Shamarra Alpaca Farm Tours · Wainui, Akaroa Harbour
Shamarra is a hillside alpaca farm at Wainui, across the harbour from Akaroa, where a guide introduces the herd and then lets you pat the males and hand-feed the females and babies. Pick it for an easy, happy hour with kids after a morning on the water, as long as you have a car.
Shamarra sits on the far side of Akaroa Harbour at 328 Wainui Main Road, about 20 minutes by road from Akaroa round the head of the harbour and 4 km off State Highway 75. Tours run at 11 am, 1 pm and 4 pm, seven days a week, and take about an hour. A guide starts with an introduction to alpacas (fleece, temperament, the spitting question), then takes you through the paddocks.
Guests describe three stops: patting the males, seeing the newborns (look, don't touch), and hand-feeding the females from bowls of feed. The farm has more than 170 alpacas, and the views over the harbour are part of it. The tour ends with a drink and a homemade cookie, and a shop selling dye-free alpaca knitwear made in New Zealand. Viator lists it from $36 in US dollars; the operator's direct listing shows NZ$65 per adult and NZ$35 per child.
The catch is getting there. No transport is included, and the operator says self-drive only. Cruise passengers who booked without a car have found no taxi or Uber in Akaroa and missed the tour. Guests also mention the last stretch is a dirt road up the hill. If you're on a ship without a car, look at the sheep farm shore excursion instead.
Round the head of the harbour to 328 Wainui Main Road. The last part is a gravel farm road.
An introduction to alpacas: fleece, behaviour, and and the spitting question.
Into the paddock with the boys, some more interested in grass than in you.
See the newborns, then hand-feed the females from bowls.
A drink and a homemade cookie, then the knitwear shop.
★★★★★The tour consists of 3 ares. The first you get to pet the alpacas, the second you get to see the newborn alpacas but for obvious reasons you're not allowed to pet them, and in the third area you are given grass in bowls and get to feed them.
★★★★★A huge hit with our 19 month old. The staff was excellent at helping point out the gentlest animals for us to approach who wouldn't be scared by our son's predictably unpredictable toddler movements.
★★★★★Excellent opportunity to get close to Alpacas, it was raining when we arrived but they provided raincoats, good commentary from the staff who explained everything about the alpacas, great fun feeding the females, good views of the Peninsula
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By car only. The farm is at 328 Wainui Main Road, about 20 minutes from Akaroa round the head of the harbour. No transport is included and the operator offers none.
11 am, 1 pm and 4 pm, seven days a week. Each tour takes about an hour.
Yes. Guests have brought toddlers, and staff point out the gentlest animals. Our Akaroa with kids guide pairs it with a cruise.
Only with your own transport. Cruise guests without a car have found no way to get there. A tour with port pickup, such as the sheep farm excursion, is safer.
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An hour feeding and meeting alpacas on a hillside farm above Akaroa Harbour.
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