Kiwi Valley Farm Park

Today, Wednesday, the chief activity was to go to Kiwi Valley Farm. This was in West Auckland near the suburb of Henderson. This is the Waitakere region. It was an independent city but is now part of what is now known as Auckland Super City.

Like all days here breakfast is followed by the daily routine of dousing every exposed part of the the body with high factor sunblock. In my case it means all but the parts covered by shorts and short sleeved open necked shirt. I even have to make sure the top part of my foot is covered. I have not worn socks since arriving here.

Once out of the snarl up of city motorways there is a stretch of clearer motorway until the suburbs are reached. When we got out of the car the farm smell was a clear indicator of where we were. The farm is quite genuine Kiwi. It has the kind of appearance that we have seen when driving through the rural areas of NZ. It has a very rustic appearance and is wonderful place to be.

Health and safety, in keeping with most of the country, is not a strong point. Compared to the UK there is a significant lack of notices such as 'Wash your hands before touching the animals' and 'Wash your hands after touching the animals'. In fact there were no facilities to do this even if you wanted to.

The visit started with the 'petting' area. Next to this was a sow feeding her piglets. The pigs were very furry.

Walking on we came to the cave. Once again health and safety was not much in evidence. The lighting was poor and rocks littered the cave floor. There were no signs warning visitors to remove sunglasses before entering. As part of my task to check that there were no bears in side I, with limited vision, managed to scrape my leg on a large rock. To be fair, keeping the lighting low made for a good atmosphere inside.

Before the farm walk came the 'rustic' maze. I don't think that we would have gotten out with Zoe coming back to find us.

On the farm walk there were more animals to feed and see.

Just before the end of the walk was the horse riding activity. Both girls really enjoy this

 Then came the tractor ride. Once more you could forget health and safety. The ride was slow and rickety, but it was rewarded by a view of the ubiquitous Rangitoto and Sky Tower on the distant horizon.

Rangitoto and Sky Tower on the horizon

Before lunch was the toilet stop. I mistakenly believed that the rustic appearance was an outer veneer of the very smart facilities that we have come to expect in this country. They were adequate and must not complain about  cutting my hand on the rough wood of the toilet door. Irene said that the hole around her door did not make for any great privacy.

Lunch time was a picnic and ices provided by mummy and enjoyed by all of us.

We also enjoyed the company of a very noisy cockerel. 

I liked the shot of Emily drinking taken through a bottle. 

Then it was time to go home. Zoe had a pool time with her friend before she went off on a sleep over.

Emily went shopping with her mum and is enjoying her own special time.