Looking for something unique to occupy the kids? Got out-of-town visitors and want to take a day trip? Or simply looking for a date night (well date day) option that’s a bit different to the usual? Well, O’Reilly’s Canungra Valley Vineyards has you covered!
Enjoy a wine tasting at the Cellar Door, dine overlooking the grape vines, or pre-order a gourmet picnic hamper to enjoy beside Canungra Creek – the options at the Vineyards are endless. But the latest addition to the property which differentiates them from every other vineyard around is the chance to hang with your very own alpaca!!
Mount View Alpacas has set up alongside the vineyard, with around 30 alpacas on site just itching to be hand fed, cuddled or walked. Haven’t you always wanted to #selfiewithanalpaca? They are so incredibly social that some of them are even used as therapy animals and visit our hospitals!
Taking advantage of a quieter weekday visit to the vineyard, we preordered a breakfast bbq hamper and arrived at O’Reilly’s Canungra Valley Vineyard at about 8.30am. There were a few guests having breakfast who had just been on a hot air balloon ride, but they left not long after we arrived and we were the only ones there! Breakfast hampers must be collected by 9am, so we picked up our hamper, grabbed one of the picnic blankets available for guests and stopped by the box of sports equipment to grab a ball for our little one to play with. They really have thought of everything that you could need for your picnic and it’s a great way to enjoy a bbq in the forest without all the effort of putting it together yourself!
We found a nice spot under a big shady tree by the Canungra Creek and hubby fired up the bbq to cook our bacon, sausages and eggs, while I got the fresh pastries, cereal, fruit, yogurt and juice ready. There was so much open space for kids to run around, play with a ball or the cricket set, explore the creek, watch the wallabies nearby or pat and say hi to the alpacas. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast and were hugely satisfied afterwards – even if a pesky magpie did make off with one of our croissants!
By this time (10am) Mount View Alpacas had opened and we were booked in to take 2 of the alpacas for a walk! We were introduced to Beau and TimTam, who were friendly but a bit annoyed that they’d been taken away from their breakfast and had to be enticed with a special hand fed treat. We asked for 2 leads to be attached to TimTam so that Master A could ‘walk’ the alpaca too (remember, they can run and kick if they get spooked – you should have an adult holding the alpaca at all times if you have little ones around) and off we set for a stroll around the property.
You’re free to roam wherever you like with the alpacas, as long as you don’t cross the driveway and stay clear of the creek (no one likes a wet alpaca). This means you can walk them through the vines if you want to be really fancy! Unfortunately the vines were only just breaking their dormancy from winter so we stuck to the grassed area near the creek, however I’d say in a month or so there will be some great new growth on the vines providing the most perfect leafy green backdrop!
We had heaps of fun snapping photos, cuddling the alpacas and trying to entice them away from all the things they weren’t supposed to be doing! You can book different length visits depending on your passion for alpacas – we had the 30min walk booked but you can do 15min, 30min or 60min. Once our time was up we walked them back to the pens and said our farewells – the staff were lovely enough to snap a family photo too as a memento of our time together!
This really was a fun outing and there is so much on offer for all the different ages. Master A was ready to head home again, but you could take advantage of a wine tasting at the Cellar Door, or switch it around and do a lunchtime picnic or dine in the restaurant. It’s also only a 6 minute drive back to the main township of Canungra where you could always stop in at the famous Outpost Café for a pie!
Need to know:
- Vineyard website: https://oreillys.com.au/canungra-valley-vineyards/
- Alpacas website: https://mountviewfarm.com.au/
- Opening hours: 10am – 4pm
- Price: vineyard and alpacas are free to visit, alpaca prices vary from $15 – $60 depending on experience chosen.
- Onsite dining options include picnic baskets (prebook) and restaurant. No BYO of any food or drink allowed.
- Pram friendly
