Alpaca adventure
9 May 10
When I first heard about National Alpaca Week, it sounded like one of those dodgy holidays like National Butterscotch Pudding Day (Man, go check out that link! There are excuses to eat just about anything!). But the Australian Alpaca Association kindly provided links to farms that hosted open days over the past week, and there was one in our area.
We drove to nearby Maple Park Farms and drove up their beautifully landscaped driveway to a designated parking area. The property looked like a hobby farm, but the grounds and buildings were immaculate. The fun started for the girls as soon as we stepped out of the car.

Our hosts, Brian and Michelle Carpenter, started keeping alpacas after first agisting them for a friend. They currently keep nineteen alpacas with the goal of producing high-quality fleece for sale. They shear the alpacas in August, and get about three kilograms of wool off each one. Prices for the alpaca fibre (I don’t think I’m supposed to call it “wool”) can reach AU$45 a kilogram.



We chatted with the owner while we waited outside the pen. Soon it was our turn to go into the small area where four friendly alpacas stood around.



After we were finished at Maple Park, we headed to a nearby public park for a play and picnic with our friends. The park contained rock waterfalls and fountains, but all the water features were turned off, so we walked around stagnant pools of water and trip-trapped over little bridges whose creeks were dry. The lack of exciting scenery was a bit disappointing (for me), but the girls didn’t seem to mind.




