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The History of Fernleaf

The history of Fernleaf Farmstay is all about the desire of Carloyn and Melvin Forlong to provide a quality farmstay bed and breakfast experience on the Fernleaf Rams Romney stud farm at Owhango.

The farm first started when Houlton Forlong moved to Owhango in 1924 and set about developing Fernleaf farm by clearing the land of the leftovers of the native bush that the sawmills had left in their wake. Houlton established Fernleaf’s Romney flock in 1934 by purchasing 35 ewes and 7 ewe lambs. Since then we have expanded and now run 840 stud ewes at 16 stock units per hectare.

Fernleaf farm is a story of pioneer farming followed by selective breeding to develop stock with qualities valued by farmers. The Fernleaf farm is located 15 kilometres south of Taumarunui, handy to Turangi, Taupo, Mount Ruapehu Tongariro and Ngauruhoe as well as being near the Whanganui and Whakapapa Rivers. The farm is 400 metres above sea level and is a mixture of easy rolling and steep hill country  with spectacular views of the mountains of the Central Plateau making your farm walk a pleasure. Please click on the following link If you would like information about the Fernleaf Romney stud farm operation. but don’t forget to come back to us for more information or to make a booking.

Carolyn and Melvin wanted to share their location with others and have created four accommodation units in a beautiful setting to suit various visitor groups. The farm is situated in the Ruapehu District of the Central North Island handy to mountains, rivers and parks. We invite you to peruse this website to learn more of the multitude of places and activities you can enjoy.

We invite you to stay with us at Fernleaf Farmstay. We offer comfortable, quality accommodation in beautiful surroundings, quiet and peace, handy to just about everything, good facilities and excellent meals.