Animals happy to get children’ s attention down on Ki a Or a Farm
AS TOURIST ATTRACTIONS REOPEN, WE PAY A VISIT TO SEE HOW THEY ARE ADAPTING TO LIFE IN THE COVID-19 ERA. THIS WEEK, CATHY LEE GOES ALONG TO SEE THE ANIMALS BIG AND SMALL AT KIA ORA MINI FARM NEAR GOREY
ONE OF NORTH WEXFORD’S most-loved family friendly tourist attractions Kia Ora Mini Farm has opened its doors to visitors again. Although there were some noticeable changes, the smiles on the faces of happy children and members of staff (and even some animals) have not gone away.
Being closed from March 13 was a challenge for the family-run open farm, but all are hopeful that the idea of the ‘staycation’ will bring visitors from Wexford and beyond through the gates as they explore their own back yard.
There are separate entrance and exit doors at Kia Ora farm, with arrows on the ground to guide the visitor in the right direction. The first sanitising station is located at the front door and guests are welcomed by a member of staff behind a panel, who will confirm their booking and take any questions.
From there, visitors pass through the café, where there are mats marking two metre distancing on the floor to help keep the Covid-19 guidelines at the forefront of people’s minds during your visit.
Numbers are being restricted, which is noticeable as you step foot outside to take in the different sights and sounds.
The large variety of farm and exotic animals, from donkeys, ducks and goats to ostriches, and alpaca, are safely separated into their pens. The idea of respecting others’ space comes into play here for humans and animals as you take a walk around the pens. There are plenty of pens to visit in your own time.
Members of staff come and go from the pens, telling visitors about the animals, while informative guides are also available to read next to some animal enclosures.
There is an opportunity to meet some of the animals individually but a member of staff will always be present.
Kia Ora has regular reminders to wash and sanitise your hands throughout the farm and, in the petting zoo, children and adults must clean their hands before and after touching the animals. There are sinks available to wash hands, as well as sanitising stations.
When a child has finished handling an animal, such as a guinea pig or rabbit, the animal is passed back to a member of staff in a basket full of straw and staff remain behind panels in this section of the farm.
Regular cleaning is taking place and there are plenty of staff available to ask questions. All staff continuously monitor social distancing as part of their role, but that doesn’t detract from the relaxed feel at Kia Ora farm.
Attractions like the diggers, the milking coo, maze and playground are open to children to enjoy, again with sanitising stations set up. The sand pit and other toys for younger children is also available, but the popular fire engine is currently closed.
Our visit provided us with an opportunity to get up close with the animals in a new way that felt more personal due to the capacity being reduced. The open-farm style is upheld and has come into its own, as you have a new sense of private intimacy in your setting of a family or friend group, which offers a photo opportunity or two.
Although not a huge fan of photos himself, a familiar sight at Kia Ora Farm is proprietor, Padraig O’Donohoe. He explained that the animals have adjusted well to having more people around again.
‘When there was nobody here, we put a lot of animals together and there was a lot of craic going on but they were still all looking for attention. We weren’t able to give them as much attention as they’d be used to.
‘It’s like everything, the animals were quick to adjust to change in different circumstances but as long as you talk and interact with them.
‘Covid-19 is one of the toughest things we’ve gone through as a business. We got hit in 2010 with the snow for Christmas time, that was a bad one but you just have to keep going, adjust and adapt and that’s what everyone just has to do now.
‘You can’t go back to normal at the minute and I can’t see it happening any time soon. We’ll have to just go with the guidelines and try do the best we can’.
Since opening on June 20, visitors have been grateful to get out of the house with their children.
‘Everybody has been very nice and respectful to one another going around, everyone is calm and there’s no pressure. Now when people are out, they’re out to enjoy themselves and have a bit of fun,’ said Padraig.
‘You can see the relief on the kid’s faces when they get that chance to go for a run around somewhere else rather than their own home. It’s good for parents as for them the main thing is by the time they go home they’re tired’.
Although seasonal events are currently off the cards, Padraig said that birthday parties can be booked in advance but they will operate a little differently.
‘Birthday parties will run just families. It won’t be as normal where you’d be inviting a large group like a class. With walk ins, at the moment we aren’t booked out so people can fill in the form when they arrive but with the online booking, once it’s full that’s it.
‘Hopefully after this week, things might get busier but even if it doesn’t, I’ll just have to accept that and go with it’.
A questionnaire is included when booking the limited time slots and all patrons are asked to arrive on time for their booking. The questions include whether you’ve experienced flu-like symptoms in the past 10 days, if you are a close contact to a confirmed or suspected case of Covid-19 in the past 14 days and whether you’ve been advised to self-isolate or cocoon. If you answer ‘yes’ to any of these, you may not enter Kia Ora Farm.
Children must be accompanied by an adult and supervised at all times and those under 12 months old are free to enter, but all other visitors must pay admission of €8.
Tickets are non-refundable and may not be exchanged for another date or time slot.
Padraig said that a lot of preparation went into getting the doors back open.
‘We didn’t rush it, but it was tough getting everything ready but it’s just something we had to do. We worked on the development of the website to get the booking system in place and we had to source what we needed to get for the premises, as well as reading through all the books and guidelines to try figure them out.
‘You could read up one day and by the next day or two it could have changed, which was a stressful as you didn’t know where you stood. But as things changed you just had to adapt and move as quickly as you could. Like everything, we had to find ways to manage.
‘ The longer we were closed here with the animals, the harder it was going to be to really keep going. The bags of feed wouldn’t be the cheapest for some of them.
‘Everybody in Wexford tourism and hospitality are trying their best and we’re all trying to be innovative and think of new ways to do things and ways to help. My staff were ready to go anywhere at all to help,’ he said.
To book your next visit, search www.kiaoraminifarm.ie.