Andrew McAllister is well known for his main business of growing Christmas trees at Needle Fresh Trees near Swannanoa School on Tram Rd, but he has now added an unconventional "maize maze".
He has run the family farm for the past 20 years and last year decided to plan a new and exciting use for a couple of hectares sitting alongside the next crop of Christmas trees.
"The decision to create a maize maze evolved over time.
"And last year we started looking closer at how to build a maze out of maize, not fully understanding what a massive commitment we were making.
"There are about 200,000 maize plants there and it was a mission creating the maze, I can tell you," says McAllister.
He says family members stepped up to help with the design, planning and sowing of the Tram Fields Maze and Sunflowers attraction, creating a spectacular photo opportunity for maze visitors.
"First we researched the design of mazes in fields overseas, then once we drew it up, we were able to cross-stitch sow the maize seed using GPS which steered the driller and tractor.
"Once it was established we removed the excess, working in multiples of six with four rows of densely sown maize between each lane created."
McAllister says they aimed for an early January start, but were worried when all the rain and cold weather arrived before Christmas.
"The maize and sunflowers were growing on schedule but I was still worried about the opening date, so I was a bit surprised when the sunflowers all bloomed and the maize reached over two metres high early in January.
"It was a bit of a rush to get all the other bits and pieces set up like the sun shelters, gates, signs, the ticket booth, the photo op booths and the games, but we managed to have it all ready on time."
McAllister says the average time to complete the maze was about 40-45 minutes.
"We wanted to make it exciting and challenging for all, and some children race through it while their parents take it slower.
"It is about two and a half kilometres long and while you are walking through it, you can hear others but can’t see them, which makes it a lot of fun for family groups."
He says some have taken over an hour to complete the maze, and one or two have even called him up to ask for a shortcut as they had become "misplaced".
"It’s taken a serious amount of time to create the maze and lay out the sunflower beds so that people can get up close to them.
"Everyone has been really positive about the fun they were having."
McAllister says they are looking at possibly making the Tram Fields Maze and Sunflowers an annual event.
Meanwhile, this year’s maize crop is destined to become fodder for a local dairy farmers’ stock in a couple of months or so.
