Manderley Farm

Manderley Farm

Manderley Farm
4.5
About
Meets animal welfare guidelines
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listing
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

Top ways to experience nearby attractions

The area
Address
Reach out directly

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles25 reviews
Excellent
17
Very good
6
Average
2
Poor
0
Terrible
0

Kendot52
Denton, TX453 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2024 • Couples
Wonderful experience of watching a sheep dog at work bringing in a small flock of sheep from high on a hill back down to the guests. Then there was a demonstration of shearing a sheep. I know this all sounds boring, but it was the opposite. Seeing that dog at work and watching a skilled worked shear a huge sheep was fascinating. After both demonstrations the owners provided drinks and homemade pastries in their beautiful home
Written 2 January 2025
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Pathfinder114701
The Villages, FL4 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2025 • Couples
The trip to the Manderly farm was one of the highlights of our Viking cruise!
What a learning experience I do wish the tour was longer, but it is a working sheep farm, and I have things to do.
The wife or the farmer came on our bus right before we were ready to leave and she thanked us for coming. The whole experience was very lovely!
Written 16 January 2025
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Ellen F
New York City, NY80 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020
We visited Manderley Farm as an excursion from a cruise ship and it was absolutely fascinating! Wonderfully warm welcome from the owners of the farm and incredible demonstrations of sheep shearing and dog herding. The dog was sent up into a field to get sheep who were sleeping under a tree. In under 5 minutes the dog had brought ALL of the sheep (including three who tried to sneak off) to our feet. The owner Ross explained how he trains the dogs and shared some of the history of dogs herding sheep in NZ. Interesting and funny presentation on both herding and shearing was followed by tea and homemade refreshments in the owner's home garden which was lovely. They also had some handmade woolen items for sale as well as a cookbook. A very pleasant and enjoyable afternoon!
Written 17 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

NA1952
Vancouver, Canada47 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020
We were a diverse group of eight people, including six adults and two young (3 and 6 year old) children. Despite our different backgrounds and ages, we found the visit to Manderley Farm one of the best in our experience, ever. It is hard to find a superlative that describes how much we enjoyed the visit and the "infotainment" provided by Ross Millar along with the working dog that rounded up some sheep, the sheep that was sheared by Ross and the lamb that the children were able to pet. As other reviews have suggested, a visit to Manderley Farm is "not to be missed".

The historic farmhouse and surrounding garden are simply stunning. The setting in general is pure New Zealand and the "animal show" demonstrates Kiwi inventiveness and its contribution to the agricultural success of the country.
Written 5 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

KenVicLee
Huntington Beach, CA2,092 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2020
This is a working farm. When we arrived with Canterbury Trails Tours our tour guide, Hugo, mentions he had never been here before because their company usually visited another sheep farm for this demonstration. Our host, Mary, greets us as we pull up. She then introduces us to Tanya who operates her own sheep herding service.

Mary explains that her husband, and their dogs, are out fixing fences so Tanya has substituted in. She arrives with four dogs and explains to us their various roles. One is older and follows commands better. One is younger and experienced but not great about following instructions. One is just over a year and still learning so he is there mostly to watch.

Unlike a sheep herding demonstration you might see at an arena, this demonstration takes place in the hills surrounding Manderley's substantial property. Tanya sets her older dog off into the hills. Then with a serious of whistles, and later arm motions, has the dog round up a herd of sheep that was grazing half a mile away. It was incredible to watch.

Following that exercise we went to Mary's sheep shearing barn where we got an up close and personal demonstration of Tanya shearing one of the sheep. Afterwards Mary invited us into her home where we were offered coffee or tea plus homemade cookies. Some of up bought a trinket, a painted sheep stone, as a souvenir. It was a very fun demonstration done by really nice people.
Written 29 April 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Louis R
Orem, UT40 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020 • Friends
Visited the Manderley Farm at Little River on the shores of Lake Forsyth. The owners were very nice and have taken care of their place since 1974. The sheep dog demonstration of herding was very good along with the shearing a sheep. The house and garden was lovely. They also gave us a lamb roll with a flaky crust that was very good. Very enjoyable meeting Ross and Mary!
Written 7 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Zulkarnain Ahmad
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia434 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Couples
We had the opportunity to watch first hand sheep dogs in action and sheep shearing. The wool industry is apparently not what it used to be with the advent of synthetic wool.The number of sheep in New Zealand has dwindled from 17million to about 13miliion. Hence, farmers have gone into other areas like dairy farming. Anyway, the hosts not only imparted knowledge but were very hospitable. Their home looks so cozy and charming and has an immaculate garden..
Written 5 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

OhioJoyce
Cincinnati, OH42 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2019 • Friends
We recently returned from a Viking Orion cruise to Australia and New Zealand. One of the highlights of our cruise was an excursion to the Manderley Family Sheep Farm while the ship was in port at Christchurch. The owners, an enthusiastic middle aged couple treated our group as though we were the first tourists to visit their lovely farm. We were thrilled watching one of their sheep dogs herd a group of sheep down a mountain by mostly whistled commands from the owner. Then we went into a barn where the owner sheared 2 sheep for us. The final part of our visit was an invitation into the owners home where we were served snacks and a homemade fruit drink. We enjoyed sitting in their beautiful gardens before we boarded our bus back to the ship. Please, don't miss out on this outstanding experience.
Written 13 March 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

pandd1946
Batemans Bay, Australia8,188 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2014 • Couples
We visited Manderley Farm, as part of a shore excursion from the cruise ship, Celebrity Solstice. The tour included other stops and a visit to this farm. Whilst at the farm we enjoyed an introduction by the owner of the farm, Ross Millar, who showed us his sheep herding skills with the assistance of one of his many champion collie dogs on the farm. The dog herded the sheep from the top of the hill, right down to the bottom of the hill near the homestead with speed and skill both of the dog and the owner, Ross. After the sheep herding demonstration, we then visited the shearing shed, where Ross expertly sheared a sheep. Following that, we were invited into the beautiful homestead where we enjoyed morning tea hosted by Mary Millar which consisted of tea and coffee and home made tasty treats. This picturesque, well maintained property is situated on 300 hectares of hill country in the Banks Peninsular of the south Island and overlooks Lake Forsyth. If in the area, it is well worth a visit.
Written 30 January 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

JackofPBFL
Palm Bay, FL1,167 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2022 • Couples
Interesting place to visit. We first were given coffee or tea, given a sausage roll and short bread. Saw shearing and sheep dog demonstrations it is a beautiful setting and the drive there was gorgeous.
Written 1 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Showing results 1-10 of 24
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing

MANDERLEY FARM (2025) All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

All things to do in Little River
Day Trips in Little River
RestaurantsFlightsHoliday HomesTravel StoriesCruisesCar Hire