Alpacas are one of my many, many favourite animals. They’re fluffy, they’re funny, and if you’ve ever heard the noise they make you would squeal in delight. Trust me, look it up because it’s adorable! Anyway, I heard about a small farm that lets you feed the alpacas, so of course I dragged my partner there as soon as we were both free.
Who Are Adore Alpacas?
Adore Alpacas is a farm in the Hunter Valley that sells alpacas, fleece, and yarn. They have a variety of alpacas, all with different roles including stud males for mating, females for producing young, and those with the softest coat for producing fleece. With all these alpacas on the farm, Adore offers the opportunity for people to go and spend time with the animals, feed them, and learn a little more about farming these beautiful creatures.
The drive to the farm was beautiful. It was so scenic with all the stunning trees and native plants like the bright yellow wattle finally starting to bloom. With the mountains behind everything, it just made it all so surreal. We drove past quite a few farms on the way as well, so I got to see a few cows, horses, sheep and even a goat or two! I don’t usually like sitting in a car for an extended period of time because of travel sickness and boredom, but this drive was definitely keeping me entertained. I loved the views.
When we arrived we were welcomed to the farm by a very kind and passionate guide, along with his very friendly canines. He had a lot of information about his business and the alpacas, and was happy to answer any questions we had. He told us the history of the farm and what it is used for today. He told us all the behaviours of the alpacas, like how they like to spit at each other if they get too close to their personal space (honestly, I would too if I was an alpaca). He told us what to do and what not to do so that we knew how to properly feed the alpacas without upsetting them. We were given a bag of alpaca muesli each, and off we went to meet our first alpaca!
To The Alpacas!
We were introduced to Kamilla, one of the mother alpacas. She is the farm’s kindest alpaca, and the most friendly towards visitors. As we grabbed a handful of muesli and held it out for her to eat, she came straight towards us with her mouth open. It definitely felt strange to have an alpaca eat straight out of your hand, but I didn’t mind. She was adorable! We stayed with Kamilla for a bit while feeding her and met her precious baby who was still too shy to get up close to us. Kamilla was definitely my favourite. She was so gentle with us when eating and didn’t mind how close we were at all. In fact, she kept inching towards me with my bag of muesli when I was trying to grab some, getting all up in my personal bubble. She clearly knew there was more food in the bag, but I needed to save some for the rest of the alpacas.
We were taken over into the next paddock with the pregnant alpacas. Not all alpacas would eat from our hands in this paddock, but there were a few who were quite hungry! They weren’t as gentle as Kamilla was, but I just found this amusing. There was one alpaca that was hogging most of my muesli. I tried feeding some of the others around, but this little lady kept nudging her head past everyone else. I was able to sneak some food to one of the shyer mamas before I ran out of food. When I did, the alpacas weren’t interested in us anymore and went back to doing their normal alpaca business that had nothing to do with us humans.
After we had run out of muesli for the alpacas to eat, we were taken back to the shed to see some of the fleece and products sold at the farm. The fleece was from one of the male alpacas that had won first place in the previous alpaca show. It was so soft! I understand why alpaca fleece is highly valued now, although I wouldn’t want to pay for it myself. I was interested in buying some of their yarn, but the price caught me off guard a little. So instead, I opted for one of their stuffed alpaca toys. Sadly, they aren’t made from any alpaca products, but I was told that one of their neighbours makes them for the farm to sell. I love how farms like these work together to create something special. The cooperation among these places is so inspiring.
All in all, this was a wonderful experience. We got to meet some beautiful alpacas, feed the hungry ones, gawk at the babies and learn about farming. The guide was wonderfully nice and informative, and clearly loves what he does for a living. This is going to be a visit I remember for a long time! Just being around these gorgeous animals lifted my spirits for the rest of the day, even though I had to go to work afterwards.
All photos in this post were taken by me or my partner.
The Travel Journal 
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