New Zealand Travel Forum

Hi,

I will be in the south end nov/early dec. Will be doing the usual sightseeing places.

Can anyone recommend any farm stay , preferably with small animals cos i'm travelling with 2 small children.

Or is there any farms where we can do fruit picking - strawberries/blueberries especially cos my kids love them.

Thanks

south end of what? USA?

obviously the end of november/early december, MelsTreks, and in the South of New Zealand, since the question is posted in this forum.

wow thanks. Guess it wasnt that obvious or I wouldnt have asked, beings this a world widewebsite and all. But thanks for taking hte time to be so helpful.

Google or contact the tourist office in Motueka (west of Nelson). There are lots of farmstays and orchards where they also grow fruit that can be reached by small children without the risk of falling from a ladder ;-)

hi,

thanks for the clarifications and apologies for the unclear question.

Apart from nelson, which is a good area ? cos i will probably not be going over to nelson. Will be doing the loop from christchurch via arthur's pass to the west, then downwards and back up to christchurch.

any recommendations appreciated. Thanks .

On this loop fruit picking is not very common, I would not recall anything around Arthurs Pass and on the West Coast. A.P. is too mountainous, The Coast totally into dairy farming and some sheep. I suppose you want to travel back via Mt. Cook and Lake Tekapo to Christchurch. There is absolutely nothing like this in the lakes area.

If you are lucky you could find fruit picking places in the Geraldine area, I have seen such signs. There also is a big jam producer (Barkers) who uses local fruit. Perhaps you could contact Barkers?

There are also some nice farmstays in the Methven/Mt. Somers area, along scenic highway 72, between Geraldine and Chch. Perhaps they have some berries in the garden but most likely not a lot, and not commercially.

Along the east coast (Chch - Timaru) there are vegetable gardens (tomatoes, pumpkins, etc.), especially the area north of Timaru, and they also sell freshly picked berries along the highway (SH 1), so there would surely be a possibility. But of course, the inland route is much more beautiful.

Finally there could be a chance on Banks Peninsula, off Christchurch. The landscape is spectacular, there are a lot of farms and some farmstays. There are quite some olive groves - but picking stuff from trees is not suitable for children, and you said, they want to pick berries...

BTW I hope the fruit will be ripe by then ;-)