Glenforest Farm - Port Lincoln

Many tourists who come to Port Lincoln love to soak up the scenery around magnificent Boston Bay, but a short drive inland and you're into a unique nature experience. This is Glen-Forest Animal Farm, a key feature of the Pt Lincoln tourist scene for well over ten years. Over time, the owners have gathered together a collection of animals Noah would be proud, from the lone dromedary in the open field, to Sly, one of the best fed Koala's you'd ever expect to see.

"He came from Cleland's Wildlife Park. He's a rescued Koala up there and he was actually hit by a car and they fixed him up there for us, and we ended up looking after him".

"He's certainly not off his food".

"No, as soon as they hear the motorbike they come scurrying down the trees".

Here the emphasis is on family fun, where even the smallest and cutest can grab a bag of feed and head for the animal enclosure. And wherever you go at Glen-Forest Animal Park the experience is usually very hands-on. Rebecca O'Neill and Stewart De La Perrelle venture into this enclosure daily and the routine is always the same.

"There's not a lot of places where you can go to, where you can actually have a hands-on experience with birds and animals and that's one of the pleasant parts about this place, because people are allowed to touch animals, pat kangaroos and feed the birds".

In here you can get a birds-eye view of one of the delights of this part of the state, the Port Lincoln Parrott. But be warned, feeding time has its moments.

"So how do you go there Stewart, do you enjoy doing this, or is it a painful experience every morning?"

"The solar panel is not fully designed for budgerigar feeding".

"It's all part of the job eh?"

"It's all good fun".

But this menagerie is only part of the Glen-Forest story. The farm is spread across four hundred acres, with much of it covered in stands of beautiful Sugar Gums. And in the past two years these rolling hills behind Pt Lincoln have also proved an ideal spot to plant Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz vines.

"A couple of other wineries have been in existence for ten years. This is a very new venture using the latest technologies in wine growing and the climatic conditions and the country seem to be suited to grape wine production and we hope to produce some premium red wines in years to come".

Glen-Forest picked their first vintage earlier this year and have plans to bottle their own product in the near future. So for a unique blend of nature up close at an emerging winery, head for Glen-Forest Animal Farm and meet Slapper the Donkey, Scotty the Highland Bull and of course, there's Al-paca and his mate Kerry.

Glen-Forest Animal Farm is on Clarke Lane about fifteen minutes drive from Port Lincoln. Admission for adults is eight dollars, six dollars for children and a family pass costs twenty four dollars. It's open daily.

For more information email info@postcards-sa.com.au