My first stop for Taste Great Southern’s campaign was The Old Marron Farm.
We were meant to arrive at The Old Marron Farm at 12pm for lunch but appears burger boy and I weren’t too good at estimating how much time it would take to drive from Perth to Albany. The furthest burger boy and I have ventured down south is Margaret River. So little did we know that for every stop you make, you need to add about an hour (as we learnt at the end of our trip from Kim Gardner of Tree Elle Retreat).
Perhaps we spent a little too long curiously wandering through Creepy Hollow, a random horror themed cafe we stumbled across on our drive down south…
When we finally arrived just after 1pm, we were warmly welcomed by The Old Marron Farm owners Karl and Sharon, and a young dugite snake! It took all of 5 minutes for me to appreciate that The Old Marron Farm has a “real farm atmosphere” as quoted by Karl.
As we soaked in the beautiful green surroundings, Karl told us The Old Marron Farm originally opened in 2003. It was a marron farm started up by a well-known local by the name of Wally who had intended to setup a marron export business. Karl explains that marron farming is a tough business to be in and often those who have marron farms tend to have it as an add-on to their business. It was difficult to breed the volume of marron required to setup a successful export business which Wally had intended so the opportunity opened up for Karl and Sharon to evolve The Old Marron Farm to what it is today.
Over a much needed latte after our 5+ hour drive to The Old Marron Farm, I was inspired to hear how Karl and Sharon decided to make the move from their life in Perth to Albany especially when farming wasn’t what they specialised in.
I love that a small moment in time can be so life changing! Karl and his family were holidaying in Albany when they made a wrong turn whilst taking their children horse riding. Karl and Sharon had spotted a for sale sign at The Old Marron Farm when they made that wrong turn which led to them selling their Perth family home and making the move to Albany in just 3 months.
Karl and Sharon have added their special touches to The Old Marron Farm since they took over Australia Day 2006. It is now more than just a marron farm, there’s an aviary, plenty of farm animals, segway tours and a café called Nippers serving up fresh crustaceans all year round.
My first experience of riding a segway was in Chicago for burger boy and I’s honeymoon. I still remember the tour guide saying just remain calm and don’t grab your partner if you think you’re about to fall. Guess what I did? Yep burger boy almost went down with me but it didn’t take me long to get the hang of it and I think it’s pretty cool that we’ve now got segway tours in Western Australia!
At The Old Marron Farm, burger boy and I got to taste these amazing marrons and yabbies. The crustaceans were taken straight from the tank to the kitchen and onto our plates – can’t get any fresher than this! Can you spot the blue marron?
This is my very first taste of yabbies – I couldn’t get enough of this avocado and yabby salad…
burger boy LOVED his BBQ marron with wasabi butter…
I had the marron pizza as I have a phobia with eating anything in its full form. This pizza was yummy and despite owning our own pizza bar, I was pretty impressed with the combination. Only criticism from burger boy is that the dough wasn’t made on site and you could taste it. Given that it is just Sharon cooking in the kitchen, I don’t think there would be capacity to make dough from scratch and for the average pizza eater, I think the base would be fine.
After lunch we went for a bit of a wander at The Old Marron Farm. We met a few characters
This is Prince, he changed his tone to imitate my girly voice!
This is home to Percy the Domesticated Pig…
I have a soft spot for rabbits…
How cute are these ducklings. I did feel a bit queasy when Karl started to talk about how tasty they would grow up to be…
I had a whole lot of fun at The Aviary, how gorgeous are the birds! The birds even matched my scarf…
I can’t wait to head back to The Old Marron Farm, I could have stayed all day eating and exploring. It’s marked for one of burger boy and I’s first family holiday destinations when junior burger (thanks to foodie cravings fan Denise for the name!) is out & about. With all the animals and activities, The Old Marron Farm is the perfect place to visit for families with young kids. And those who love to eat fresh marron and yabbies.
Disclosure: I was invited to explore and dine at The Old Marron Farm as part of the Taste Great Southern food and wine festival campaign, see my disclosure policy for more details
