If you want to experience the best of rural Australia, nothing compares with a stay on a farm or station. There are some aspects of life on the farm that might surprise you - milk a cow and swim in the creek if you want to, but there are also farmstays with tennis courts, trout streams and spa pools.

The real Mount Bundy
For a taste of life on an outback cattle station, it doesn't get more authentic than Mount Bundy Station, which offers fabulous fishing, wildlife viewing and superb accommodation just south of Darwin.

Working the land
Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF) allows anyone to combine their vacation with hands-on organic farming experience at one of more than 900 farms scattered the length and breadth of Australia.

Southern sensations
The cackle of a kookaburra, the scent of a crushed gum leaf, the flash of a rainbow lorikeet in flight - a farmstay holiday in the southern highlands delivers the sensations of the bush in abundance.

Historic properties
Within easy reach of Brisbane, the lush hills of south-east Queensland are teeming with country pleasures - including a choice of properties waiting to throw open the front gate in welcome.

Tasmanian farmstays
The pretty river valleys, lakes and forests of the island state offer a rich repertoire of country pleasures, and a farm-based holiday is one of the best ways to experience Tasmania's outdoor delights.