The Bennett family love hosting. Mike and Ellen Bennett bought the farm over 30 years ago, when it was simply a working dairy farm. Their passion for opening the gates and sharing what life on the land looks like has shaped the place over decades. What started as a farm has grown into a farmstay, retreat space and coastal community that many people now call home. The family’s approach to hosting is informal, welcoming and grounded — you’ll feel it when you arrive. our moto is: MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME.

The Farm is a 1000-acre working farm on the Whangaruru coastline, with dairy cows, 40 horses and other farm animals. The land bridges the native Russell Forest and the Whangaruru Harbour, creating a unique mix of bush, pasture and coastline. Guests stay in simple cabins, dorms and camping sites, with shared facilities and a relaxed, outdoorsy feel. Life here moves with the land. You’ll wake up to birds, hear the horses in the paddocks, watch the cows being milked and see stars at night. The atmosphere changes through the year - some weeks are peaceful and quiet, other weeks more social with yoga retreats, travellers, surfers, families and walkers passing through. It’s a place people come to slow down, connect with nature and enjoy a real slice of rural New Zealand.

The Farm sits in the heart of the Whangaruru coastline. Off the property are some of Northland’s most untouched beaches, just five to ten minutes by car. Elliots Beach is close by for surfing, and the coastline offers excellent fishing spots all the way north and south. We’re the closest accommodation to the Cape Brett Track, with many walkers staying here before or after the hike, around twenty-five minutes from the trail start. Oke Bay is twenty-five minutes away, Russell about forty. Heading south you’ll find freshwater swimming holes in the river just five minutes away, and Oakura Bay about fifteen minutes for fish and chips, ice cream, a small store and fuel. Helena Bay Gallery and café sits thirty minutes south and is well worth the stop. Whangārei is roughly an hour for supermarkets, airport and main transport links. It’s the ultimate Northland coastal experience — rural, scenic and very Kiwi.