There are not many places where you can open up your front door and find white peacocks, albino wallabies and an array of farm animals in the same place on your property.
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But that's the reality for the owner of Tasmania's newest animal farm, Garry Walker, who has turned his "hobby farm that got a bit out of control" into the East Coast's latest tourism venture.
Mr Walker opened Wacky's Animal Farm, located just outside of St Helens, in October 2020, in the middle of a pandemic, that saw many wildlife parks and zoos forced to their knees.
"We had always planned on opening up the park, it's been a passion, a goal of mine for many years, the pandemic didn't really have anything to do with it," he said.
"But we thought St Helens really needs a few more things to do, so we thought why not go ahead with it."
The animal park is a wildlife park that focuses primarily on farm animals, but has a couple of quirky differences.
First, is that all patrons can get up close and personal will all of the animals, and can hand feed them with special feed purchased from the farm.
"We really wanted to focus on having animals that you could feed and pet and really get close to," Mr Walker said.
"There's lot of animal parks out there, but you often have to see the animals from a distance."
He said all his farm animals were close to him and the staff, but had welcomed newcomer with relative ease and had adapted really well.
"They had always known us and been really close to us, but they have all adapted to that well, with the visitors coming through," he said.
The other major point of difference at Wacky's Animal Farm is that it's not just real-life animals you can get up close with.
Dotted throughout the park, right from the opening front gates, are many fibreglass animals, from bears, to lions, to snakes, creating a unique experience for the first-time visitor.
Mr Walker sourced the fibreglass animals from the Phillippines and they were all hard-wearing to last out in the sun. He said they'd become nearly as popular as the real-life animals, and they provided a unique Instagram moment for tourists.
The animal park first opened in October, and caters to visitors on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Mr Walker said even though they had opened during the pandemic it hadn't halted the number of tourists and locals coming along.
He said while they did get a large number of families with kids, a large demographic of people visiting were adults alone or with friends.
"Something that's missing is an animal park that you can pet all the animals so that's what we want to offer."
The park is located on his property at St Helens, on nine hectares.
A lot of infrastructure had to be built, along with large, open enclosures for the animals to stay in during the days the park is closed, but Mr Walker said he didn't want to stop there.
"We've only just started but we have plans to build a cafe and a kids playground in the future," he said.
He has also purchased three golf carts that can be booked out for people who have mobility issues.
Mr Walker said he hoped to purchase more golf carts in the future.
A key feature of the park, its pride and joy, and a popular attraction for visitors is the animal nursery, that houses all baby animals.
There's ducklings, guinea pigs, rabbits, and other bird species.
Outside the shed is a mural painted by a local East Coast artist, who took photos of all the animals at the property and incorporated them.
- Wacky's Animal Farm is located about four kilometres from the centre of St Helens and is open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.