Description: Gumeracha is a small village located approximately 45 km from the centre of Adelaide, on the way to Mannum and possible to incorporate into a loop while touring the Barossa Valley or driving the scenic Torrens Gorge route. It's main (if not only) visitors' attraction is the Toy Factory, which produces a good selection of decent quality, old-fashioned wooden toys, available for purchase in the adjacent shop, as well as boasts a giant rocking horse and an animal park.
The rocking horse, alas, doesn't rock but is pretty big and can be climbed (the stairs are inside) for the sheer fun of it and for a bit of a view. This costs 1 AUD per person and can be fun for smaller children (but the stairs/ladders are pretty steep, so toddlers would need to be supervised and helped).
The main attraction (unless you want to actually buy wooden toys) is the animal park, located beside the factory shop and the car park and completely free to enter, although there is a charge for animal food (5 AUD per very reasonably sized bucket). The park is wooded and pretty open and most of the animals (including goats, kangaroos, sheep, llamas and peacocks) roam freely, which can be very nice but can also create a bit of a nuisance, especially if you have very small or easily scared children with you and/or visit on a not very busy day when the animals are hungry.
Your reviewer's party was virtually mobbed by hungry – or at least very greedy – goats, llamas and, as we progressed into the park, even kangaroos who recognised the sight and the sound of the food bucket opening and stuck their muzzles into it, jumped up onto people holding it with their hooves and generally did their best to get to the food. The animals were not aggressive and did not bite, and it was possible to shoo and push them away, so it actually made for a more interesting visit, and as soon as the food was hidden, the animals left the people alone. Luckily, the emu, donkeys and ponies were behind a fence as I didn't fancy being pecked by and bitten by those creatures!
Our visit fell in the end part of the day and the staff in the park were not exactly polite on exit. We were – quite rudely – asked to leave the park and were not allowed to climb the giant horse, and a woman with a key was standing by the gate and pretty much tapping her foot as we were packing ourselves into the car and readying to drive away.
Still, this was the only unpleasant moment of an otherwise entertaining visit.
Gumeracha Toy Factory is not a major or even regionally notable attraction, worth a special trip from any distance. However, if you are in the area, and for example touring Barossa Valley or driving the Gorge Road on the way to Adelaide, and have children with you (getting bored and restless after all those wine tasting stops) it's worth a detour and a stop of an hour or more.
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