Matt and Jaclyn Ray, new owners of Henderson Park Farm Retreat

A husband and wife are excited to move to the Central Queensland region early next year, bringing their three children and a plan to transform an iconic local venue. Read about their plans here.

Wellness and corporate retreats are just some of the fresh ideas the new owners of Henderson Park Farm Retreat have in store for the iconic Central Queensland venue.

Husband and wife Matt and Jaclyn Ray bought the business from Ryan and Nikki Anderson at the end of July.

The 15 hectare property is located at Barmoya, just a 20 minute drive from Rockhampton, and is on the banks of Hedlow Creek with views of the area’s volcanic plugs and Mount Hedlow.

The former owners wanted to focus on their cattle enterprise and put the farm retreat business on the market.

Mr Ray said he and his wife had been interested in the tourism industry for a while, and after a lot of international travel and a few domestic adventures with their kids in tow, they decided to take the plunge and purchase Henderson Park.

“It’s something we have always wanted to do …. Get into this industry in some shape or form,” he said.

The family, that lives in Moranbah, was heading over to Great Keppel Island with friends for the weekend when they decided to do a viewing of the property.

“It sort of blew us away … the area,” Mr Ray said.

“We were always looking for a rural block at some stage as somewhere to settle.

“So we pursued it and we got there in the end.”

The business already has a strong reputation on sites such as TripAdvisor and is quite popular locally as a wedding and events venue.

“It’s well known, a massive credit to Ryan and Nikki, they’ve built it up,” Mr Ray said.

Between onsite cabins and Hedlow Lodge, the property has accommodation for up to 25 guests, plus a camping area which caters for a couple of caravans and some tents.

“When we have a wedding or function, they book out the entire space, it’s full privacy, they check in on a Friday, we give them a tour, make sure they are settled and that’s basically theirs to do with what they like until the Sunday when they check out,” Mrs Ray said.

“We have the marquee, canoes and kayaks they can use on the creek, when it’s not freezing, the creek is beautiful to swim in.

“We have the four rooms at the lodge with ensuites, two fully decked out kitchens and the two cabins, one sleeps four and the other sleeps five and they have their own jetty to the creek as well.”

The area offers a lot of wildlife with an abundance of birds at Lake Mary and plenty of fish to be caught in the creek itself.

“The creek is really the hero of the area, it’s quite unique,” Mr Ray said.

“Most creeks go up and down, this one is charged naturally and doesn’t fluctuate much, it’s such a nice body of water.”

The couple is keen to “put their own stamp on things” at Henderson Park, particularly in the “wellness space”.

“Wellness retreats, whether that be classes, pilates, barre, metafit,” Mrs Ray said.

They hope to cater to some business and corporate types, which would also help with occupancy during weekdays.

“There is probably a need post-Covid; people want to shift back into that because they were doing a lot of it before Covid,” Mrs Ray said.

They are planning on moving down from Moranbah with their three young children permanently early next year.

“I really like this area, it has a great feel to it, it feels like home already,” Mrs Ray said.