Johanna River Farm & Cottages - Book DIrect via our website

We absolutely loved staying here. Super comfy, every detail has been thoughtfully considered, and you can’t beat the gorgeous environment and lovely animals. Helen and Julian are excellent hosts who went above and beyond to provide a great experience staying at the farm.

We stayed 2 nights in the beautiful Bluegum Cottage and had an amazing time thanks to our welcoming hosts. The farm is gorgeous and it was a delight to meet all the animals. Also in a great location to explore up and down the Great Ocean Road and surrounding areas. Cannot recommend enough!

Our family had the most incredible stay at Johanna River Farm and Cottages. Julian and Helen were the most wonderful hosts and took so much time to bring our two kids around the farm to see all the lovely animals - their friendly border collies, the alpacas, chickens, ducks, sheep, and so much more. The cottages were wonderfully cozy and so homely - we could have stayed there forever.

We had a delightful stay in the tea tree cottage, and enjoyed everything during our 3 nights stay: the view sitting on the verandah, watching the sunset, the sea in the far background behind the green rolling hills, the wood stove when the night got cooler, interacting with the animals including koalas in the trees, the fresh eggs and fresh herbs. Lots to do around (beach walk, rainforest walk). Thank you very much to Helen &Julian for having us, showing us the farm, we felt very welcome. A lovely, homely place in a very beautiful part of Victoria.

Our family had an amazing time at Johanna River Farm & Cottages. We have done a few different farm stays and this is by far the best! Helen & Julian are amazing hosts and go out of their way to create an unforgettable holiday. The farm is situated perfectly to access all areas of the Great Ocean Road as well as the inland attractions.

We stayed in TeaTree for 5 nights and the cabin was very well presented and everything was in working order. The wood fireplace came in handy as it was pretty cold but Julian made sure that the wood box was always fully stocked.

Helen took us for a tour around the farm and introduced the kids to all the animals. After the introductions and setting the boundaries (which are very few), the kids were allowed to roam around and feed animals whenever they wanted. Animal feed was always available.

We took our puppies with and they also had a great time. When we arrived, additional bedding, blankets and bowls were in the cabin to make their stay comfortable too. Helen advised us on all the areas which are dog friendly and to be honest apart from the National Parks, the area was very pet friendly. Dogs had a great time running around on Johanna Beach. As pets are not allowed to be left unattended on the property, Helen actually offered to look after them for a couple of hours when we visited some of the nearby attractions like Otway Fly.... must be because they are so well behaved... THANK YOU!!

We went for walks on the farm and the beach, got some good fish from the beach and many more things!

I would highly recommend Johanna Farm as we had an amazing time and will likely be back in future!

My family and I had the most wonderful few day staying in the Blackwood cottage. The cottage was beautiful - super clean and cosy! The fire was a highlight, with plentiful wood supplied; it kept the cabin warm and toasty (although there's heating too if necessary).
It was wonderful to be able to bring our naughty puppy, Pearl too. She loved sniffing around and barking at Helen's poor dogs! Lucky they had the good sense to ignore her!!
Helen was a wonderful host, she took the time to show us around the farm and to meet all the beautiful animals. My children loved seeing the 3 day old lambs and the baby alpaca - Nutmeg! So adorable!
The location is perfect, short drive to Lavers Hill if you're craving a coffee and close to some beautiful bush walks in the Otways and all the delights of the Great Ocean Road.
Thank you Helen and Julian for sharing your little piece of paradise with us.

We just got back from 5 nights at Johanna - our second year staying and still love coming back.
It’s rare to be able to share such a magical space and we are so grateful that the owners allow the public to share this location.
My morning coffee hadn’t been the same since returning, I got used to watching the morning awake over the valley all rugged up.
We love staying in winter to enjoy the woodfire - lounging out on couches reading our books.
A loop of the property saw us spot 6 visible koalas in the trees, roaming sheep and new baby lambs, lots of kangaroos lazing and grazing, turkeys and chickens laying eggs for you to collect daily, friendly llama’s you can feed and even a few goats!!
The dogs are friendly and our Doberman Loui loved playing ball daily (sometimes twice daily!) in the yard.
It’s truly the most divine place to disconnect from life noise and connect in to nature and it’s wonders.

We took 2 cottages for a family of 8 that included a 3 year old. The cottages are warm during this super cold summer. Toilet and showers were great. Big towels. It was also well equipped for self catering/ cooking including a rice cooker (for the Asians in us) we also did a bbq. Green Dino plate is our own.

Helen gave us a great farm tour and tips for exploring the local scene. The driveway was a bit long, but it was all part of the charm. There is little or no mobile roaming, but the wifi provided is adequate (but no streaming) All these were well informed by Helen in advance.

I will recommend this place to anyone.

