For my husband’s birthday, we finally accomplished our goal of visiting White Ridge Farm. Located in Elimbah, Queensland, the farm has been in its current location for nine years, after starting out as a mobile farm or petting zoo. It offers free entry for children under three years old.

Open from Tuesdays to Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the 20-acre White Ridge Farm offers more than just animal encounters.

An Array of Activities

Included in the entry fee is access to two outdoor playgrounds and one enclosed toddler playground; a sandpit with a multitude of toy trucks and diggers; another sandpit with a T-Rex “fossil dig”; an impressive array of Little Tikes Cozy Coupe ride-in cars; a mini golf course; and a well-stocked café and gift shop. The lady at the counter gave my husband a Happy Birthday rosette to wear on his chest, and all the farmers wished him by name!

There is also a hut with a train table, a large rocking horse, and a collection of farm-related children’s books. In addition, there are half-hourly tractor train rides, one with live narration from the driver as you wend your way through punny exhibits hidden among the eucalyptus trees, and the other with a recording about the history of the farm.

White Ridge Farm is home to a plethora of animals, including alpacas, llamas, donkeys, horses, ponies, a camel, sheep and lambs, goats, a sow and piglets, rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens and chicks, ducks, cockatoos and a galah.

With wheelchair-friendly bitumen roads and level paths throughout the facility, it is designed to be accessible for all.

Here’s some important information from the MustDo Brisbane website:

Need to know – The farm is open 7 days a week during Qld school holidays, but closed on Public Holidays.
Nice to know – Family passes are available, plus you can purchase annual passes so that you can return as many times as you like during the year.
Nice to know – Birthday parties (BYO catering) can be booked to be held here for a party with a difference.
Nice to know – Affectionately, all of the animals have names, and just like people, each has their own unique personality.

We spent three happy hours exploring the animal farm, and even had time to visit a strawberry farm nearby afterward!

They See Me Rolin’

Just a twelve-minute drive away is Rolin Farms, home to the Big Strawberry. There is a gift shop, shaded café seating area, and playground with swings, a slide, a mock boat and a broken-down John Deere ride-on mower that functions as a play tractor.

Rolin Farms offers pick-your-own on the weekends, and sometimes on weekdays too. They sell delicious strawberry ice-cream and boxes of luscious, gigantic strawberries. “Seconds” are available in a cheaper and even larger box, ideal for making jam.

All in all, it was a marvellous day out, and I highly recommend it. Do you have any favourite farms you enjoy visiting?

___

Image courtesy of Adobe.