About Us
We are Barbara and Adele — friends, collaborators, travel buddies and natural hosts who believe that the best travel doesn’t rush, perform, or overwhelm. It invites you in, slows you down, and leaves you changed in ways that matter.
Between us, we bring decades of experience in hospitality and tourism.
Adele (with Josef) purchased a block of land in Maleny in 1995 and went on to build and operate Lillypillys Cottages & Day Spa a 4.5-star retreat renowned for its warmth, attention to detail, exceptional food, and deeply restorative guest experiences. For 30 years, Lillypillys has welcomed guests seeking genuine care and quiet luxury — and we continue to operate today.
Barbara (with Klaus) founded King Ludwig’s German Restaurant in Tingalpa in 1990, relocating it to Maleny in 1996. For more than three decades, they ran the much-loved and highly successful restaurant, selling in 2021 after building a devoted following and an enduring reputation as a place where food, culture, and community came together around the table. Alongside this, they built and have operated Cottage in the Woods, Maleny for over 25 years — a traditional German-style cottage tucked away from the world, where wildlife, birdsong, and even the gentle mooing of their cow’s form part of the experience, offering guests a true immersion in nature and stillness.
Long before Once were wild travel had a name, we were both creating experiences that made people feel welcome, cared for, and connected. Whether through retreat hosting or a bustling restaurant, we learned that what guests remember most isn’t just the setting — it’s how they were made to feel.
Barbara is the heart-spark behind Once were wild … warm, magnetic, and effortlessly able to bring people together, to truly live in the moment … whereas Adele is the quiet architect – curating seamless journeys where guests feel held, heard and deeply restored.
ONCE WERE WILD TRAVEL GREW FROM A QUIET SPARK …
A shared desire to help women step away from the noise of everyday life and rediscover joy, connection, creativity, and a sense of wild possibility.
Travel has always been a shared passion for us, whether on our own, together, or with a group of friends and family. We’ve both felt the difference between simply visiting a place and truly being immersed in it. Somewhere along the way, we knew we wanted to create journeys that felt less like a tour and more like being gently folded into a place — its rhythms, its people, its creative spirit.
We now design small-group journeys that are beautifully paced and intentionally intimate. We stay longer, travel slower, and seek out authentic experiences — from artists’ studios and kitchens to wild landscapes and quiet moments of reflection. There is space for creativity, rest, conversation, joy, and shared laughter.
Our style is thoughtful rather than flashy. Comfortable rather than contrived. Everything is curated with care, drawing on our combined backgrounds in hospitality, food, retreat-style hosting, and tourism.
Once Were Wild Travel is for those who feel the pull to reconnect — with place, with creativity, and with a part of themselves that may have been waiting patiently to be remembered.
And we would love to welcome you into that experience.