Stayed at Teatree Cottage with my wife and infant son for 4 nights and it was a truely enjoyable stay. My wife and I visited 9 years ago and decided to bring our infant son to revisit the place and Great Ocean Road.

The cottage was well equipped with all the cooking utensils and washing tools. The air conditioning also serves as the heater. There is a fire place which uses real fire wood, though you need to know or learn how to start and maintain a fire, which is all part of the fun or charm. And its very effective in drying clothes too.

Understood from the owners Helen and Julian that it is actually a sheep farm, so there are lots of sheep in the area around. They were very helpful to our needs. On Day 1 when we were arriving there, we were very late, however Helen helped us to start the fire so as to warm up the cottage first. They also topped up the wood when requried. They also gave suggestions on where we can visit especially when the weather is bad and gave us a tour of the farm

There is not much resturaunts around and the nearest supermarket is in apollo bay. But its a great place to rest and chill out.

On the morning of our last day, Helen helped to spot koala and guide us to get views of them.

Highly recommended.

More than our expectations. The farm, the wildlife, the nearby attractions. Everything was beautiful.
The cottage is warm, clean, comfortable and includes everything we could wish for. And to top is off our cavoodle is very welcome.

What a gem! 100% on our return list, our children enjoyed exploring the farm and feeding the animals. we were dealt with a pretty impressive storm front that knocked out our power, but the fire place, the balcony, the cottage with a tin roof, the view and a nice bottle of wine made the experience perfection. thank you Helen and Julian for opening your farm and allowing people to enjoy your little piece of heaven

Just fantastic place to stay. Super friendly hosts and cosy cabins. Loved the farm and the animals and all the nature and serenity. We went on adventures twice with one of the local dogs (Jagger) and saw so much wildlife. I cannot rate this place highly enough

This is the best dog friendly farmstay ever! We came with our beautiful border collie, we spent our time feeding the sheep, llamas, Pickles the donkey and 2 Shetlands ponies, goats, chicken & turkeys.
We picked some veggies from the magnificent veggie/herb garden, we got some fresh eggs from the chickens.
Thanks to Helen and Julian for their assistance with everything we needed to make this holiday the perfect dog friendly holiday.

We had an excellent 3 night stay with Helen and Julian. Awesome for families, couples or tourists, would highly recommend to anyone visiting the area. Plenty to do, feed the animals, see the glow worms, check out the waterfalls, enjoy an afternoon wine from your balcony with breathtaking views. Johanna Beach and all tourist attractions are just a short drive away. Great hosts, thanks for having us, we look forward to returning soon.
Glen, Sarah, Koby & Cleo

Many thanks to Julian and Helen for hosting my family. We enjoyed the cosy cottages and the kids loves interacting with the farm animals. Your Jagger is an excellent guide who took us around the farm. My mum enjoyed your fresh farm produce

AirBNB has a stupid policy of not allowing reviews after a short time period. Here’s ours of this amazing place. Fantastic place for a getaway farm retreat close to the Twelve Apostles and the Otway National Park and 5 minutes from Johanna Beach. This place is managed by owners Helen and Julian who were amazing and gracious hosts during our stay. We had a lot of fun feeding the farm animals, getting berries and herbs for our meals and fresh eggs from the chickens. We stayed at the Acacia Cottage which was private and secluded with a nice lake in the front. The cottage has everything you need. Helen was very thoughtful and had lots of useful information about the surrounding area. If you want a getaway from Melbourne while travelling the Great Ocean Road this is the place to be.

Lovely owners on a lovely farm.

We had the blue gum cabin cottage, which is fully equipped with its own fireplace, kitchenette laundry facilities. Awesome view of the farm from cottage window, with animals grazing right in front of the cottage.

Fruits and veg on the farm are all yours to pick, so are the eggs from the chicken/duck coop. The owners will prepare buckets of animal feed and chopped carrots daily, so pop by the office to grab some.

An amazing little cottage. Had our own private backyard so was able to bring my puppy. The hosts were lovely and let us pat their animals and feed them, and also use any herbs and vegetables that they grew. Cute little and cozy.

We have stayed 3 days 2 night last week. Thoroughly enjoyed the warm cottage prepared by helen and Julian. Facilities and activites are great for kids with the sheep and dog as attraction. This is definately one place where we will recommend to our friend in future. If there is chance, we will like to visit again.

Johanna River Farm is a beautiful farm stay property, lovely gardens and rolling countryside with gorgeous views of the Great Southern Ocean in a fantastic location, central to so many Otway attractions both natural and commercial, and the best thing about the Otways is that the best things in it are free, waterfalls, rainforest and amazing coastline. Fantastic for families or a more intimate stay for couples. Your hosts at Johanna River Farm are just tops, friendly, considerate and caring, Helen and the team are genuinely passionate about your experience in their special region and are more than happy to recommend the best sites to see and things to do in the Otways.