West Wight Alpacas and Llamas (Farm)
and The Llama Tree Pizzeria & Coffee House
Those that know me may well be aware of a story that involves the dog taking me for a walk...on an icy day...down a sloped driveway...
So I do hope we all appreciate that I, last weekend, walked an ALPACA...successfully!
We went along to the West Wight Alpacas Farm and adjoining pizzeria & coffee house, The Llama Tree, in Wellow. It’s somewhere we’ve not been before, but have kept meaning to check out, so we jumped at the chance to accompany an alpaca around the farm and grab a good bite to eat!
On arrival, we were shown two beautiful alpacas: Vectis and Winston! I was going to be walking Vectis, and I must say, I had huge hair envy of him (my post-partum hair is just frizz drowned in hair serum: Vectis had divine locks!!!) We had a very friendly and reassuring member of staff guiding us on our walk, who put me at ease as she instructed me on how to hold Vectis (I did have a few visions of an alpaca taking me for a walk) But- what a lovely walker ‘my’ alpaca was! I’d walk him instead of a dog any day!
My Husband had our baby in a sling and our toddler held his hand as they joined the walk. Our Tot loved following along, shouting her new word; “Al-pac-aaaaaaa” as we went. It definitely gave Tot a good ‘run around’ as her little legs tried to keep up. There were clear walkways, and despite the weather being a bit ‘dodgy, ’ there was no sloppy mud in sight- it would've been fine for a sturdy pushchair.
The walk was lovely: we did the 20 minute walk (but there are longer options,) which took us around the farm, where we passed many of the other gorgeous alpacas and llamas. Before we went, I didn’t know anything about the animals (other than they have long necks) but we loved how ‘happy’ and ‘friendly’ the animals seemed as they peered over the fences to see their ‘friends’ as we passed.
The walk was also really informative. The member of staff filled us in on lots of fun facts about alpacas and llamas as we went around. I wanted to know the difference: turns out, one of the major differences visibly is the ear shape (llamas have banana shape; alpaca more spear-shaped!)
It seems to me that the The Llama Tree is somewhat of a hidden ‘gem' as I must admit, I didn’t know that bit was there- but I’d really like to rave about the yummy meal and splendid service – and I'd encourage others to check out the high quality pizza there, too.
To be honest, I really couldn’t fault anything about our outing. The only thing I'd give the 'heads-ups' about is that we took a bit of a ‘jolly’ to get there and resorted to a tiny bit of Google maps (much to my husband’s defiant ‘I know roughly where it is’ spiel.) Had we used the old Google map to start with we’d have taken a more direct route, but the farm was signposted when we got closer anyway.
I can sincerely say we had such a fun time! We left feeling fantastically full, with a happy toddler (ready for a car nap) and a baby full of fresh air! On the drive home, my husband and I praised what a relaxing and different sort of day we’d had- one we hope to repeat again very soon, and highly recommend others do, too!
To get the information for the alpacas and farm, press: West Wight Alpacas
or here for The Llama Tree
My new spear-eared friend seemed very content strolling along beside me, but I think he liked us even more when, at the end of the walk, we were told how best to stroke him and feed him slices of carrot for a treat! At the end of the walk, he was also free to munch on the grass and we had some brilliant photo opportunities!
Walking an alpaca is for over 8s, and there was a girl who can’t have been much older than that who took reign of Winston. She had no problem handling him- so I'd definitely recommend this as a fun and unusual activity for anybody above that age!
After this, we went off to roam and explore the rest of West Wight Alpacas. There’s lots of other animals at the farm too, which we weren’t expecting, so this was fab for Tot in particular as she loves animals! We returned to a ‘baby’ alpaca Tot had seen earlier; said 'hi' to the sheep and goats; saw ‘horsey’ and ‘piggies;’ and also saw a wide selection of poultry! (You can just pay an entrance fee to potter at your own pace around the farm if not alpaca walking- perfect for children of all ages- we will definitely take Tot and Baby again.)
On site is The Llama Tree pizzeria with a play area next door (no entrance charge for these bits) and so we headed there once we’d done a good hour or so looking around the animals. (Tot had a small-scale tantrum when we got her to wash her hands in the designated area: she claimed to be “Stuucckk! Stuck!” when we held her hands under the tap- a new one on us...!??) Rest assured, the strop vanished imminently when she saw the slide!
Noticeably, everything about the place seemed so well-kept and clean, and The Llama Tree had lovely outdoor seating, as well as space inside. The sun suddenly showed up (oh, Britain!) so we opted to sit outside. The menu for the pizzeria had a good range, and my husband and I were very impressed by the local produce included in many of the meals! With the pizza oven in-sight, it was fab to eat freshly made food with a nod to local products, too! Personally, I think you can definitely tell the difference when food is made like this, and my husband and I both agreed (and we are not exaggerating!!) that this was the best pizza we’ve had on the Island!
I’d opted for 'Carnivoro:' a pizza loaded with chorizo, salami and pepperoni on top of Isle of Wight oak smoked tomatoes & basil. My husband had 'Pollo ad Pepperdew:' roast chicken strips and sweet roquito peppers, with IOW oak smoked tomatoes & basil. We both agreed (as we tried each others') that our pizzas tasted rich and wholesome; the meat was delicious; and the doughy base was light and refreshing, whilst coated in those lush local tomatoes!
We ordered a generously-sized 'chicken pizza' for Tot from the children's menu, and must admit that we were all so full that we couldn’t finish a few slices, so the staff helpfully got us a pizza box to take the rest home in- which we thoroughly enjoyed picking on afterwards. This delicious pizza was absolutely not to be wasted!
There were a group of cyclists also eating at the time, and we spotted a sign which said The Llama Tree is ‘on' a cycling route- what a cosy stop-over, too.
(We're camera shy...but alpacas are not!)
