TOURIST NEWS - SPRING 2003

A UNIQUE HOLIDAY AT AN ALPACA STUD FARM

TRULEEN Downs is a delightfully unique blend of a working alpaca stud farm, farm tours, a bed and breakfast and supplier of alpaca products.

Located in the heart of the scenic and tranquil Toomuc Valley region in Pakenham, the stud's name is the clever combination of its owners' names, Trudy Bailey and Colleen Long who have been involved with alpaca breeding for almost 14 years.

Having previously lived further down the Toomuc Valley road they decided to comfortably downsize their farm almost

four years ago and relocated to their 11 acres of picturesque land surrounded by a sleepy bush setting.

When entering the drive of Truleen Downs you will be warmly welcomed by Petal and enthusiastic and friendly farm dog who will escort you to the car park.

Apart from the beautifully serene environment and the inviting barn style PACA Shack and gift shop, the other most notable and appealing features are the 60 pairs of large soulful eyes with luscious eyelashes and soft crimped woolly heads grazing, frolicking and lazing about in the paddocks.

As reproducing alpaca off-spring is not a specific seasonal affair the chances of observing young (Cria) or weanlings (Tuis) in the paddocks is quite high.

With no prior farming experience Trudy and Colleen have acquired a wealth of alpaca expertise since establishing their own stud.

Although alpacas originate from South America they are becoming increasingly popular in Australia being smaller descendents of the camel family and cousins to the Llama.

Colleen and Trudy are passionate about these remarkably intriguing creatures and love to share their enthusiasm with visitors by accommodating farm tour groups of up to 24 people giving everyone a chance to be involved.

Tours include a farm walk which is flexible to suit a variety of age groups, a talk and video presentation on alpacas, a fleece spinning demonstration by Trudy, numerous photos of their prize winning stock plus a spectacular display of their colourful ribbons with a huge array of alpaca products and garments in the PACAshack. Colleen said the advantages of alpaca wool were numerous.

There are more than 20 natural and fashionable alpaca colours to choose from (plus dyed combinations), the wool is incredibly soft but much stronger than merino wool making it more durable, it is a lighter and finer fibre (or micron), possesses excellent thermal qualities and is non allergenic.

Within an hour of an alpaca's birth, Colleen said the young were aptly named as, like humans, they have their own personalities.

Colleen described alpacas as lovely animals which have a wonderful temperament and are easy to handle.

To get a taste of an alpaca life-style, staying at the farm is also possible with a self contained private bed and breakfast facility for two at the end of the house.

The farm opens daily from midday and group tours are by arrangement only.