Close up with farm animals

After an exciting and enjoyable tour of the movie sites and around the ranch, we had time to kill while waiting for our next tour and so, we walked over to the mini zoo the ranch had to get close up and personal with the domestic animals at the farm.



Being a city bred, this is one rare opportunity for me and the only time I have ever done it was during my visit to Perth; where they have this Caversham wildlife park

The domestic animals available at the Kualoa Ranch's Petting zoo includes goats and their kids, a donkey, a wild boar, chickens/roosters, rabbits and horses.



The kids were just so adorable!!!



This small-sized and old, but wise goat was staring intently at my camera each time I was trying to capture the photos of the goats.
It seemed like it was cautious of my presence; or some said that it was just wondering whether I have food to feed it!:-)



Whatever it was, this is a natural poser, I must say!:-)



Watching over the kids



The old donkey




The wild boar



The rabbit



Some of the animals were close enough or friendly for us to pet, but there are also those which shied away.
This petting zoo seemed to be extremely popular with the families as the children just could not get away from these animals!


Have you ever been to an actual farm?
Have you ever been this close and personal to the farm animals?

Lunch at Aunty Pat's Pantolo Cafe

Lunch was at the local restaurant cafe located inside the ranch; and is probably the only option for those who are waiting in eager anticipation for their tours to start (yes, like us!)
I love the simple decor of the cafe; and though the choices for food may be slightly limited, they are still not too bad. (Oh, I do like the homey name of the cafe too; probably to spice up that ranch feel factor?)

We had our lunch at Aunty Pat's Pantolo Cafe.

Grilled fish with corn cob



Can't remember how much this cost; think it was about USD$8-9 per plate?
This is a single portion, but it could very well feed the two of us!:-)

I didn't set much expectation for the food; perhaps due to the excitement or the holiday mood?
However, the grilled fish, sans the oily bit, was surprisingly quite good!



Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the corn cob :-(
A pity, since I love corn cob usually!



After lunch, we waited for another half an hour before making our way to embark on our tour, yeah!

To be continued...

Adventures at Kualoa Ranch - Tickets and tours

Kualoa Ranch is located right within the vicinity of the Kualoa Park, and from the moment I read about this place in the travel magazine in my hotel, I knew that I must plan at least half a day to visit this ranch.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Kualoa Ranch is the landowner of Kaʻaʻawa Valley, also commonly known as Kualoa Valley, on the windward coast of the island of Oʻahu inHawaiʻi. This place was sacred to ancient Oahuans from the 13th to the 18th century, as it was whereLaʻa-mai-kahiki settled after visiting Kauaʻi and before returning to Tahiti. It was also the site of the sacred drums of Kapahuula and Kaahu-ulapunawai as well as the sacred Hill of Kauakahi-a-Kahoʻowaha, the key to the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Oahu.

A typical scene of a ranch house and the majestic mountains as the backdrop; as with most of the scenes I have captured of O'ahu.

There is a sugar mill here too

Though the place may be known for its history and past, it is also open to tourists to share in the captivating stories surrounding the place and experience for themselves the beauty of the grounds.
Various tour packages are devised for these purposes; including that of horse riding and hiking but there are also more which are tailor made and categorized based on the nature of the tours.

Guess which tour we booked?
Honestly, I would have done them all; but I just had other plans and besides, the staff manning the ticketing booth was kind enough to recommend two tours which she personally felt was the most popular and also best for those who wanted the best of the ranch yet crunching on time.



So yeah, got our tickets for the Movie Sites & Ranch and also the Jungle Expedition!



We had more than an hour to kill before the scheduled tours start (yes, the tours are all on scheduled time of the day; so it's best to plan your itinerary before making plans to visit other places).

Note: The earliest tour starts from 8.30a.m; so it may be a good thing to be here early if you want to enjoy all the tours offered and yet have time to check out the other attractions on O'ahu.

TO be continued...