Thanks to Anyday Adventures for sharing her great blog on a recent trip to Rain, Hayne and Shine farm where they met up with some of our Littlefinders family – resulting in a great day had by all!
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Do you ever wish you had friends who owned a farm? You know, a place you could pop in for the day, play with the animals, grab a cuppa and just enjoy the farm life at your own pace? Well, then Rain, Hayne & Shine Farmyard (RHS) is for you. Sue and Ian Hayne own and run RHS; they are super friendly, very welcoming and honestly you get the vibe from them just to make yourself at home during your visit.
RHS farm is not a full blown tourist attraction. You won’t get maps, educational signage, or tour guides…but what you get instead is much more authentic and I think even better! You get the real thing…a real working farm.
Immediately on entering the farm’s car park you will be able to see the animals; I love this. Often when visiting places like the Zoo, it seems you have to walk a million miles from the car park before you get to anything, not so here. Immediately once through the rainbow (which is in the car park) you get to your first lot of paddocks.
Throughout the farm all the paddocks and animal areas are marked very simply with a ✔ or a X. If there’s a tick, you can head into the pen and interact with the animals, if there’s a cross simply don’t go in. Very simple, even for kids to understand.
There are all your traditional farm animals to see; cows, pigs, ponies, chickens with a few extras in the mix. There’s a wandering peacock, a chatting cockatoo called Charlie, some rabbits, guinea pigs and loads more.
So, let’s break it down.
The good stuff:
Very Interactive.
There is a heap for kids to do here, all normal farm stuff but fun all the same. Crates of veggies scraps are left out so the kids can hand feed the animals as they walk along. We also got to brush the ponies, collect peacock feathers, feed baby cows bottles of milk, cuddle rabbits and (attempt to) pat chickens. My daughter had a blast. There’s a good indoor area too with smaller animals to pet and feed; chickens, rabbits, piglets and all things cute.
Pony rides.
The pony rides are the only aspect of the farm not included in your admission price, but as it is $2 I didn’t mind at all. We visited here once before when Missy Moo was about 22 months and she rode/was led on the pony without me having to hold her…I was amazed. She repeated that feat this time, and she is now 2 and a bit. For $2 they ride for about 5 minutes which is plenty. There is a good range kid sized helmets available too.
Hay rides behind the tractor.
Free rides on the tractor…wonderful. So much fun we did it twice.
Facilities.
Aside from the free tea and coffee there are also indoor and outdoor picnic areas, clean toilets, a baby change table, and a gas BBQ.
So, all sounds pretty great…and it is…. but….
Areas for improvement.
No EFTPOS.
I pretty much never carry cash, if I do, I spend it. However if you visit RHS remember to bring some because there’s no card payments or local ATMs. I’d love to see the introduction of a little hand held payment system similar to those you see at markets.
Ok, that’s it for areas to improve on but there’s a few things you need to know too.
•There’s no cafe.
•This is definitely a BYO drinks, lunch and snacks venue. While there is free tea and coffee, and limited drinks available for purchase in a drinks fridge, you won’t get by without bringing some snacks along. I don’t think this is a negative thing, but you certainly need to know before you visit so you can plan accordingly.
•Wear farm shoes.
•There’s no pretty paths to walk along as you venture through the farm; you walk where the animals walk. Make sure you wear your gumboots or at least closed toed shoes.
Cost:
Adults: $10
Seniors: $8
Children 3 years & over: $13
Children 1 & 2 years: $6
Under 1yr: Free
Family entry (2 adults/2 kids): $40 – Additional family members $8 each
Plus $2 for a pony ride
Rain, Hayne & Shine also do birthday parties, a mobile farm service, and offer incursions and excursions with schools which are coordinated by a qualified primary school teacher.
Rain, Hayne and Shine are on board with Littlefinders and have a great offer as part of our Gigglepass!
