Starline Alpaca Farmstay Review PLUS Exclusive Discount!

posted in: Life, Mini Breaks | 0

by Jessica Matthews

 

I have been wanting to do a farm stay with my family for a few years but never actually gotten around to booking it. In the January this year, I decided to finally get my act together and book in for a weekend away as a last hurrah before school started back.

After much research, we decided to go stay at Starline Alpacas Farmstay. They are located in Broke (NSW), about 20 minutes from Polkobin (prime Hunter Valley wine region) which is approx 2 hours and 10 minutes from Ryde.

 

The Animals

Obviously, being a farmstay we expected farm animals and luckily there were plenty! We were able to interact with loads of gorgeous hand-reared animals and especially loved that when we checked in we were given a bucket of feed for the animals. When that’s all finished you can get more for $10 a bucket. Some of the animals we spent time with included:

  • Chickens
  • Ducks
  • Geese (maybe not as friendly!)
  • Pigs (VERY friendly!)
  • Sheep
  • Alpacas

 

Things to do

Aside from the animals, there was so much more we could do at Starline. We had access to:

  • Kids’ playground
  • a salt water pool
  • spa & sauna 
  • basketball ring
  • soccer net and grass area
  • tennis court
  • outdoor cabana BBQ area (with a fooze ball table & basket of toys for the kids)
  • Bike riding (BIG selection of Little Tikes, bikes & scooters near the office that can be borrowed)
  • DVD library at the office to watch movies in the cottage
  • all balls, racquets and other equipment required to play the aforementioned activities 

 

 

Accommodation

There’s lots of accommodation options at Starline Alpaca Farmstay. We stayed in one of the 5 sandstone cottages which I think is perfect for families (one of which is wheelchair accessible). Most of the cottages are 2 bedrooms (queen bed + 2 double bunk beds) – they are air-conditioned and have a full kitchen plus on the verandah is a sweet little outdoor setting and BBQ. There is also the option of the common area BBQ and cabana to mix things up. 

We stayed in one of the sandstone cottages located right in the middle of all the action including next to the tennis courts, pools, pigs, chickens and sheep. We were literally metres away from the animals, which my daughter just loved.

 

 

What to pack

If you’re planning on cooking you can stop at a supermarket on the way as the full kitchen allows for cooking nearly anything. I would definitely recommend driving to Polkobin to do some fun things like visit the Hunter Valley Gardens and the Chocolate Factory. We made sure to stop at the Smelly Cheese factory to pick up some antipasto that we ate for both lunch AND dinner. Don’t forget to grab a bottle of wine while you’re there too! It is the Hunter Valley after all.

Alpine supplied bed linen, towels, basic bathroom toiletries, dishcloths, washing up liquid and insect spray. It was really well equipped.

 

 

Exclusive discount

My daughter LOVED this farmstay. We loved it too, and not just because of how much fun our daughter had. It was a very relaxing weekend away and I would definitely go again. I wanted to enjoy the peace and quiet of the country, see animals and have some fun and Starline provided just that.

Now here’s the AWESOME bit. Make sure you mention you are from Ryde District Mums because if you book a one-night stay midweek you will get 10% off your stay. OR if you book two nights midweek you will get 20% off (not available on weekends at the moment as they are heavily booked, often with weddings). 

 

*Whilst this is a sponsored post, the views are my own and I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Starline Alpacas Farms. I am so glad I reached out to them so I could share my experience with you all!