Arion Farm Review : Fun, Interactive and Affordable

I love animal farms, wildlife centers and anything to do with nature – the more hands on the better. The kids and I have often gone to Willowbank and enjoyed a day meandering the paths, feeding the eels and the pigs, or wandering around the expansive Orana Wildlife Park which has lions and tigers and giraffes. But until these school holidays I hadn’t heard of Arion Farm.

Arion Farm Education Park it turns out, is the best of both worlds! There are dozens of farm animals all crammed together in little pens and cages in one little spot (don’t worry, I’m sure they’re let out to roam at the end of each day), so you can feed, pet and see heaps of animals without the need for wandering far. In fact, there’s a little sitting area in an entirely fenced section of the park with barbeque tables and toys for the kids, and you can let your kids wander round and play with the animals while you enjoy a coffee from the cafe!

The kids LOVED it. There are guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens, ducks, ponies, turkeys, peacocks, doves, sheep with lambs, goats, pigs, llamas and horses. My kids favourite was the little bunny pen, where they could sit in with the bunnies and pet them and feed them for hours.

Feed lambs at Arion Farm Education Park

I loved everything! You could get up close to so many birds – turkeys! geese and peacocks wander around. Doves flutter around the bird area. A magpie sings a pretty song. I saw my first ever quails and oh my goodness I want some!

My kids wandered around petting and feeding and even had pony rides.

With kids, public toilets can often be a nightmare. However I was impressed with the state of their toilets – clean and sparkling.

The price was good too. We happened to go on Wednesday which was $5 per person. So if you take out the coffee, pony rides and extra animal feed, its quite a cheap day out. Take a packed lunch, water, coffee in your travel mug and a good book to read and the kids will be entertained for hours while you relax and enjoy the sun!

Arion Farm Contact Details

Phone: 03 360 2192

Website: http://www.arionfarmpark.co.nz/

Feed goats at Arion Farm