Seven Farmers Markets Worth an Early Alarm
One of the best things about travelling by RV is having your kitchen - and fridge - along for the ride.
So instead of automatically stocking up at the supermarket before every leg of your trip, check what's happening in the next town. A Saturday morning farmers’ market might introduce you to a local grower, give you something completely new to cook for dinner or send you back to the van carrying three pastries you had absolutely no intention of buying.
Our road-trip rule? If there's a farmers market nearby, we're stopping. Here are some of our favourites.
Rusty’s Markets, Cairns, QLD
If your RV adventures take you all the way to Tropical North Queensland, arrive hungry.
Rusty’s has been a Cairns institution since 1975, with around 180 stalls crammed with tropical fruit and veg, fresh bread, international eats and plenty of things you probably won’t find at your local supermarket.
Think dragonfruit, rambutans and mangosteens alongside samosas, Vietnamese coffee and plenty of other goodies to eat on the spot or take back to camp.
When: Friday and Saturday, 5am–6pm; Sunday, 5am–3pm
Where: 57–89 Grafton Street, Cairns City
Margaret River Farmers’ Market, WA
You’re travelling through one of Australia’s best-known food and wine regions. Of course you’re going to stop at the farmers’ market.
The Margaret River Farmers’ Market keeps things properly local, with stallholders restricted to producers from the region and surrounds.
That means your Saturday morning can be spent filling your bags with seasonal fruit and veg, fresh bread, meat, seafood and cheese, before moving onto the important stuff: chocolate and nougat.
Basically, you could stock the RV fridge for the week here. Whether any of the treats survive until Monday is another question.
When: Saturday, 7.30am–11.30am
Where: Margaret River Education Campus, Bussell Highway, Margaret River
The Margaret River Farmers’ Market keeps things properly local, with stallholders restricted to producers from the region and surrounds. © UnsplashFarm Gate Market, Hobart, TAS
Tasmania and good food go together ridiculously well, and Hobart’s Farm Gate Market puts plenty of it in one place every Sunday morning.
Here, the people selling the food are often the people who grew, raised or made it, so don't be afraid to have a chat. You might walk away with a bag of vegetables and accidentally learn everything there is to know about Tasmanian potatoes.
It’s a brilliant stop if you're touring Tassie by RV and want to cook with local produce rather than doing another supermarket run.
When: Sunday, 8.30am–1pm
Where: Bathurst Street, Hobart
Echuca Farmers Market, VIC
Parked up around Echuca Moama? Set the Saturday alarm. The Echuca Farmers Market brings together plenty of goodies from this seriously productive patch of the country, including olives, cheese, fruit, fresh bread, jams, sweets and other locally made treats.
There are also brekkie rolls to munch on while you wander, which immediately makes an early-morning market visit more appealing.
Grab breakfast, stock the van and then spend the rest of the day exploring Echuca. Easy.
When: First, third and fifth Saturday of each month, 8am–12pm
Where: Alton Reserve, Echuca
Barossa Farmers Market, SA
If there was ever a place where you should arrive at a farmers’ market with an empty Esky, it’s the Barossa.
Held undercover at the Vintners Sheds in Angaston, the Barossa Farmers Market is packed with the sort of produce that can turn an ordinary RV dinner into something very fancy indeed.
We're talking fresh fruit and vegetables, herbs, chicken, duck, beef, pork and lamb, alongside specialty breads, Barossa smallgoods, milk, pastries, baked treats, honey, olive oil, olives and confectionery.
And apparently the coffee is very, very good. Important when the market starts at 7.30am.
When: Saturday, 7.30am–11.30am
Where: Corner of Stockwell and Nuriootpa roads, Angaston
Mullumbimby Farmers’ Market, NSW
Some farmers’ markets are somewhere you quickly grab your fruit and veg. Mullumbimby is somewhere you can happily lose your entire morning.
Set at the Mullumbimby Showground beneath Mt Chincogan, the market has a wonderfully relaxed Northern Rivers feel, with local farmers, food producers, breakfast, workshops and live music all thrown into the mix.
It’s family-friendly too, with a children’s play area for little travellers who aren't quite as excited about locally grown vegetables as you are.
Best of all, shopping here means your road-trip food budget is going directly back into the local farming community.
When: Friday, 7am–11am
Where: Mullumbimby Showground, Mullumbimby
Shopping in Mullumbimby means your road-trip food budget is going directly back into the local farming community.© UnsplashRapid Creek Markets, Darwin, NT
Darwin’s oldest market deserves a spot on the itinerary for one very simple reason: come hungry.
Rapid Creek Markets transforms the Rapid Creek Business Village into a colourful, noisy and delicious mix of tropical produce, Asian ingredients, street food, arts, crafts and local products every weekend.
You can browse more than 100 stalls and stores, spotting everything from durian, purple dragonfruit and pandan leaves to seafood, meat, chutneys and jams.
Then there’s the Street Food Park. Laksa? Thai noodles? Sri Lankan curry? Roti? Tropical smoothie? The correct road-trip answer is probably "one of each".
When: Saturday and Sunday, 7am–2pm
Where: Rapid Creek Business Village, around 10km from Darwin CBD
