1 day ago
1
February 23, 2026 — 7:30pm
For donkey’s years, Samantha Wearing has got a kick out of finding quirky activities that she can do with her parents, Lawrence and Angela Spiteri.
Looking online for their recent Christmas present, she stumbled upon a curious one: the Donkey Experience.
It involves customers walking with, grooming, feeding and taking selfies with two donkeys at Avoca Park Equestrian Centre at Macclesfield, 60 kilometres east of Melbourne.
It worked a treat for the Spiteris, from Ardeer, who on Sunday spent their voucher from Wearing feeding apples to their new four-legged friends, Johnny Simpson the donkey, and Jenny Simpson – aka Cuddles – the miniature donkey.
Referring to it being a Christmas present, Angela quipped, “I’m not Mary and my husband’s not Joseph”, but the walk through the garden did serve as a beautiful trip down memory lane.
Growing up in Malta in the 1950s, Angela saw donkeys as calm, gentle animals that ploughed fields and transported produce.
Angela’s mother, Marie, was even brought to her wedding on a cart drawn by a donkey.
Re-engaging with her family’s tradition cost Wearing $200 for a group of four on Sunday, and she said the two-hour Donkey Experience session with her husband and parents made for a perfect present. (It costs $75 per person for a couple and $120 for a single person).
“I was looking for a unique Christmas gift (my parents are almost 80, so they’ve got enough stuff) and I came across it online and thought it’s a nice, different thing to do,” she said.
“I try to do different gifts like dinner at a teppanyaki restaurant or a ride on an observation wheel and not just buy stuff from the store.
“And coming from a big family, I’ve always thought that spending one-on-one time with Mum and Dad is important.
″It’s a tradition that on my birthday [February 23] we go and do something, and when I came across this I thought it was perfect.”
Avoca Park Equestrian co-owner Leanne Williams, who trains horses and runs a riding school, got the Donkey Experience idea from a similar business in northern Scotland in 2023, and organised it before she returned to Melbourne.
“Our donkeys didn’t have a job as such, they were just pets,” Williams said. “And now they get love from all kinds of people, every weekend.”
She gets one or two Donkey Experience bookings each weekend. Visitors range from babies in prams to elderly people. A boy obsessed by donkeys and the book The Wonky Donkey had his fifth birthday party at the property.
“We’ve had birthday celebrations, anniversary gifts for spouses, women’s groups, and others who had always wanted to own or pat a donkey,” Williams said.
She said while donkeys are known to be stubborn, and they are stoic, they are also intelligent and gentle.
“I think people are excited. When you’re helping people have a wonderful experience with something that they love and don’t have huge access to, it’s just wonderful being part of that.”
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
