Omokoroa brothers Duncan and Drew De Wet came face-to-face with their first alpaca yesterday as farms across the country celebrated the inaugural National Alpaca Day.
An afternoon out with their grandparents saw 10-year-old Duncan and 8-year-old Drew, making the most of the event which promoted alpacas and the enjoyment gained from owning them. The brothers visited three Western Bay farms, the last of which was Hacienda Suri Alpaca Stud at Whakamarama, owned by English couple Peter Hodgson and Jenny Barrett.
Close to 50 people visited the stud, one of about 10 Western Bay alpaca farms which opened their gates to visitors.
The event, organised by the Alpaca Association New Zealand, was celebrated by about 150 farms across the country.
Ms Barrett said some visitors were interested in alpaca fibre, others were considering buying a lifestyle block and animals of their own while others were driven by curiosity.
``We still get a lot of people ask, what is an alpaca?,'' she said.
The couple started with just a handful of suri alpaca (one of only two breeds) of which they are breeding the rare black and brown varieties.
``That's been our plan, to breed a quality coloured suri,'' said Ms Barrett.
The couple who migrated to Thames from London four years ago first saw alpaca at the Royal Easter Show in Auckland and decided to buy a couple to keep the grass on their property under control.
``We bought two and got a bit carried away,'' she said.
Two years ago they moved to the Western Bay where they now spend their spare time attending shows, breeding and caring for their herd of 16 alpaca. ``For me I was just really interested in trying to breed up something that's really rare,'' said Ms Barrett.
Mr Hodgson said he also gave an hour-long talk and question session on the history and care of alpaca and was surprised at the number of visitors, considering it was the event's first year.
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