Picture this: the sun is setting over the rolling hills of rural North West Tasmania and a DJ is spinning your favourite tunes on vintage vinyl in a private outdoor gig.
There’s only one way this idyllic evening could get better: if 24 miniature goats were frolicking in a paddock just metres away.
If this vision sparks joy, that’s just what Brad and Lisa Palmer intended with the charmingly unusual offering at their property in the coastal town of Penguin.
Hideaway Farmlet is home to what the couple have affectionately dubbed the GOAT Doof — a play on words that combines the acronym for “greatest of all time” with the slang term for a bush dance party.
The origin story of how the Palmers wound up with so many four-legged kids on a hobby farm in Tassie has its roots, surprisingly, in Perth.
Brad and Lisa were living in Duncraig with their three daughters when they booked bargain flights to the Apple Isle in 2015.
What was meant to be a week-long holiday turned into a spontaneous decision to buy a patch of land and swap the city grind for a slower way of life.
“It was a little gem, it was a moment in time,” Lisa recalls of the moment they stumbled upon the four-acre farm.
Hideaway was already steeped in English country character with its 1940s stone buildings and verdant gardens, and the pair got to work employing permaculture principles to grow as much of their own food as possible.
Along came the goats
The first goats, Atlas and Astro, arrived two years later — a request from the children — and the Palmers soon discovered just how useful the animals could be.
“With permaculture you look for slow but really impactful solutions,” Lisa says.
“We could have bought a tractor but you look at all the functions goats can perform and they do it all: they clear the land and aerate and fertilise the soil, ready for planting. They are just amazing.”
As Brad likes to say: “You don’t have a weed problem, you have a goat shortage.”
Before long, the family had a whole herd of pygmy and Australian miniature goats on their hands. The gang goes around the property “like a clock” every two months to gobble up any invasive greenery from each zone, without the need for pesticides.
They are far more than farm hands, however. They provide endless entertainment with their cheeky antics and social dynamics.
“We always think of the goats before ourselves — do we cut a tree down for wood, or do we use it to build a goat playground?” Lisa laughs.
Atlas is the brainiest of the bunch and an expert escape artist, having figured out inventive ways to unlock multiple gates.
Mother-daughter duo Zyla and Bridget are the feisty queen bees, while Douglas, recognisable by a Tasmania-shaped patch on his body, is a “real gentle soul”.
“A lot of people say to us, ‘How do you remember their names? Are they really like dogs?’” Lisa says.
“When we introduce guests to them we say it’s like going into a school crowd: you have your snobs, you have the popular ones, the friendlies and all the rest.
“Their personalities are quite different from one another. Some will come up to you and lean on your leg, some are really intrusive and others are very sweet and kind, almost like they have manners.”
The loveable herd has drawn locals and tourists alike to Penguin to stay at Hideaway’s rustic ivy-covered cottage for a romantic country escape.
The cosy dwelling has been mindfully decorated with vintage finds, comforting furnishings and homemade touches; a private retreat separate to the main homestead where lovebirds can switch off and reconnect.
Guests have the opportunity to feed the resident goats, ducks, chickens and guinea fowl and learn about regenerative farming techniques with a tour of the property.
Spin on the bush doof
Recently, Brad had a stroke of genius: adding music to the mix.
Back in Perth, before all the kids (human and animal), Brad had regular spots around town as a DJ and amassed an extensive vinyl collection over the years, from electronica to ambient, disco, pop, techno, jazz and everything in between.
How cool would it be to have the turntables set up outside for a private party at sundown?
The Palmers launched the GOAT Doofs as part of Tasmania’s winter Off Season campaign, allowing guests staying at the cottage to book in for the two-hour custom rave complete with crackling fire, farm-grown produce and mini goats gallivanting on their play equipment nearby.
I visited Hideaway to watch the experience in action, and it’s not one I will forget any time soon.
As soon as Brad opened the gate to usher the herd to a paddock closer to the homestead, all 24 of them knew exactly where to go and, once secured, began playing amongst log bridges, A-frame cubbies and hay bales.
The kaleidoscope of personalities was on full display, from elder Atlas nudging his younger buddies out of the way to get the best grazing position to a couple of clumsy characters who seemed to be the class clowns.
I asked Lisa and Brad, “Do the goats react to some genres of music over others?”
Not that they’ve noticed — the motley crew is just stoked to be there.
“They are such social animals at heart and you can tell they are inherently happier when they are around other animals or humans, rather than being left alone,” Lisa says.
“Sometimes if they haven’t seen anyone other than us for a few weeks, they are that little bit more excited to see guests.”
Personally, I think they are big ABBA fans.
Maybe it was just the timing, but when Brad played Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) there was a definite shift in the energy of the herd and even the rooster flew in to join the frivolities. Make of that what you will.
Future focus for agritourism
For now, the GOAT Doofs and farm tours are restricted to those staying in Hideaway’s visitor accommodation, due to council regulations.
While there is a massive upswing in demand for agritourism, not just in Tasmania but Australia as a whole, outdated restrictions mean operators with small hobby farms like Brad and Lisa face a tangle of red tape to get even micro tourist activities across the line.
The couple is hopeful some of the constraints will ease so they can welcome families for a day visit or sustainability seekers keen to understand how the permaculture cells cycle through the year.
“We really want to push the education of regenerative agriculture and how it can look on a small scale,” Lisa says.
“Even in a backyard you can rotate your animals around so they aren’t constantly damaging the one area where nothing can grow. It gets people thinking differently about the land, the soil and our impact.”
Of course, Brad and Lisa think more West Australians should venture across the Bass Strait to experience the island State’s slower way of life, which they affectionately call “Tassie time”.
“I really think the visitors who come here tune into that,” Lisa says.
“When they write little messages in the guestbook, they say they had so much fun they didn’t want to peel themselves away.
“When you come up the driveway, you feel like you’ve gone back in time here and that’s a special thing.”
+ Jessie Stoelwinder was a guest of Tourism Tasmania and Hideaway Farmlet. They have not influenced this story, or read it before publication.
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+ Hideaway Farmlet is located in Penguin and is just over one hour to Cradle Mountain, Stanley and Launceston.
+ Pricing for the Mini GOAT Doof cottage stay starts at $420 per couple, which includes overnight accommodation.
+ Bookings are available until August 31 via hideawayfarmlet.com.au.