Tuckerberry Hill

Tuckerberry Hill is a pick-your-own berry farm at 31 Becks Road, Drysdale, on the Bellarine Peninsula, with blueberries and strawberries in season, a farm shop and an open-air cafe looking out over Corio Bay. It is one of the few working farms where the dog is genuinely part of the visit, with a policy the farm spells out clearly in its own FAQs.

The dog setup

Dogs on a lead are welcome in the outdoor cafe and farm shop seating areas, and the farm asks that you carry poo bags with you. The netted fruit-picking rows and paddocks are off limits for hygiene and food safety reasons, so if you want to pick, tag-team it: one of you stays back with the dog while the other heads into the berries. Entry to the farm is free and you pay for whatever weight you pick, with no booking needed for casual visits.

The vibe

The cafe does coffee, light bites, house-baked blueberry muffins and pancakes, and the famous fresh berry ice cream, with the bay as the backdrop. Blueberry picking generally runs mid-December to early February, 9am to 5pm daily when in season, and strawberries run from early November to late March on weekends subject to ripeness. Outside those windows the farm closes and the produce moves to the Bellarine Farmgate market at 218 Murradoc Road, which trades weekend mornings. Check the farm's Facebook page or website before driving out, because availability depends entirely on what is ripe.

Getting there and parking

Becks Road runs off the Drysdale side of the Bellarine, about 25 minutes from Geelong, with free onsite parking and step-free access to the farm gate and cafe. The drive pairs naturally with the coastal towns further down the peninsula.

Close by with the dogs

On the way in or out, Flying Brick Cider Co at Wallington is a dog-friendly lunch stop, Chanceux Cucina covers Portarlington, and JR's Coffee Lounge is the Drysdale town fallback. Point Lonsdale Dog Beach finishes the day properly.