On Friday 13 May 2016, a group consisting of 9 South Koreans, 2 Japanese and myself went to Ambury Farm in Mangere, Auckland. We left Auckland Institute of Studies at 2.40pm and arrived at Ambury at 3pm. At first, it was quite cloudy, and it threatened to rain but we only got a very brief 2 or 3 minute shower and finally the sky cleared and we had a nice blue sky. It was probably 20 degrees but seemed a bit cooler because of the wind which was blowing off the Manukau Harbour.
Ambury Farm – $45 per person, half day tour.
For info and bookings call: (64) 27 223 6655 email: [email protected] or book online:
Destination: Ambury Farm
Ambury Regional Park used to be a farm which provided milk and meat for the population of Auckland. As the city grew, the farm could no longer produce sufficient quantity for the population so it became a Regional Park, but is still a working farm, commonly referred to as Ambury Farm.
Our first encounter was with some young cows. These cows were born in June and July last year and they are usually quite friendly. Today some of them, especially one Jersey cow, were friendly but the remainder were more interested in eating grass.
After a while with the cows, we wandered through the poultry area which has turkeys, hens, roosters and chickens as residents as well as ducks and seagulls who just fly in for easy food.
Next we went to a field with Angora Goats and some old black sheep. All of them were extremely friendly. The goats were trying to reach some leaves on a tree so some of the group helped them by picking leaves and hand-feeding the goats. The sheep were content to post for selfies.
These black sheep are indeed black when they are lambs but as they age, the sun fades the colour of their wool so they are more of a brown colour.
Our final animal encounter was with the farm horses. They were also happy to pose for selfies. They are Clydesdale Horses which is a type of horse that used to be used for heavy work on farms so they are big strong horses.
We finished our day at Ambury Farm at the picture frame, an ideal place for final photos. I then dropped some of the group in the city, getting there at 6.15pm, and the rest at Auckland Institute of Studies at 6.30pm.
