do recommend the farm tour for those who are interested in seeing camels and learning more about camels in Australia.

The kids enjoyed riding camels, which seems to be a unique experience in Australia, especially near Brisbane. There are quite a few options for camel riding at Summerland Camel Farm.

If you are interested in ordering their skincare products, they are available online. I believe the food products (besides vodka and powdered camel milk) are only available on the farm.

Would you rather take a bus from Brisbane to a Camel Farm and a winery?  Check out the One Hump Camel Farm and Wine Tour.

Camels in Australia FAQ

Places to See Animals Near Brisbane

• Australia Zoo
• Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary
• Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
• Daisy Hill Koala Center
• Naughty Kids Goat Farm
• Whale Watching
• Snorkeling
• Glow Worms
• The Llama Farm
• Ipswich Nature Centre

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