Irene Dairy Farm | My 5 Reasons to Visit!

Irene Dairy Farm

I have realised that I have tons of travel posts on my blog but I don´t have any posts (not a single one!) about South Africa. My Native Country. I think that´s really sad! So, the very first post I´m going to share is about Irene Dairy Farm, one of my very favourite day spots to hang out at…

Irene Dairy Farm (situated just 30-minutes north of Johannesburg on the way to Pretoria in a small town called Irene) is a beautiful dairy farm that makes you feel like you´re far from the city and is lovingly referred to as a Farm in the City and has been going strong since 1895. Do yourself a favour and stop here if you can. I promise you won´t be sorry!

Here are my 5 reasons why you should visit:-

Fresh Country Air

From the moment you step out of your car, you feel like you have been transported into another world. There is just so much to see and explore. It´s the perfect place to sit on the grass and soak up the African sun, no matter what time of year.

The Restaurants

1. The Barn The Barn Restaurant was named after the original barn building and offers outside seating under the old oak trees, and it is the ultimate family hang out! The food is delicious and the views are incredible! On Sunday mornings they serve an amazing farm fresh South African breakfast which includes farm fresh eggs, smoked country styled bacon, boerewors (a typical South Africa sausage), grilled tomatoes and mushrooms, savoury scones and flapjacks (the South African equivalent to American pancakes). Their Sunday lunch buffet is really good too! And then, the DESSERTS, if you haven´t tried South African desserts (like these easy koeksisters), you´re seriously in for a treat!

1. The Deck This is the more upmarket restaurant on the premises and is situated right next to the dairy shop. We´ve never been here as we always hang out at the barn wihich has the park right in front and is more suitable to hang out with kids.

Milking Cows

One of our favourite things to do when visiting the farm is to watch the cows being milked, pet a calf in the barn and take a stroll to the open farm fields? It´s just so pretty!

The Dairy Shop

Do you remember milk being delivered to your doorsteps as a child? I do. Visiting this dairy shop will transport you back in time. You can buy their milk in bottles (or by the bucket) and they come in fat-free (skinny), low fat and full cream. They also sell tubs of rich, thick cream which is often sold out by early afternoon.

My favourite reason for visiting here is their wide selection of freshly baked goods.

Kids Play Area

There is so much space for the kids to run and play around! There are also wooden jungle gyms, a tree swing and 3 Vaal Japie tractors. Luca loves going on the tractors pretending that he is a farmer. We have several photos of him, at different ages, doing exactly that.  I used to (when I was still living in South Africa) love to meet up with friends here and have a good old chat while the kids were playing their little hearts out!

I seriously can´t wait to go back there again because I absolutely love this place! Let me know in the comments if you have visited Irene Dairy Farm before and what your experience was like..?

Johlene

xoxo

RESOURCES

I often get asked about the equipment I use when traveling. I mean this is the only real thing you´ll keep from your trip and therefore it needs to be really good! The camera I use for my blog photos is the Canon T3i/600D EOS (with the Canon STM 50mm 1.8 lens). I would like to upgrade to the Canon EOS 5D Mark III (however my budget does not allow for it yet) because of its full frame (22MP full frame CMOS) sensor capacity. My current camera has a cropped frame which means I need to stand further away from my subject when I shoot.

Then, I use the Osmos DJI Mobile for my videos/vlogs. I love the Osmo Mobile because you control it via an app on any Android or IOS phone.  It seriously has changed the way my travel videos look! Some of its features are:

• Active Track technology, automatically keep your smart phone facing you as you move
• Smooths and even cancels out the movements you make, stopping camera shake and turning every shot into a cinematic video!

Here are a few photos of me and hubby using the Osmo Mobile