Ambury Park Farm

I went here yesterday for the first time, suggested by some friends from Auckland (who I hadn’t seen in 15 years) as a nice place that would be child friendly.
Driving up from Hamilton with two sets of directions (printed from Google maps and navigation from my phone) and we still got a little lost… I’ll take some credit for that, but also to forewarn you that the signing up to the park isn’t that great and it’s a little out of the way.
There was plenty of parking when we arrived around 10:15 on a Saturday morning. There were already a lot of people there, appeared to be many birthdays and parties, rented jump houses and the like. There are lots of picnic tables around. It would be friendly for strollers/​prams/​push chairs. We also brought our son’s little balance bike, and he enjoyed riding around on it there. Mostly, it’s flat gravel areas for walking, flat grassy areas and very little paved area.
The park was free to enter and to view the animals. It didn’t appear to be staffed during the time we were there. You just walk around the various animal areas. We saw some rabbits, chickens, sheep, cows, goats, horses and a pig. My son (3-​years-​old) liked it, but wasn’t blown away. Maybe we’ve been to too many animal parks lately. After walking through the animal areas (took about 30 minutes at a very slow pace), we grabbed a picnic table and chatted until my friends had to leave.
One, somewhat bizarre thing, is that we couldn’t find any garbage cans/​rubbish bins here. So, if you are planning to generate trash, bring some bags with you.
There appears to be some camping areas and some walking tracks. We didn’t go around any of these, so I don’t have any comment about those.
Overall, I thought this place was fine, but not amazing. It’s free, so you can’t complain too much :)

Except for the rain, I had an excellent Ambury Park experience. You go through it as part of the Te Araroa trail (hiking trail that spans the length of NZ) so it makes an excellent place to stop for the night. I bumped into a park ranger as I arrived and she was really awesome, and since I was hiking the TA, allowed me to camp free of charge. The grass is flat, the toilet facilities are clean, and there’s water available: everything a tramper could ever want. I didn’t spend much time wandering the rest of the park (after walking in the rain all day I was kind of over it) but it’s a nice outdoor area and a great place to take the family.

A good place to experience rural life in the city, especially because it is just so close to Auckland. Part farm, part regional park, this place has a lot to satisfy kids and adults alike. The farm area has a range of cute little farm animals — sheep, chickens, ducks, cows and pigs which tend to really fascinate the kids. There are also a range of good walking tracks including a coastal one which is pretty cool. The park is also popular for camping — whether in tents or motorhomes, birdwatching and picnics. Pack your gumboots because it can get a bit muddy — especially after it has rained. But, that’s what rural life is all about hey?