Byron Bay Wildlife Sanctuary — Attraction in Knockrow

Don't waste your money. We came here last week and were extremely disappointed. It cost $55 for me, my husband and our three year old to do something that basically took about ten minutes to look at and experience the attractions. It was a rainy day and we asked the guy on the desk if there was a reasonable amount of cover. He assured us there was, but it was basically completely open air. We got soaked (umbrellas were supplied which was great, but it was still full of puddles and rain blowing everywhere). The attractions consist of a few miserable looking animals in tiny pens or cages. Helping feed the animals took a couple of minutes max, which is not helpful for any families with small children who love to do that kind of activity (it is done as a timed activity at certain times of the day so you can't just go and do that or pat animals whenever you want to). The train ride they make you pay an extra $2 for each and all that it does is ride you around on a cart a few times in a circle around a few of the exhibits while exhaust blows in your face. The mini golf was pretty basic. The whole place is staffed by unfriendly teenagers. If the entry fee had been about $5 or $10 I wouldn't have felt so ripped off but as it was, it was all we could do to stay there for an hour and a half to try to get some value for money. The playgrounds were all under water. Our daughter couldn't use any of them. It would have taken about five or ten minutes to do the whole place, really not worth the money. There are so many wonderful things to do in this region, seriously don't waste your money on this. As my husband said when we were leaving, the only thing missing from the Macadamia Castle was a moat to throw everything in the said castle in on...

Location: Macadamia Castle, 419 Hinterland Way, Knockrow, NSW, 2479, Australia.

Service: Not enough staff on for the day. We were there at 4pm & a large tour bus came in after us & bombarded them!

Decor: A large castle outside, but a mixed feeling inside with a cafe, arts & crafts for sale, ice cream & of course macadamia’s!!! We had to wait quite a while to see which flavour macadamias we would purchase.

Atmosphere: The cafe was apparently supposed to close at 3pm, but stayed open till 4.30pm. They let us purchase cold products (wrap & Turkish bread roll) after they had shut the food part down which was great. The rest of the place feels like it does not make a lot of sense to be honest. I think the layout could be improved, especially when large tours arrive.

Bathrooms: 3 ladies toilets only, relatively clean, but the sensor lights would just go out even with people still in the bathroom moving around.

Value for money: A Falafel & salad wrap & a vegetarian Turkish roll cost us $31, and 500gm of mixed flavours of nuts (5 types) was another $32. So all in all an expensive detour off the highway. Flavours of Macadamia’s - Garlic (good), Wasabi (good), Coconut & Honey (amazing), Lime & Black Pepper (so bloody good) & Moroccan (good spice mix).

Drinks: N/A.

Food: The falafel salad wrap was very good & tasted so fresh. The Turkish roll had roast pumpkin, sweet potato, feta, baby spinach, zucchini & eggplant & was not as enjoyable.

Synopsis: We thought we would take a look as they are now off the highway we wanted to support the business. The macadamia’s are AMAZING!!! But we believe that it could have been a better experience. Whether this was just because it was Easter Saturday & they were short staffed or not we...

We have just returned from the BEST day out with the whole family at Byron Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. As we were celebrating a birthday we chose the VIP experience. Joshua was our wonderful keeper for the day, who met us at the gate, showed us around the park and taught us so many wonderful new things about wildlife. The park is intimate, but it is so clean and the animals and their enclosures were extremely clean and well-maintained. It was a joy to see. Every staff member from the cafe to the shop and front of the house was friendly and nothing was too much bother. Every keeper was happy and spent time during all the shows answering the questions of the children as well as the big kids like me. The admission price was very reasonable and the encounters were so well priced we will be back. We took the VIP experience package as it worked out cheaper for the whole family to come and have admission, a Barn Owl encounter, a Tawny frog mouth encounter, 2 lovely Snakes and a Blue tongue lizard encounter, we got to cuddle rabbits and guinea pigs, have fun with the sugar gliders as well as getting a welcoming coffee on arrival, pancakes for morning tea, a chose of lunch and beverage and to end the day a packet of nuts and a gin and tonic! I would recommend this VIP pass to everyone. To have Joshua with us all the time we we were in the park we got a one-on-one with each of the animals. Our private tutor. Saw the back of the house and was explained all about the workings of the sanctuary and mobile hospital as well as met the amazing animals. It was a wonderful day and we will be returning. Thank you to all the staff at Byron Bay Wildlife Sanctuary for making our...